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Post subject: Long shot- replacing a very unique Fender neck
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 11:22 am
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I've been meaning to post this over the years, and Fender's renewed commitment to offering authentic parts reminded me to come back here and post. Here's the situation:

About 6.5 years ago, I picked up an Olympic White 2001 '68 Reverse Headstock Stratocaster. These were relatively low production guitars, offered for a one year span to replace the 1997 Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Stratocasters after the Hendrix estate dispute put an end to those guitars. (See number 6 on this list http://guitarinternational.com/2010/05/05/jimi-hendrix-fender-stratocasters-that-pay-tribute-to-hendrix/)

To make a long story short, the guitar was everything I wanted and needed, but a Fender Authorized tech found that there were some neck issues- some warping or inflammationnear the neck joint which makes notes fret out on bends above the 10th fret or so unless you set the action to an unplayable height. I wasn't a huge lead player, so I dealt with it. Eventually got the guitar signed by John Mayer and it has been my prized possession ever since.

After gigging for a while I became predominantly a lead player, and the white strat wasn't cutting it anymore. I needed to solo and as great as the guitar was, and as much as I loved it, it couldn't do it. I picked up two other Hendrix Voodoo strats over the years and gigged those into the ground, but the point remains: while they all play like heaven, none sound quite as sweet as the white one does.

I want to make it my main strat again, but I need more than half the neck to be functional. I have had Warmoth necks and they're great, but with the rarity of this guitar, I want an authentic Fender replacement. I don't care what it costs, I don't care how long it takes. All I care is that I can say it's an untainted, authentic '68 Reverse/Voodoo Strat. I don't even care if the replacement neck has a rosewood fretboard (the originals had this option). All I care is that the specs and serial number are authentic and consistent. It has to be a big CBS reverse headstock, maple cap or rosewood fretboard, nitro and tinted finish, late 60s profile, no skunk stripe, medium jumbo frets, and F-style tuners.

My concern is whether Fender just has necks like this lying around. My worst fear is that they don't. I know they made an MIM reverse headstock model a few years back, but any leftover necks from that model won't cut it. Totally different specs. Similarly, a plain old lefty neck won't work, even if the decal is flipped, because the neck markers will still be on the wrong side, and to my knowledge, Fender isn't even currently making a lefty neck with all the same specs. I just want a legit replacement.

So... What are the chances? I know it's a long shot but it would make me one happy person if I could pull this off!

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Post subject: Re: Long shot- replacing a very unique Fender neck
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 11:32 am
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Have you ever taken the neck (or the guitar) to a competent luthier for a comprehensive diagnosis? If the neck is able to be reconditioned rather than replaced, I'd think that would be the more desirable option. Worth a shot anyway (if you haven't already done so).

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Long shot- replacing a very unique Fender neck
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 12:28 pm
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I've gotten second, third and fourth opinions over the years and their responses have been pessimistic enough that some kind of heat treatment or sand job would be my last resort rather than my first step. At least one thought it wasn't at all possible, another said he could try something but with no guarantees and that it likely wouldn't be a permanent fix, and I believe one luthier contradicted that and didn't seem to think it was all too bad.

For context, this guitar was originally delivered to me from a warm state to a cold state in the middle of November, at the end of the day which meant it had ridden in the back of a Fedex truck all day, and with what I like to call "piano-heavy strings" a la SRV, all without having detuned the guitar for shipment. I had a juvenile understanding of guitar tech at the time and thought it was the cold that would kill it, not sudden changes. I was eager and probably opened the case sooner than I should've, and didn't take it to a tech till a week later.

The guitar was around 6 years old at that point and had clearly been gigged hard. So whether the damage was done before I had it, during shipment, or due to my negligence once I got it, the point remains that it's apparently pretty bad, and while I didn't care at the time (wasn't a soloer, wanted to keep the rare guitar), I just want it to be fully playable again!

Still totally open to looking into repair options, but figured I'd ask about replacement given the level of risk associated with some warp repair methods and the luthier/tech reactions I've gotten so far.

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Post subject: Re: Long shot- replacing a very unique Fender neck
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 12:46 pm
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I understand.

FWIW, here's what I would do.

Find the very best luthier that you think is competent and trustworthy, one who's willing to go the extra mile to fix your existing neck. Turn it over to him and pray.

Simultaneously, I'd seek out a "fall-back" position in the form of an all-new neck if the worst-case scenario becomes reality. Warmoth, Musikraft, and USACG Guitars all offer custom work for situations such as you describe.

You'll need the complete set of specs for the original furniture -- radius, fret-wire size, number of frets, the whole can of whupass. Of course the replacement will not have Fender's logo on it but if everybody does their homework, you'll have your guitar back and playable.

JMOOC

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Long shot- replacing a very unique Fender neck
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 12:50 pm
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I doubt your gonna find a neck like you want. If it were me I would take the pick guard with p/us out of it and put them in a suitable guitar.


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Post subject: Re: Long shot- replacing a very unique Fender neck
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 7:34 pm
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Yeah, I had a feeling the solution would ultimately entail prayer and part-swapping but figured I'd put a feeler thread out and see if anyone thought I stood a chance.

Don't know what I'll do if I can't get the genuine replacement. I know companies like Warmoth make some quality products. I actually have a Warmoth on one of my other guitars and I love it for that particular guitar. I know it seems a little juvenile since the aftermarket neck could be virtually identical to a factory one, but even if it's a totally irrational mental thing, I can't get as excited to play my parts guitars as I get for these ones. Just can't really explain the itch to keep it factory; it'd be one thing if I was an investor and this was a resale value thing, but I'm way too sentimental to ever part with these guitars.

I also don't really have any other complete guitars in mind that I'd want to transplant the electronics into.

One solution might be swapping necks amongst my strats. The problem is, the white and the sunburst are my favorites, but the black one is literally in mint condition. So not only would it require me to start gigging parts from a guitar that I've otherwise been protecting, but it would also leave me in the same position as before- one of my guitars with a bad neck, acting like a paperweight most of the time.

Also, finding a used Voodoo strat neck from a parted out guitar is pretty much out of the question. Hard enough to find them put together. And while people part out the full left-handed Tribute model more often than the Voodoos, the neck on the Tribute has different specs (7.25, vintage frets, etc).

I guess it comes with the territory. Just like cars, the rarer the original, the harder the replacement parts are to find.

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Post subject: Re: Long shot- replacing a very unique Fender neck
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 12:41 am
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Big shame to hear it's not easily recoverable: I'm also a huge fan of the Voodoo Hendrix/'68 Reverse Strats, and while a whole one occasionally pops up on eBay, I've not seen just a neck for sale. Pickguards and neckplates pop up too, but not necks.

If it genuinely can't be repaired, and if this happened to one of my Voodoos, I'd get one custom made by the best luthier in town. I'd then do my best to track down a gold transition logo and other headstock accoutrements to make it as visually close to the original as possible. I wouldn't bother with the S/N on the back of the headstock but just keep the original neck for ID and verification purposes.

Like you I love these rare and fantastic Strats so I would go as far as possible to preserve the guitar's original aesthetic.


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Post subject: Re: Long shot- replacing a unique Fender neck
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 2:04 am
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From your description it sounds like the Strat has a classic "rising tongue" problem where the fingerboard or pocket end of the neck rises up. Not easy to fix but not impossible either. The drastic solution is to remove the top frets, plane the neck back a tiny amount then refret. The difficulty is that this problem mainly seems to affect maple necks so you'd then have to refinish the neck. Guitar repair people sometimes talk you out of a job like this, I think their reasoning is that the cost of the repair would be more than the guitar would cost to replace. That doesn't mean that it's not worth doing if you really value the guitar, it just means that on something like a five year old Mexican Strat they'd probably advise you to junk the neck and get a replacement.

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Post subject: Re: Long shot- replacing a very unique Fender neck
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 7:04 am
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Have you contacted Fender? Maybe the Custom Shop could make a duplicate neck.


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Post subject: Re: Long shot- replacing a very unique Fender neck
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 7:59 am
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ras1500 wrote:
Maybe the Custom Shop could make a duplicate neck.


They can't. The CS makes only complete instruments.

Warmoth is the best place for getting custom replacement necks.


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