Unfortunately, I don't. As a matter of fact, I don't even have any pictures of MY Strats!

FWIW, the Fender logo means a lot to me too as it stands for something. However, there are guaranteed, hundreds of thousands, probably millions of, "Fender-esque" guitars out there (Partscasters, et. al) with bootleg Fender decals where the guitars are of mixed and matched Fender and non-Fender parts; this is no exaggeration. There are also an equal number of players, veteran ones included, who can and cannot tell the difference. As you can see, one has to be very careful about second hand (presumed to be) Fender guitars.

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I believe I can help with that. Here's a picture of a Gibson with a broken neck. We all know how much more vulnerable to breakage Les Paul necks are than Strats...



Cheers - C

Well let me just say I feel for you Mary as to me the neck is one of the most important parts to a guitar it can make or break it,(no pun intended) It is easy for people to say go get another neck when a lot of years of breaking one in and molding it to make it fit like a glove goes poof. Also a real nice guy you were with who got you into an accident and gets a nice check could of at least bought you a new strat. Well now I have always let it be known how I feel about Fenders customer service-Horrible. But if there is ever a reason to give a new neck this would have to be one. Why cant she just go to her dealer with the guitar and explain that she was in a bad accident as a matter of fact play it up some like your lucky to be alive. Hand over the guitar so they can see that everything matches up and let her get a new neck. This is one time I am hoping Fender will prove me wrong but my gut tells me that like Martian said she is lucky if she gets a decal. Keep us posted Mary.

http://pickersparts.auctivacommerce.com ... 70568.aspx

http://pickersparts.auctivacommerce.com ... 60520.aspx

http://pickersparts.auctivacommerce.com ... 60584.aspx

let me clarify what i meant...
i didnt mean if the guys playing was legit, but more his personality? how he deals with things... will he pay me back for gas? will he repay favors? can i count on him to be on time to gigs? necks without logos always make me do double takes, i really cant explain futher than that.

and Martian - I agree with everything you said about the resell value about Fenders, even the oldest players sometimes let fakes pass as real Fenders... but I dont think I will part with my baby, even though the body is cracked as well... I like to think that when I put my baby back together, it will have a different tone!


to the guy who postedthe Gibson picture- I TOTALLY AGREE! I never liked the idea of a guitar that the neck was attached to... i get so scared! especially now!


and UPDATE!
I emailed CS (customer service- not custom shop LOL) and the man said exactlywhat you guys said- take it to a dealer blah blah authorization blah blah blah... great. paperwork. time. money. BOOO! i just want to play my baby again! ive worked out 'Lenny' for my acoustic, and i call it 'Benny' now, but its not the same as my strat.

Im also thinking about putting in a humbucker at the bridge pickup... I am hoping that it would take my rythym parts to a different level of choppiniess... i know ill have to change my pickguard (noooo!!!!!!!!!!) but the thing is, ive never seen someone have two single coils and then a humbucker at the bridge, only at the neck...

thoughts? pictures?

Mary,

I get absolutely NO satisfaction but rather disgust out of saying, "I told you so" when it came to Fender's response.

On the up side, right here from the Fender site is a picture of a Humbucker/Single/Single (HSS) pickup arrangement in a Strat with the humbucker (HB) being in the bridge:
http://www.fender.com/products//search. ... 0110100700

HSS pickguards for Strats are readily available in probably any color you can think of.

You could also get what's called a, "stacked" humbucker. It fits in a single coil slot just like your pickguard has now but it will have the majority of attributes of a full sized HB. These are readily available too.

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I hate to keep saying it but Fender really has no heart at there customer care service. For such a huge company they are the worst.Last time I put up a whole post on them and the few bleeding hearts that came out to defend them pop there heads out. .So Ceri showed that listing that proves they can do it under certain circumstances. Well they had no pity that it was a woman who was in a car accident and loved her guitar so much she just wants to get it fixed if thay cant take pity in that. If it was Peavey they probably would of sent flowers and a new guitar -Class. You know how Yngwie is so arrogant its funny but the fact is he can back it up because the guy is great. Fender can back it up and get away with it because they make a great product but theres nothing funny here.Just corporate greed.

Yes, but hold on. You're saying Customer Services said you CAN get a replacement Fender neck for your Strat under these circumstances?

So there you go. Sure, it's a hassle and it's not cheap. But it's there if you want it.

And regardless of the other driver's status, the driver of the car you were in should have insurance cover that will pay for the job. If he doesn't, smack him - and then take a look at your home insurance, which may well cover it (see earlier on this thread).

And if that don't work either, then you just have to decide how much you want that guitar fixed - whether it's worth paying for.

But at any rate, there is a way forward.

Good luck - C

Yes, it sounds to me as though they were willing to help as long as it was done through there dealers. People have to know they are not just going to sell a neck or send a logo to just anyone. Its also one thing to have a logo it is another to place it and finnsh the neck as it should be. Have you ever seen a fake Fender logo put on the neck and you can see it is just a waterslide that someone made. Thats the poor apliques but I have seen some done correctly its not realy that hard to do with knowledge of the process. Fender don't need to add to the issue by making them availiabe in a easy manner.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Hold on: They didn't say she'd be successful, they merely instructed her as to the process.

Bear in mind that if you don't allow the facility to do all the work from start to finish, there is a good chance they may not entertain her dilemma. Having said that, let's say for the sake of argument she is successful, keeping in mind that it is Fender, NOT the facility having the last word, I wonder how much the facility will in fact, charge to examine the neck, do the paperwork (oh, yes, there is definitely paperwork involved), take the neck off the guitar, the hardware off the neck, send the neck back to Fender and then, what kind of discount, if any she'll get on the replacement neck, how much the shipping charge to the facility will be, how much the facility is going to charge her to put the components back on the new neck, put the neck on the guitar, how much to set the whole guitar back up again and, how long this whole ordeal is going to take. At least, the price of a used MIM shall be spent.

And then there's this whole other consideration I've been, "beating the drum" about over and over and over again: Just because a facility is authorized by Fender (and/or any other manufacturer for that matter), it should never be presumed that the tech or techs within are competent.

Am I a pessimist? Well, I'll say this: All a pessimist is, is an experienced optimist.

To my whole diatribe, YMMV.

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You dig?

The neck is a write off? The body is cracked? That's both halves of your instrument seriously compromised..

I understand that it's your baby, and this being so, you may want to take it to a tech for a basic woodworking repair. Then depending how it turns out - retire it, and still love it even as non working.

Realistically, even with a new neck - the cracked body means your baby is never going to be the same again. Actually, in your shoes I'd be more worried about the body damage, given how easily the neck issue can be dealt with.

Don't know how you're fixed, but lite ash Fender Strats are very keenly priced. Even more so if you can find a second hand one. You could cannibalise the neck or just call the new one baby 2.. (depends on that body damage of course)

If I sound unsympathetic, honestly I'm not. It's just that sometimes you have to be prepared to weep for a while, curse your bad luck, then take the economic view. And while you're at it, give consideration to the question - "how much of the guitar can I replace and for it still to be the same guitar?"

Leo Fender designed his guitars to be modular in construction - ie any strat neck should fit any strat body. My advice is to take advantage of this, or as i say - retire her and move on.

Hi Martian: for sure, it's a tiresome process and it is definitely expensive. We know that from the other stories we've heard here of people doing it.

But it's not an open-ended commitment: Mary will get a quote and be able to decide whether she wants to go ahead or not.

There was a whole lotta talk earlier on this thread about the supposedly prized status of that Fender logo on the neck - Mary says she doesn't trust someone who plays a guitar without it. Presumably the price will be thought worth paying, therefore.

There was also talk of the resale value of Fender guitars. Whether we care about that or not, to the extent it exists it is because of the exhaustive protection this company does of it's brand - essentially, that logo'd neck. If we could buy a Fender neck over the counter every kid would slap one on their cheapocaster - and the status and value that appears to concern Mary would evaporate.

Of course, to not worry so much about those things would be another way forward...

Cheers - C

Agreed.

(I said that she'd have spent more than what a used MIM would cost. Rather, I meant a used MIA.)

Another ultimate consideration for Mary to is the issue of sight unseen, will she like even a bonafide Fender replacement neck?

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Everyone has been posting great things, but this is one in particular i want to respond to. I have been looking into buying another lite ash strat. i dont think the body cracks are that bad. the body isnt falling apart, and its more of a hairline crack, rather than a fracture.

To the person who posted the whole scenario- i think it was you, Martian (if it wasnt, sorry, kudos to you then) about having to go to the shop, get it evaluated, paper work, labor costs, price of neck, price of set up, etc etc, I agree with you. I feel a little regret even posting this thread because now I'm thinking about getting another strat, maybe a used MIM- mostly because of this post (the one with the whole play written out).

you guys seem to hate on the fender customer service, and their reputation seems horrible... does anyone have indepth experiences they would like to share? from that one email i receieved back (which was quite fast actually, i sent it at night, they responded next morning), it didnt seem too bad. who ever mentioned that Peavy would give out a new guitar and flowers- REALLY? as you serious?! someone please tell me why fender is so bad? they didnt curse at me in the email, nor say NANNERNANNERPOOPOO TOOBAD!!!! so in my book, so far, i think they are doing a pretty good job... are my standards too low?