I don't recall ever seeing anything but 7.5" radius "Fender" branded 70s three bolt necks.
Anyone know if Fender made a 9.5" radius three bolt neck on any specific model?
I'm looking to replace a neck on a 70s RI due to the really low nature of frets which are on their second dressing.
Given my druthers, I'd rather have a 9.5" radius and some medium jumbos.
If not Fender branded, any other options for a three bolt?
Have you checked Warmoth, USA-CG, Musikraft, and the rest of the "usual suspects"?
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
Warmoth does do a three bolt but USACG and Musikraft don't list three bolt as an option.
I was under the impression that none of them offered a three bolt. Thanks PM.
If there are no Fender substitutes I'll be huntin' down some waterslides and breaking out the mask.
I was kinda' hoping to take the easy way out this time...
The top two holes line up, so why not just drill the third one yourself?
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
There's also the issue of installing the stress pad for the micro-tilt adjustment on the re-issue 3-bolt necks. The pad is located in a precision-routed recess.Originally Posted by chuckocaster
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
PM is right about the machined recess. It could be done to a blank neck but would require a jig and some good measurements.
I repaired an old '78 Strat that had its neck removed rather quickly and with little finesse.
Lining everything back up in the damaged area took a little time.
Much easier to have the right neck to start with. I'm sure if I chunked my new neck routing that recess there'd be a heartache.
I was really hoping someone would chime in with a special model 70s style Strat that had a larger radius.
I don't really know of any, to be honest.
What you might do is pick up a tired MIM '70s Classic Strat neck for peanuts then have a competent luthier re-radius the board to your liking and re-fret it using the wire of your choice. That way it'd be a genuine Fender neck with all the correct appointments AND your personal specs. And it would spare you the indignity of having to put a bogus headstock decal on a "brand X" piece of lumber.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
Forgot about that part... Good catch! I personally remove the micro-tilt and shim if necessary. Seems that IME that little grub screw always come loose unless you put a little drop of nail polish on the threads.
Other thing I thought of was cutting that recess with a Forstner bit. I'd imagine that's how Fender does it? Line up the neck, hit it with a punch thru the micro-tilt hole... That's just me though.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help, hope you can work something out.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
A worn MIM is what I've got now. There's a couple luthiers in the area that I feel have the skills to re-radius the board with a re-fret.
I was told $280 and $300 for parts and labor. A base Warmoth neck would run $195. Optioned to my taste it jumps to $347.
I figured if there were an FSR run of 70s Strats necks with the 9.5" radius the price for a used US neck would be equivalent to the Warmoth replacement.
It's warming up, looks like I'll be sprayin' and not
Thanks PM & Chuck.
Three hundred bucks to re-radius and re-fret your existing neck is not out of line IMO. That might be your best option.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
Seems fair enough to me, just a refret around here is $250. If you like the neck shape then do it.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
When I didn't like the neck on my Hwy1 Strat I had USACG make me a raplacement and sold the original for what I paid for the USACG neck.
That's kind of what I'm mulling over now. The neck on her now is a thinner, 1 5/8" wide U shaped neck. The real 70s Strats I've played had more depth to their necks.
If'n I had my druthers it'd be a 1 11/16th mid-sixed boat neck around .870 at the first and .930 at the 12th.
I'm sold now, I can the sell the used Fender neck like Don said.
Glad I could inadvertently help you talk yourself into it!
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
Get yourself the neck you want.
THEN have the shim/plate 3-bolt work done. It would be a lot easier than re-radiusing and the time that takes for work, finish and curing.
BTW. The much-maligned three-bolt neck joint works fine if you set them up right.
+1
From an engineering perspective, the 3-bolt concept with the micro-tilt feature is sound. The problem was with the execution of it back in the CBS days where no funds were allocated to Fender for desperately needed machine-tool upgrades and other equipment vital to guitar production. As well, FMIC was squeezing its staff to do more with less and for less. QC/QA suffered and the tolerances for neck pockets grew ever-increasingly sloppier to the point that a precision fit between neck and body became a rarity rather than the norm. The guitars produced today do not suffer those issues because CAD/CAM-controlled tooling minimizes the margin for manufacturing error.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
I had an early MIJ Squier Strat that had a three bolt neck and bullet truss rod. I don't know if the neck attachment design was exactly the same but it worked well.
I never owned an original '70s Strat. I took guitar lessons in the '70s and my guitar teacher made sure that I knew how horrible he thought '70s Fenders and Gibsons were (the very guitars on the showroom floor in the store where I took lessons)!
I've had a few 70s Fenders with three bolts and the neck pockets were all sloppy which allowed the neck to shift when I got too exuberant.
May not be an issue any longer as I'm not nearly as spirited now as I was then!
I was turned off of three bolts for a long while because of my CBS Fender experiences. Then in the early 90s I played an '86 ASAT and the design worked as it should.
I now prefer the convenience of a 'proper' 3 bolt to 4 bolt.
Last edited by DanD; 03-08-2014 at 10:13 AM.
You musta' taken your lessons in Cincinnati at the old Buddy Rodgers of Kenwood.
I can remember dragging my Kay nylon string acoustic to lessons every Saturday. My instructor nearly begged the 'rents to get me a decent guitar as the Kay wouldn't stay in tune for 2 minutes...
My father was looking at the Gibsons and Fenders when my instructor pulled me aside and said, "don't let them get you one of those, look at Ibanez, they're the best guitars we sell."
Of course dad didn't hear me when I repeated this to him. The following X-Mas he headed down to the discount guitar shop (Midwest Music) and bought me a brand spankin' new Gibson Marauder in a Walnut Brown early Gibson attempt at faded finish.
One of my friends at the time who was 'clued in' to the guitar scene by his older brothers and uncle spent a bit more than my father and bought a well played '64 Strat and had it re-fretted.
I thought he was crazy spending that kinda' money on an old beater.
Live and learn!
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