A complete newbie question -

If I take the neck off a strat, prior to the taking the neck off, set up is great, no issues…..so on

If I take the neck off, when I want to put it back on is it just simply, pop it back on, slap the screws in and its already naturally in place and back to the original position?

I've heard a lot about shims, and or credit cards stuffed in there and so on for specific angles and such?........would I have to mess with intonation again?

Same question for Teles………………..i know it’s a strat forum lol…………..why ask twice.

Thanks for any info.

YES!
Given that you take care that there's no gap between neck pocket and neck.
Hold it firmly in place when tightening the screws.

Intonation, string action ... everything will be as before.

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STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!

Modern Strats don't have shim or credit card . They use micro tilt or vintage one are so well made they usually fit with no shim.

But if no sure , loosen screws and check if there is a shim and where is it to know where to put it back

Wich Strat do you have ?

If you just remove the neck take a look and put in place before half hour , the truss rod won't move. If you need to remove the neck for long time , days .... better to loosen trus rod. Write with a pencil where is the nut before loosen .

Same answer for all Fender guitars with screw neck.

Awesome, thanks for the info gentlemen

I have two MIM Strats -

Black 2000 is my baby and a White one that im not sure of the year, im thinking between 2008 - 2010…cant remember, im getting old and time melds together.

I'll never touch the Blackie, but the white one is just to damn pretty, all controversy aside I was thinking of taking the neck off, and roughing up the body a little……leave it out in the sun……maybe drag it behind the mini van……...

Both guitars have been tossed clear across jam rooms landing in all sorts manners on concrete floors in sissy fits of rage and they still look brand new HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA……….Wish my SG had that type of testicular fortitude………….damn thing fell ONCE from its stand to land flat on a hard wood floor, the neck snapped………cost me $200 to get it repaired!.......damn strats have nary a mark!!!

Cept the black ones neck……….its aged so beautifully with that natural fire burn discoloration on the maple fret board, love it.

I have my pristine 10yrs or older shiny, looks like new guitars, and I have some that im just letting age natural like my Black strat…and I abuse my strats…….like a good wife……..more you beat them the better the look and sound

JUST KIDDING ABOUT THE WIFE PART……………………………have to be careful mine doesn't check the history and reads that lol!!!

But I figure I would delve a little into relic'in one for kicks…………….figured either my white strat or picking up one o dem vintage 50's tele Squires and try on that…………..always loved the look of a good $@!& kicked guitar.

Before you install the neck make sure the pocket is clean. I would look closely, after you put strings on, to see if the neck is aligned side to side in the pocket. There is a little bit of wiggle room with some guitar necks and if you look at the guitar face on see where the "E" strings are on the 21st/22nd fret lay. For example, if the high "E" string is too close to the edge of the neck then loosen all neck screws a turn and try to move the neck counter clockwise to bring the string in more. don't use a lot force since you don't need to. If she wont move loosen the screws some more and try again. I had to do this with my brand new AS Strat. She's OK now.

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...I for one, sure would appreciate the return of intelligent conversation, spirit of assistance and the simple yet effective ignoring of those who can't seem to hang with that...
Best regards,
rob

Hmmmmm....so...off topic for a sec, but its ok if i hy-jack my own thread lol

I have a black top JazzMaster.......the High E seems to be very close to the edge of the fret board......difficult to do pull offs without the string coming off............i had even installed the mustang bridge and buzz stop fixed ALL the other issues, but this one.

So could a fix for that be to take the neck off and re-align it?

Just loosen the four screw a little bit and "pull" the neck to put high E straight from the edge. Hold it and tight the four screws.
Your high E must be parallel to the edge , from nut to body side. Check also your low E string to be sure it is alright

+1

All it should take is as was written above. You don't have to take the screws off , just loosen a bit so that you can pull the neck towards the bass side to hopefully align the strings better.

Look down the neck from the bottom of the guitar to see how well matched both the Low E and Hi E are to the edge. Tighten back up and you should be good.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Just a little tip. When you tighten the screws back down, do it like the head bolts on a motor. Lightly tight each one in a corner to corner pattern. Like bottom left, top right, bottom right, top left. Tighten a little bit at a time till all are tight. I have seen people really tighten down one screw, like the top right, before even tightening the others. The wood on the body can crack in the finish or even wood, or the neck plate can get sucked down into the wood making an indentation.

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+ 100

Always important to not over tighten and use a cross pattern.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

I've taken the necks off of Strats several times and never had an issue, it's really a very simple process. Just be careful when putting the screws back in like mentioned above and you wont have any problem.

On a side note, if you want beat to sh*t looking guitar why not just buy some old beat up parts on eBay and build your own? You'll end up with a real, well used guitar. I'm betting you wont be thrilled with the result if you take apart your prestine white Strat and drag it around or whatever. It'll look like crap and it's resale value will go right down the toilet. Up to you of course.