I have a 94 US standard strat which i've had from new. After it went for its first set-up I was told the allen key screw that adjusts the truss rod was stripped and couldn't be moved, meaning the neck was always very slightly out. Being young at the time I didn't care and they set it up the best they could. (This was a 3rd party not the store that sold me the guitar). Its had a load of services/set-ups through the years but I can't help wondering if it would play any better, especially higher up the fretboard if the neck was spot on. Its a got a great tone and i love it to death.

So I've got a couple of questions:-

1) What does everyone think, is it worth fitting a new neck? Its my main guitar and only strat so I dont mind spending a bit to look after it (on the flipside if it goes wrong I dont have anything else!!)

2) If i was to fit a new neck, I really like the 70's style headstocks. Obviously a 70's one is out of the question due to the 3 screws (and the cost!) but the current American Special necks have 4 screws - would they fit a 94 standard strat?? Anyone help with the technical aspects of this?

Thanks for any help/advice!

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"Can we have everything louder than everything else?"

Welcome.

The truss rod nut can be replaced where you don't have to go through the expense of a new neck. Evidently, whomever you took your guitar to first were the ones who stripped it and were either incapable of, or unwilling to replace it at their expense.

Without a shadow of a doubt, a properly adjusted neck is part and parcel of a properly set up guitar. By necessity, any guitar would play infinitely better being properly set up over one that was supposedly 'set up' around a maladjusted neck. Or to put it another way, if your neck was never properly adjusted, your guitar to this day has never been properly set up. Of note too is the fact that playing on an improperly adjusted neck over a prolonged period of time (in your case, years) will cause the frets to wear erratically.

As to a new neck, sight unseen, your neck is probably worth salvaging and cheaper than a new one. I really have to emphasize though (and at the risk of being redundant), a vital part of a set up is a correctly adjusted neck where a competent tech would have advised you about same, the stripped nut, and his/her plan for corrective action. As the bulk of this never happened, including advising you of the impending uneven fret wear, if I were you, I'd seriously consider looking for a new tech.

The three screw necks can be properly modified to fit a four screw scheme where the cost should not be astronomical. The current American Special necks would fit a 94 Standard Strat.

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You dig?

Thanks for your advice Martian.

What does replacing the truss rod nut involve?
I've searched the net and have seen such a thing as a Truss Rod Rescue Kit by Stewmac.com. Is this whats used to get the nut off?

I've been round all of the guitar repair stores in my area through the years and anytime I mentioned the stripped nut they start giving me the 'oooohh....' while looking down the neck and then proceed to give me the impression that its a tricky problem to solve or that its going to cost me!

To be fair it is only slightly out, but as I said I cant help wondering how much of a difference it would make if it was bang on.

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"Can we have everything louder than everything else?"

To replace the truss rod nut on the AM Std....you will have to drill out or otherwise find a way to remove the walnut plug at the headstock, where the adjustment hole lies. As for fitting a new neck, The American Special, and Highway One strat necks will drop right in. Even a 70's style neck with 3 bolt holes, will drop right in dimensionally, and it is a simple matter really, to just plug the existing 3 holes with hardwood dowels and drill the holes it will need to mount up. I have done this before I have a MIM strat that I removed a 4 bolt neck from, and replaced that neck with a 1970's classic series neck, converting the new neck to a 4 bolt. It took hardly any time at all, and the real time was just waiting for the glue to dry where I plugged the older holes with dowels

Sounds good, exactly the info I was looking for. I'll see how much it will cost to get the truss rod nut replaced and i'll weigh it up after that. I'd rather someone who has done this before tackled it rather than me gouging out holes all over the place. Great news about the American special neck, thats a serious option as i quite like how it plays (and looks) on its respective strat.

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"Can we have everything louder than everything else?"

Glad to be of assistance.

A truss rod nut is a device at the end of a truss rod. This nut adjusts the tension of a truss rod, thereby correcting neck warpage.

At the headstock of your guitar, right before the string nut you will see a (darker) wooden insert with a hole. An allen wrench gets inserted through this hole and fits into the tip of the truss rod nut. Upon the wrench being inserted and turned left or right as appropriate, this is how the rod gets adjusted.

Your truss rod nut is removable simply by unscrewing it. However, the aforementioned wooden insert must be removed first. This insert must be heated to where its glue joint loosens and the insert can then be freely extracted. At this point, the rod nut can be unscrewed and replaced with a new one.

The Stew-Mac kit is not warranted in your situation.

Those 'techs' who balk at replacing your truss rod nut are obviously incompetent.

"Slightly out" is akin to being, "a little pregnant", either it/one is or isn't. Consequently, I reiterate what I've said on the subject and maintain that it makes a huge difference.

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You dig?

Thanks again, I'll get some one to look at it who knows what the hell they're doing!

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"Can we have everything louder than everything else?"

Any time; good luck!

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You dig?