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Post subject: What Did I Buy?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 6:46 pm
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Hi all,

I posted a similar message on the Stratocaster forum and some helpful people identifed a Stratocaster that I had bought on Sunday. I purchased a Telecaster neck from the same guy at the same time andd I am hoping people on the forum can help me to identify what this is. His claim is that the neck is from a Telecaster from the 60's. It had belonged to his father who was a former employee of Gibson and that as well as collecting Gibson guitars, he also collected Fender guitars and had a number of projects on the go at the time of his death. This neck was apparently part of one of those projects. I am very new to this and I would greatly appreciate help in identifying what I have. I acquired it inexpensively. I am not interested in flipping it, even if it does have significant monetary value. I just really like the look and feel of the neck and it will be used in my own project to create a Telecaster that suits me personally. If it is of reasonable value, however, I want to treat it with the respect that it deserves. If not, well, I will have no qualms about making a few changes.

To me, the neck looks like it is fairly old. I think it would be very challenging to artificially age a guitar neck like this without it being obvious. The tuners are obviously not original. The frets have very little wear, so the neck has either been refretted or it is a fake. The wear on the neck and the frets looks genuine. The headstock has the shadow of the Fender Telecaster logo on it where the lettering has kept light from reaching the wood and finish, preventing it from yellowing with age. This is subtle and I have taken the three headstock images and manipulated them to increase the contrast so that the faint shadows are more visible. The nut appears to be genuine, but possibly non-original. There is very slight grooving in the fretboard where yould expect it to be on a well used neck. The fretboard wear, while visibly subtle, is apparent to the touch and feels natural, as one would expect for a guitar neck that is naturally worn from use.

I have uploaded a bunch of images to OneDrive: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aj6LtQnf_cKrjPgzWOXmy8d5XwPfAA?e=VddJfk

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts.


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Post subject: Re: What Did I Buy?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 7:53 pm
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The original tuners were basic cheap import units common on Squiers and all manner of Asian guitars.
The CBS era "F" tuners had the angle of the screws the other direction (the bottom ear would hang over the edge of that neck)... so the original tuners were NOT Fullerton/CBS era "F" tuners.
Image

The neck was obviously painted with tinted (something) while those tuners were installed... and while the neck was installed on the body.
The color variations you see are not natural, there would not be such a harsh line between the light maple and tint.
The truss rod insert is not US production.
At best, that is a Mexican or Japanese neck... but the cheap tuners would not typically be found on those.
I'm not positive whether the Korean models had the black plastic insert.
US models after the era of the "bullet" adjuster are Walnut... none are plain or plastic.
You can see tooling marks in the "wear" on the neck... it is a home "relic" job.
The shadow from the decal makes no difference... decals have been available for many, many years.

The wooden plug on the heel and the end of the skunk stripe are not Fender quality work... that is extremely sloppy, and the "plug" should be steel... that is the anchor for the bottom of the truss rod.
Pictured below is the heel of a Mexican Fender neck.
Image

Sorry... I really hope you did not spend a lot of money on the body or the neck.

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Last edited by CB91710 on Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: What Did I Buy?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:08 pm
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Thanks for the quick reply.

In Canadian dollars, I spent $325. In USD, it works out to about $245. For a total of $500CAD - $375 USD, I got this neck and a Black Squire Strat body with a set of Custom Shop Texas Specials and a lot of natural play wear. I have a thread by the same name in the Strat forum where the experts helped me to identify the Strat.

So no bargain. Disappointing that the purchase was misrepresented to me, but I think not a horrible price for a cool looking reliced neck, some Custom Shop pickups, a reliced body, a couple of interesting, fun projects and a bunch of learning.


Last edited by mjlant on Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: What Did I Buy?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:14 pm
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Assuming the pickups are not also faked, they sell for about $170 brand new, but if you were at $500 for the body and neck, you're into it for double what it's really worth.

Here''s a shot of my Texas Specials. Note the color of the insulation on the coils....

Image

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Post subject: Re: What Did I Buy?
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:25 pm
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Hmm... disappointing to hear that.

My statement about the pickups being Texas Specials is only what I was told on the Strat forum. I don't know enough to be able to tell what model they are. Texas Specials sell new in Canada for $249 CAD plus 13% tax.
https://www.long-mcquade.com/65817/Guitars/Parts/Fender-Musical-Instruments/Custom-Shop-Texas-Special-Stratocaster-Pickups-Set-of-3.htm and used, for about $170 CAD - if they are real of course. If not, then they might be worth $50. A cheap body and hardware would run at least $100. A neck, even a cheap one would be $100 CAD, so I am a below water on this - maybe by half.

By and large, probably not worth the effort and I will probably not get my money back when I sell the completed projects, but I will have learned a lot.

Much to learn....

Thanks for your help.


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Post subject: Re: What Did I Buy?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 5:57 pm
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Just a thought. Perhaps you should ask these questions BEFORE you put your money down. :wink:


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