I got this 1997 Jimmie Vaughan Strat a couple weeks ago. I love the sound, but I have not gotten used to the soft V neck. (At least I think its a soft V)

Thankfully, I got it pretty cheap on craigslist. I am half tempted to swap the necks with a MIA neck...but is it worth all of the trouble of finding just a nice MIA neck? (MIA necks seem to run about $300 which is a pretty good chunk of change) What do you think?

pristine! why would you want to go changing that?, its a blues machine!

Worst comes to worst and you can't deal with it, then change it, but give it a month or two.

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My Rig: Guitar into Pedals then into Amps and out into Speakers.

If you do swap it out, let me know.

I'll buy that soft-V from you.

I LOVE soft-V necks.

You could also put the neck on CL for trade and see what you can get.

I have a tex-mex strat neck (I think) that is a lot like the JV neck, but it's not a V shape, it's a C, has vintage style logo and vintage style tuners, also made in mexico. Something like that would be a good replacement.

I would suggest you get a new neck from Warmouth, that way it will be exactly the neck you want.

http://www.warmoth.com/pages/guitarnecks.aspx

That guitar is absolutely gorgeous.

Most people (myself included) love the necks on the JV Strats. It's one the hottest selling necks on the market which is why you see so mant JV bodies on ebay. Several people I know have bought JV necks for their parts casters. I'm actually considering doing that myself.

If you can't deal with the neck then you could sell the current neck for one you like better. But personally I wouldn't do that because I think there's something inherently wrong with separating parts from an original guitar and then selling them. Warmoth makes good custom necks, that seems like a good way to go.

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Now this is really educational about JV Strats...

It is, in fact, Fender's generic soft V-neck which FYI I finally managed to nail Mike Eldred on as being the 10/56 neck carve which is often described on many higher end Stratocasters. It's been my preference for years as opposed to the 'modern-C', but IMHO the necks of choice in the Fender line are the Clapton's, by far, followed by the '57VHR's.
Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"

I'm not sure the neck pocket on an MIM such as a Jimmie Vaughn would accept an MIA neck or if the holes would line up.Having said that I have an '09 J.V. and love the neck.I have small hands and find the neck very comfortable,you should give yourself a chance to adapt to it.Over the years I have bought several guitars that although they sounded phenominal took some time to get used to the neck feel.Having 26 guitars I've grown accustomed to difference in neck sizes and feel.It is advantagous in the long run to get used to different necks.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Thanks everyone for the advice/compliments. I love the pickups and body, but the neck is painful for me to play on the first-third frets because of how I play.

I like to use my thumb some and with smaller hands its impossible for me to play with my thumb on this guitar.

Even if I dont use my thumb at all, it is a real challenge to play like a F barre or something like that. (pretty much causing fatigue on my hand) I have had it about 3 weeks now and its not getting any better.

Should have played more one the 1st-3rd frets before buying it.

Does anyone know if a MIA neck WILL indeed fit on a JV Strat body? Thanks again.

Oh, I see. As someone with smaller hands I can identify. I really wanted to like the SRV Signature Strat, and I really wanted to like the '62 RI Strats but my hands just couldn't do it.

You might want to try a MIM Standard neck too. It's a modern C and it has different string spacing. I have one from 2004, it's extremely comfortable to play with your thumb over the fretboard all the up and down the neck. Usually I'm not able to do that, but this particular neck is thin enough and the string spacing is narrow enough. American Strats are always wider and Mexican Strats are going to have import string spacing which is narrower and that makes it easier to fret with your thumb. Jimmie Vaughan Strats don't have the typical MIM string spacing, they have American string spacing with an American bridge. It's a subtle difference, but it's there.

I'm not trying to get you away from buying an American neck, but it's just something to take into consideration. Unfortunately if you put a MIM on then you might have to change the bridge, which can be a pain in the butt. I'm not sure if you have to do that or not, but if you do be sure and take it to a guitar tech and talk to him about it before you go out and buy anything like that.

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If Strats are your gig, and before you start putting $$'s into after-market parts and labor, find an Artist Series Clapton and see if the neck profile suits you. Do that first, then get back to us and we'll talk further.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Soft V is pretty cool. I actually love that profile. I just dislike maple fretboards. You could always try a MIM neck, the Deluxe series are really nice, such as Roadhouse, Lonestar, Players, etc...

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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There was a used Clapton Strat at the store today in perfect condition. My boss let me play it for about half an hour before I clocked it. It's not the best neck for my style (it would be better for people who prefer thinner strings, like .9s or .10s), but it did feel very, very nice. I like the fact that it has 22 frets and the neck pocket is still normal sized.

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