Where do you buy your build / replacement necks? I'm thinking of replacing a neck on a guitar, and as it's a special guitar to me, I'd like to know all of my options. Something custom is probably the way I'd be leaning, but I'm also open to buying one off the shelf (or even used provided it's what I'm after). I know of Warmoth ... that's it. This is something I've been thinking about for a long time, so I think I'm ready to start making a move.
My CS EC Strat. The neck has an ever so slight twist down toward the headstock, and while it doesn't make the guitar unplayable, I have to set it up such that the lower strings are a bit high for my liking (you know, I like really-really low action). For me, the body is where it's at, as it's a Clapton Strat, but finished in nitro. About as close to his stage guitar as you can find (you know, aside from a stable neck ) ... still, the temptation of just turning the whole thing into "my guitar" has been on my mind for a long time, and I think I should just do it. I keep thinking of buying a new Strat, but I really already have the perfect one in front of me right now if I just make it so.
Btw on a side note, googled it...wow. those specs SUCK for that money. Noiseless pups? Worst tuners available? Yikes. No premium feature except that riftsawn or quartersawn neck, depending which spec you look at (allegedly - pictures online sure don't look like neither proper rift nor quarter)....which is what let you down anyway
I'm a scratch builder. I buy wood and make the neck as I want it to be. Along with the rest of the guitar. Warmoth makes replacement necks that are as good as they get, but while the quality is premium, so is the price.
Ive been using Allparts necks forever ,and an odd Warmoth when I want somethin a little unique I decided I wanted a fat strat neck w/ a CBS headstock, which Allparts does not stock ,so I ordered a custom spec one from Warmoth
Ive had a couple warmoth necks built. Didnt ask for it but both of them ended up nicely flamed maple. They should be able to build you a pretty close replica. I think they actually have a clapton profile (V neck?).
I have 2 Wenge necks both with Ziricote fret boards. One of them is a standard thin profile with a 10-16" compound radius and I like it, but don't care so much for the thin profile. The compound radius fb is ok, I don't really notice it. The other one that I recently bought has a 59 roundback profile with a straight 12" fb radius and I absolutely love that one. I'll be buying another one just like it for my next build.
I've been dealing with Wormoth for 30 years. The Strat I built out of their wood has been my main strat since I built it. They are my #1 resource for guitar woodwork.
I use both Warmoth and Chinese necks I get on ebay/Amazon for around 37$. The Warmoths come with Graph Tech nuts, I put a Graph Tech on the cheap Chinese necks. I do my own fret work and finishing either way. In general the Warmoth feels like quality but then it's around 5X the price and more. I've gotten good and bad from both necks but it really hurts your feelings when you spend Warmoth money and it's a bad neck. And you won't know if it's any good until you finish it and do the frets and play it so you're pretty much stuck. The 37$ neck I can just throw away. In the end good cheap Chinese necks play as well as a good Warmoth but again I'm doing all the work on either one. Sometimes I just want an expensive exotic neck and will still buy a Warmoth, sometimes I put together a guitar that's 175$ in total and use the Cheap Chinese. Some of those end up being my favorite guitars to play. If you've done frets and worked with necks before then anything is fine. If you haven't you can't go wrong starting with something super cheap and teaching yourself on it. Then replace it with something expensive and throw the cheapo away or put it on a cheap body and keep playing it.
With Warmoth you can get Gibson short scale conversion necks. I don't know if anyone else does that. All my Warmoth necks are short scale and I like that.
Another positive testimony for Warmoth. I've build several guitars using Warmoth necks and have nothing but positive things to say... totally worth the money in my opinion.
That's interesting, I didn't know that existed for strat neck replacements. I favor Gibson scale so I may need to look into these.
Another Warmoth guy. My last was a fender licensed with the 10-16 in radius, double truss, with a pre cut floyd in roasted maple. Sweet !
