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Post subject: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 3:42 pm
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I took my 2006 American Series Strat to a guitar luthier because I was having trouble with the truss rod nut recently. They informed me that the neck has warped, especially near the bottom, and that this would be difficult and very costly to repair. They suggested that I first contact Fender in hopes of getting a replacement neck, although this option is even more expensive and not something I can afford at the moment.

What do you guys recommend?

Thanks!


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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 6:24 pm
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Start setting money aside for a new neck.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 9:43 pm
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First and foremost, I recommend getting a second opinion.

Just to be safe, don't go on any spending sprees for a while.
Conserve, save, conserve, save, conserve, save.
A neck won't be cheap if the second opinion concurs with the first.

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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 1:26 am
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"...warped, especially near the bottom, and that this would be difficult and very costly to repair..."

This sounds like BS to me. Get a second opinion.

In the first instance; how can it be warped in a specific place? If it was warped surely it would be relative the the whole neck.

How is it difficult and costly to repair? As we have seen on this forum, people frequently remove their necks for no other reason than to check the labels. How difficult can undoing 4 screws be?

Repair? As you have already pointed out, wouldn't just replace the neck. It is only as costly as obtaining a replacement. Granted MiA necks aren't cheap. I guess you could shim the neck and re-dress or replace the frets but that would still leave you with the original problem of a defunct truss rod.

It would be interesting, for entertainment if nothing else, to ask the guy what he is proposing in his difficult and costly repair. My inclination is that he only said "difficult and costly" to get a bead on how much he might be able to sting you for.

I am also a little confused as how a warp would manifest itself in a 10 year old neck. Unless you have been doing something different with the guitar, the weather changes have become more extreme where you live or you have taken to playing your guitar in a sauna, I would have thought any warping would have become apparent years ago. Has this happened over the 10 years and you have been chasing it with the truss rod all this time?

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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 1:47 am
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Ask for a second opinion from a qualified ( be sure he is ) luthier, not anybody on guitar store.
Too many bs work on guitar and amp


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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 4:55 am
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I agree with the "second opinion".

I needed an input jack changed out on my 85' Harmony years ago. Went to one place; they wanted a minimum of $25.00 down, and said they'd need the guitar for 5 days to a week. I walked out.

Went less than 1/2 mile away to another place; dude said 10 minutes, 10 bucks. I stayed and paid.

I really, really sucked at soldering at that time (ain't a whole lot better even now) and was not gonna do it myself...so I was at SOMEONE'S mercy.


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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 4:58 am
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I don't want to be a killjoy here, but any repair done by a good pro will cost money.
And adding to that, repairing a warped neck by fret leveling and/or (partial) refretting and/or leveling the fretboard and/or heat treatment (or something similar) may become more expensive that a new neck would.

But I support the second opinion suggestions above, you (&we) don't yet have sufficient info. Like, if you only had trouble with the truss rod nut, does the (alleged) warp matter?

You might also check if this would be one of the very few circumstances covered by the Fender Limited Lifetime Warranty
So ask for that second opinion from an authorized Fender dealer/repair shop.


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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 5:27 am
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Thank you for the replies everyone. I trust the luthier as he is extremely well regarded in my city. He also had one of his employees look at the neck and he concluded the same thing. I may not be explaining myself properly.

For the past 10 years, I have done setups on my strat myself, and a couple of days ago, I noticed that my strat's neck was too concave. I attempted to adjust the truss rod, but it was difficult to turn it with my hex key. I therefore brought it to the luthier, and he told me that the truss rod nut was stripped, and that the truss rod is also struggling to turn clockwise as it's maxed out. He then started sighting the neck and noticed that the neck was warped. He advised me to contact Fender in order to purchase a new neck, as a repair would cost nearly the same (~400 Canadian) and would be difficult as well. He mentioned something about heat treatment, and refretting the neck. Afterwards, he passed my strat to one of his employees and he came to the same conclusion.

Should I get an opinion from a second repair shop, or do they make sense?

This is frustrating, as the guitar holds a lot of sentimental value for me...Is it really that difficult to correct a warped neck and a stripped truss rod?

Thanks, and please excuse my ignorance!


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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 7:04 am
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John Sims wrote:
In the first instance; how can it be warped in a specific place? If it was warped surely it would be relative the the whole neck.

That's not how wood works in general, and guitar necks in particular.
Wood never behaves completely predictable. There are variations within the wood. And more to the point, the neck is not of uniform thickness.
Seeing a bend or warp in the part right where it transitions from being a thin neck to the thicker block is not uncommon. If twisting the truss rod, the thick part is too hard to bend the same way as the thinner neck. If continuing to twist, something's got to give, and guess where it happens.

Seeing "ski jumps" or corkscrewing on older Fender guitars is not uncommon. Especially not if the truss rod has been abused for purposes like attempting to change the action or compensate for neck tilt, but even if not, it sometimes happens. The neck is then generally fairly straight from the headstock to around the 15th fret, where it curves and sometimes even twists sideways a little, and is straight again for the top few frets. Neck straightness is the very first thing I look for on older guitars, sighting along both the bass and treble sides. A dip can usually be fixed with the truss rod, but not if the dip is above the 12th fret or is different on each side.

John Sims wrote:
How is it difficult and costly to repair? As we have seen on this forum, people frequently remove their necks for no other reason than to check the labels. How difficult can undoing 4 screws be?

You won't unbend warped wood by undoing four screws. To get it straight again can mean removing the frets and leveling the neck before re-fretting. In some cases even drilling in and embedding reinforcements. And, in this case, also changing the truss rod.


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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 7:16 am
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That sounds fair enough and (with due respects to the luthier) it was suggested that a new neck may be as cheap/cheaper.

Could you put up with lighter gauge strings in the intermediate? It may not achieve much but it is a step towards reducing the tension.

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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 7:24 am
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arth1 wrote:

....
John Sims wrote:
How is it difficult and costly to repair? As we have seen on this forum, people frequently remove their necks for no other reason than to check the labels. How difficult can undoing 4 screws be?

You won't unbend warped wood by undoing four screws. To get it straight again can mean removing the frets and leveling the neck before re-fretting. In some cases even drilling in and embedding reinforcements. And, in this case, also changing the truss rod.


The point (obviously badly made) was it wouldn't be overly difficult to replace the neck. I wasn't suggesting that you would just loosen off the fixings and it would be job jobbed. The obvious beauty of a Strat, in this istance, is you can swap the neck so, if it is too far gone for economic repair, it makes sense to replace it.

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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 12:16 pm
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John Sims wrote:
The point (obviously badly made) was it wouldn't be overly difficult to replace the neck. I wasn't suggesting that you would just loosen off the fixings and it would be job jobbed. The obvious beauty of a Strat, in this istance, is you can swap the neck so, if it is too far gone for economic repair, it makes sense to replace it.

Indeed. (Except for the new Elite or other "very special" models for which there are no neck replacements. But presumably buyers take that into account when buying.)


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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 12:24 pm
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arth1 wrote:
John Sims wrote:
(Except for the new Elite or other "very special" models for which there are no neck replacements. But presumably buyers take that into account when buying.)


Original neck no but did "standard" neck may fit ?


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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 2:44 pm
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Hello again.

Just to update everyone, I brought my guitar to another luthier to get a second opinion, and he came to the same conclusion as the first one. I ended up ordering a USA Stratocaster neck from Fender, and they mentioned that I should receive it within a month from now. The price was really steep, but I look forward to having my strat back together again.

On a side note, how should I currently store my strat? I removed the strings and the bridge, as I discovered that the tension was too strong and the bridge ended up giving my strat a small ding...Would storing my strat this way be okay for my strat's body?

Thanks again everyone!


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Post subject: Re: Warped neck on my strat. What to do?
Posted: Sat May 21, 2016 7:06 am
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Quote:
On a side note, how should I currently store my strat? I removed the strings and the bridge, as I discovered that the tension was too strong and the bridge ended up giving my strat a small ding...Would storing my strat this way be okay for my strat's body?
I don't know what that means?
Store them, however you wanna store them. Some keep them cased...others display them.
Me personally? I have them sitting out (always have)...and to top it off; I have them sitting out in a basement studio. I DO have a room 'dehumidifier', but I didn't always---and other than a little atmospheric flex in the wood (that's what wood does) that causes one to tune the thing before playing it, nothing has ever happened to the "structure" and/or "trueness" of the instrument.

I have a 1985 Harmony H80T Strat copy that has been sitting out for 31 years, and looks, plays, and sounds just as good as day one.

Not sure why; but it drives some members of these forums crazy if a guy admits that he likes to 'look' at his guitars as much as play them.

What do you mean by "small ding"? The bridge plate and block springs are so loose that it made a crease in the wood of the body in front of the bridge plate?


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