belikin Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 First off let me say this is a terrific site. Hopefully I'll be able to share some of my experiences towards other members' future projects. I am about ready to start building my 2nd guitar, which will be a telecaster. One thing is, I ended up being born left-handed which sucks for guitar playing (one of the reasons I started building guitars). I'll probably end up buying the neck off ebay, but there are no lefty tele necks for sale, while strat necks are aplenty, and I'm debating whether or not to just buy one of those. Is there any signifcant difference between the 2 types? If the dimensions at the heel are a little off that's probably fine because I should be able to redesign the neck pocket to match. Thanks a lot for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 The only thing making a Strat neck or a Tele neck able to fit either of those 2 categories is the headstock, really. ;-) I mean, there are probably certain "standards" in radius, etc., that might make something a "2007 American Strat Neck" or whatnot, but there have been so many varieties of each. You can get strat or tele necks that are fat, thinnish (though never Wizard-thin that I'm aware of), with different radiuses, different fret sizes, etc. They're both 25.5" scale... If you have the capacity to make sure your body will accomodate the strat neck, I don't see any reason on earth not to just get one. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerDude Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 Stratocastrer necks are different from the Tele ones. Strat necks have rounded heel while the heel on Tele necks is flat. Strat Necks will not fit in Tele neck pockets and vice versa. If you buy a Strat neck, I guess you will have to flaten its heel somehow to fit it into your Tele's neck pocket. Mind the truss rod - on the classic necks its nut is on the heel side. Or you could just route a rounded Strat neck pocket into your custom made body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 (edited) http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/options/opti...neck_pocket.cfm Edited April 4, 2007 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 Modern (standard, non-vintage/RI MIM & MIA) Strat and Tele bodies' neck pockets are identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 you can still use a right hand neck but obviously the headstock will be upside down on a lefty body. It looks better on strats but i reckon a tele with a large 70's strat style headstock thats upside down would look pretty cool. The only thing that needs changing is the nut needs turning round and its sometimes a good idea to add new side dots to the other side, both easy mods. Its gonna be a lot cheaper to find a right hand strat neck than it is a left hand tele neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 He already said he can modify the body to accomodate the neck, so the absolute compatibility of the neck wasn't an issue. My response also included that caveat. He also said that a lefty strat neck is pretty easy to find. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 What your point GregP? I wasnt answering his question about the compatability of strat/tele necks and bodies. If i was i would have pointed out that i have been playing a telecaster with a strat neck for the last 13 years or the fact i recently gave away a guitar peiced together from my scrap pile that was a strat with a tele neck. Both work fine despite small gaps in the neck pocket due to the different shaped heels on most strat and teles But it seemed to me that question had already been answered! My point was about the availability of fender necks on ebay (where he said he will be buying from). The way i see it availability is like this: Right hand strat neck = lots Right hand tele neck = plenty Left hand strat neck = a few Lefty tele neck = I found one! ebay So it makes sense to point out that any of these necks could be used because better deals will be had on the more common auctions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belikin Posted April 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 Thank you all - I was also considering as an option a regular neck (of either variety) with a reverse nut. It's good to know the only significant difference is the heel curvature, looks like the straight tele type is easier to route a pocket for. Appearance wise I think the strat necks have a much nicer head, which would also look unique on a tele body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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