Telecaster Neck Needed! Which one? Where from?..

[KurtR]

I'm not much of a guitar player but if you are looking into getting a new neck this guy is a pretty good builder. http://www.starrguitars.com/ He makes new teles out of swamp ash then he wears them down to feel like to good old ones. I'm sure he could fix you up.

Or you could just get this.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-Vintage...QQcmdZViewItem

[cramseur]

Order one from http://www.warmoth.com. Theymake nice necks.

[Musiclab]

definetly warmoth for a neck. Then do yourself a favor get rid of that duncan in the bridge and get a fralin, you will be much happier.

[Sqye]

wutz uh telecaster?
iz that where i stand on one side of the rume,
en u stand on duh uh-thuh side uh thuh rume,
en then you jussssss telecasssssssssst all your thoughts over 2 me, soooo seeecretly

[Messiah]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

definetly warmoth for a neck. Then do yourself a favor get rid of that duncan in the bridge and get a fralin, you will be much happier.

Maybe I'll just get a neck on it before I start deciding on changing the pickups...

I must say though, I'm expecting/hoping for something good from the Duncan Broadcaster pickup in the bridge.

There are a couple of lefty necks in the showcase section of the Warmoth site that seem cool, I might plump for one of them...

[peterr]

also look at

http://www.allparts.com

and

http://www.usacustomguitars.com

Peter

[Dave Martin]

I'm happy with the Warmoth neck I bought, too. of course, they're unfinished...

[usamike]

Unless you're in a huge rush to get this thing up and running, I would stay with eBay and find a fender neck. There will be a lot less lefty necks up there I'm sure, but probably not too many people bidding on them either. Something about getting a real fender (although the logo always looks wierd upside down and backward).

Someone else brought up pickups so I'm not hijacking here. My tele has Bardens in it and I want to take her back to stock, but the original pickups are long gone. What pickups do people recommend for a classic tele sound. Remember the solo on 'Middle of the Road' by the Pretenders? Something like that.

-Mike

[RinnyTin]

The fretwork on a lot of Fender necks are shite, I'd go with a Warmoth neck, they do really decent fretwork. Unfinished, yes, but lacquer isn't so nice, you can try tung oil:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishin..._Tung_Oil.html

Takes a while but the neck gets nice.

Duncan Antiquity or Alnico II Pro both great tele pickups.

[Jim Williams]

That model of Duncan's use alnico II magnets, a softer top end than the spanky alnico 5's. You can set them a bit closer to the strings since they have less magnetic pull. Love that P-90, keep that!

Necks are all so individual, no one source is guarenteed great. I would probably select a company, then actually go to the factory to select the wood, cut, and finish as all these things cause many variables. I shape my own necks before finishing them so they fit my hand. I like very dense maple with close rings with a rosewood fingerboard, more organic and I get better top end snap than most maple fingerboards with their poly car paint finish.

Yea, it's worth the extra effort, after all, it's a TELE!

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[TAVD]

I did a few guitars with Warmoth & Mighty Mite necks in the old days and had mixed results. On average in my experience, I'd say the MM necks were a little better.

I'd recommend USACG as well.
http://www.usacustomguitars.com/

[swafford]

I've got two warmoth necks on two different teles and I love them.

[godcity]

whats this talk of warmoth not finishing necks? i've bought 3 or 4 necks from them and they've been more than happy to finish them. and they do a great job. i especially like the vintage yellow satin finish.
i think this git would be badass with one of warmoth's satin vintage yellow necks with CBS headstock and short-scale conversion.

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by Messiah

Maybe I'll just get a neck on it before I start deciding on changing the pickups...

I must say though, I'm expecting/hoping for something good from the Duncan Broadcaster pickup in the bridge.

There are a couple of lefty necks in the showcase section of the Warmoth site that seem cool, I might plump for one of them...

Warmoth necks are really nice, I have one of those duncan broadcaster pickups, it's like a needle going thru your head, nothing like what you would expect. Years ago Seymour Duncan made wonderful pickups, I have an old Duncan 59 on my Les Paul and a JB on a custom guitar. But every Seymour Duncan vintage pickup I've heard has been real thin. I have a strat that had duncan alnico II's, same thing. I replaced my SD tele broadcaster pickup with a Fralin and did the same with my Strat and fell in love.

[swafford]

Yeah Fralins are nice for vintage tone. Ditto to Van Zandt's, at least the ones wound by the old man - I have a set of True Vintage on my '64, haven't heard the ones wound by his nephew. There's a little known pick up maker down in Melbourne, Ky, Jim Rolph, who wound me some for a thinline a few years back - wow. Amazing. Thinlines look cool, but usually sound like crap.

[Bolt Thrower]

Just wanted to cast another vote in favor of Warmoth. Their compound radius is a great feature and the necks are super smooth (satin finish). Getting the nicest woods and upgrades for it can bring the price north of $400, but I have to say that Warmoth necks are some of the most comfortable I've ever played.

My only gripe is that my neck order (which was closer to $500) shipped without a Truss Rod adjustment tool. Considering that the neck requires this to finish its setup, I found this to be a bit insulting given the cost.

[Jim Williams]

Originally Posted by swafford

Yeah Fralins are nice for vintage tone. Ditto to Van Zandt's, at least the ones wound by the old man - I have a set of True Vintage on my '64, haven't heard the ones wound by his nephew. There's a little known pick up maker down in Melbourne, Ky, Jim Rolph, who wound me some for a thinline a few years back - wow. Amazing. Thinlines look cool, but usually sound like crap.

I went through the pickup re-winding thing back in the 70's when I was building guitars (like the maple double neck used by John McLaughlin) with Rex Bogue. I now prefer the stock machine wound Fenders for the most part unless I'm going after a select response, like the 2k ohm coils Seymor Duncan made for my custom Tele 12 string in 1979.

My Thinline has a '65 strat neck, stock pickups, a old style bridge with brass saddles. These are great combination as it took several incarnations to find the right combination of parts for that guitar.


Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[mhartman]

just another shout out for Warmoth. They do a great job. If you go through their showcase or closeouts you can get yourself a really good deal. You can also find some warmoth stuff on ebay from time to time.

Mike

[vall]

"[quote=Messiah;683461]I've just picked this Tele body ....
....Can anyone recommend a good place to get a LEFTY Tele neck?..."

There's a guy in Germany ,he takes special orders on anything :necks
bodys,pu's...anything... and his work is just amazing.E mail :
l-bryk.de

[notryt]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

Warmoth necks are really nice, I have one of those duncan broadcaster pickups, it's like a needle going thru your head, nothing like what you would expect. Years ago Seymour Duncan made wonderful pickups, I have an old Duncan 59 on my Les Paul and a JB on a custom guitar. But every Seymour Duncan vintage pickup I've heard has been real thin. I have a strat that had duncan alnico II's, same thing. I replaced my SD tele broadcaster pickup with a Fralin and did the same with my Strat and fell in love.

If your gonna buy a finished warmoth neck.. buy another used telecaster instead and sell the other.. far cheaper.. warmoth neck cost more than a MIM tele.. and the necks are the same in the USA and the MIM versions

[Jim Williams]

The benefit of Warmoth is you get to choose everything. Buy used and you get what you get.

Straight maple, birdseye or flame maple. Mahagony, walnut, rosewood, you pick. Maple, rosewood or ebony fingerboards. Plastic, pearl or abalone inlays. Several fret choices including stainless steel.

Pick a Fender 7 1/2" radius, Gibson 12" radius, modern Fender 9.5" radius or compound. Pick a finish or none at all.

Most importantly, neck shape. They have a size for everyone. The Clapton shape fits my hands best, no fatigue.

No brainer. Add one of their fine hardwood bodies and make a special guitar.

[vernier]

I like the looks of maple, but that burst would look good with rosewood, so what the heck.
.
.
.

[Sofa King]

Originally Posted by Messiah

I've just picked this Tele body up off eBay and I need to get hold of a neck to go with it...
It's got a Duncan Broadcaster in the bridge and a Duncan P-90 at the neck...

I'm thinking a '62 Custom Bound style would look best (rosewood) but I'm open to suggestions from any Tele guru's.

So, what d'ya think would suit it most?

MOST IMPORTANTLY:

Can anyone recommend a good place to get a LEFTY Tele neck?

TIA!

check out The Guitar Mill in Nashville.
I have one of their Teles, and its just perfect.
They also sell parts.

Bodies/Necks

[_Ludovico]

It depends on what specs and finish you want.

Warmoth necks are very nice but they're only offered finished in poly. Also, they don't offer the super comfy 7,25" fretboard radius.

They promote their compound radius alot, and I do not know if it's that great because I haven't tried it.

When I was looking for a neck for a partscaster, I ordered from Musikraft.com, because I wanted a full 7,25" ratio and nitro finish.

Depeding on what exactly you want, they're all good...

[Jim Williams]

Last time I checked you can get 7 1/2" radius and nitrocellulose laquer finishes from Warmoth.

[_Ludovico]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

Last time I checked you can get 7 1/2" radius and nitrocellulose laquer finishes from Warmoth.

Good thing then cause they're great!