Question for all you peeps...
Some time ago I got a helluva deal on this Cruz Master Design 63 Strat. Love the sound.
Not wild aboot the relic job, but it is what it is.
Love the neck SIZE but the bozo's sanded off all the finish and it FEELS like crap. I check for splinters every time I use it.
I'm thinking reneck. I am also thinking reverse head as I played one the other day and I actually prefer the tuners down there because it fells better on my wrist.
Now I am certainly not shy in the finishing department (I even built a collapsable spray booth in my garage) but I am thinking about just buying a neck instead. Reasons: Keep the old one for when my kids sell it as original.
Suggestions? Who has the good ones and is reputable these days?
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4404/...7a47a620_k.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4335/...d91eb0ca_k.jpg
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Re: Question for all you peeps...
Get some Buthcher's Bowling Wax or any other good paste wax for wooden floors and put a few coats on the neck before you do anything else. I prefer the unpainted necks myself. They don't get sticky when you sweat. It just needs to get played in a bit. The wax will likely help.
Chuck
Re: Question for all you peeps...
I second Chuck here.
I wouldn't butcher (reneck) a Cruz strat. Try to minimize the unpleasant feel by waxing it up.
Like you said, it is what it is, and if you really can't bond with it, sell it and get something else.
That's what I did to a Gibson '61 Reissue which had that stupid "faded" finish that Gibson makes to cut costs. The guitar was actually a VERY good Gibson SG, sounded and played very well but I simply couldn't stand the lack of gloss.
That guitar gave me two great joys: one when I first unboxed it, and one when I let it go and received the Rickenbacker I traded it for. I decided to get rid of it when I found myself with a flask of Tru-Oil and the stuff I'd need to apply it and try to give it some gloss. I then asked myself "what the hell am I doing? It's a modern faded Gibson, not a played in old one. Some people will like it, I just never will. F*** it!".
No matter how people try, "faded", "relic'd" or "worn" instruments feel like CRAP compared to a real instrument that was once glossy and has been played enough to actually have lost its original gloss to a "played in" feel. You just can't artificially produce that.
Re: Question for all you peeps...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sérgio
No matter how people try, "faded", "relic'd" or "worn" instruments feel like CRAP compared to a real instrument that was once glossy and has been played enough to actually have lost its original gloss to a "played in" feel. You just can't artificially produce that.
I wish this was a sign hanging in every guitar shop.
Re: Question for all you peeps...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
OldStrummer
I wish this was a sign hanging in every guitar shop.
Yes, in my own personal experience, these things are either cutting of cost or selling an illusion. Neither works as advertised...
Re: Question for all you peeps...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Offshore Angler
Get some Buthcher's Bowling Wax or any other good paste wax for wooden floors and put a few coats on the neck before you do anything else. I prefer the unpainted necks myself. They don't get sticky when you sweat. It just needs to get played in a bit. The wax will likely help.
Chuck
Do this.
Re: Question for all you peeps...
Warmoth. I replaced the neck on my American Standard Tele with Warmoth and used a Warmoth on my Strat build as well. Very happy with both.
mahogany/ebony
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/uq...M=w324-h640-no
maple/ebony
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1R...E=w382-h640-no
Re: Question for all you peeps...
I've long heard of people using ebony to make super strats but that may be the first tele I've seen with an ebony fingerboard. would love to play one and see how it feels and sounds
Re: Question for all you peeps...
I bet Warmoth necks are very good, and I'd certainly try one in any "player's" guitar.
But being a purist, I'd say that doing a reneck on a John Cruz just doesn't make sense, due to the unique nature of the guitar and to its value. I'd just get along with it or sell it to buy something I'd like more.
Ok, I know, you can keep the original neck and all, but come on, if you bought a masterbuilt strat, what's the point in making a partscaster out of it? Makes no sense.
I say sell it and buy a non-relic one.
Re: Question for all you peeps...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sérgio
I bet Warmoth necks are very good, and I'd certainly try one in any "player's" guitar.
But being a purist, I'd say that doing a reneck on a John Cruz just doesn't make sense, due to the unique nature of the guitar and to its value. I'd just get along with it or sell it to buy something I'd like more.
Ok, I know, you can keep the original neck and all, but come on, if you bought a masterbuilt strat, what's the point in making a partscaster out of it? Makes no sense.
I say sell it and buy a non-relic one.
It ain't a Masterbuilt.
It's a Master Design.
Cruz designed it and a team built it.
I have no problem changing a bolt on neck for something else.
But I'll try the wax first.
As I said, I like EVERYTHING about it except the raw neck (and crap relic).
Why would I sell it? It sounds awesome!
Re: Question for all you peeps...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
renderit
It ain't a Masterbuilt.
It's a Master Design.
Cruz designed it and a team built it.
I have no problem changing a bolt on neck for something else.
But I'll try the wax first.
As I said, I like EVERYTHING about it except the raw neck (and crap relic).
Why would I sell it? It sounds awesome!
To each his own. the guitar is yours and you can do whatever you want with it.
My point, though, is: Masterbuilt or master designed, whatever. It's a handmade (or at least hand finished) stratocaster, not a mass produced cheap bolt on. The neck was set up for that body.
Seriously, I get a bit pissed whenever people use that line (it's a bolt on, no big deal)... You see, my own main strat is an American Standard, and I wouldn't make a partscaster out of it, the fact the neck ain't glued into the body does NOT mean that any neck with four screwholes will fit and work just as well. People swap necks on good guitars when the neck breaks or when they have a very good reason to prefer the new neck. Actually they do it to set necks too, check Marc Bolan's Les Paul.
Just my 2 cents.
Edit. P. S. why would you sell it? Because you obviously don't like it as much as you would like to. The same happened to me. My Gibson SG was an outstanding '61 Reissue, excellent sound, played like butter, looked great, but I just couldn't love it exactly because of the " it FEELS like crap. I check for splinters every time I use it" feel of the "worn" finish they gave it.
:salud:
Re: Question for all you peeps...
In the end, you have to do what pleases you. I wouldn’t parts it. But that’s just me. I don’t like relics but I understand people who do.
Re: Question for all you peeps...
You can send it to me and write it off as a charitable donation :)