Tele Neck Thickness

[S.A.]

Hi Guys

After many hours of searching here and on google around I am stumped on my first neck build.

I am busy with a thinline tele, got the chambered body out of Kiaat (type of african rosewood) with a Jacaranda cap. That all went smoothly.

The neck on the other hand has got me doubting myself.

I have searched the forums and only found some dimensions on the Jem wizard neck. I am using a dual action hot rod truss and those dimensions seem a little thin. I read that it is advisable to keep around 5-6 mm of wood behind the truss rod and the jem dimension will be a little too close for my liking and skill.

Does anyone have some insite into the Tele neck thickness at nut,12th fret and heel? or a neck plan of some kind so that I can make sure it is right before I toast another piece of wood.

Thanks

Travis

[RGGR]

Does anyone have some insite into the Tele neck thickness at nut,12th fret and heel? or a neck plan of some kind so that I can make sure it is right before I toast another piece of wood.

Ever heard of guitar stores???? They mostly have a good supply of Tele's available. Just ask the manager if you can measure a tele neck.

But if you're building your own neck......why copy Fender factory "standard" neck, why not copy guitar neck you're comfortable with. If you don't have preference yet....again....go to decent guitar store and pick-up different types of guitars/necks....and discover what feels right. Once you figure that out.....you easily can copy this into your own custom design.

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/necks....n=back_profiles

That's the whole point of building your own custom neck.......why go through all the trouble of building same as factory. Evil*bay is full of factory stuff..........

[S.A.]

Hi RGGR

I live in South Africa, and the store in my town don't have any tele's.. The only decent guitar here are epiphone Lp. All the other are knock of copies.

I am just scared of making it too thin or too thick, after all the neck it where you spend most of your time. I do prefer a thicker neck like the 59 round back as I have big hands.

I am just really looking for a bit of comfirmation that I am thinking on the right kind of lines in terms of strength in the relevant places Ie neck pocket and nut. Don't want it to break on me.

Thanks for the response

Travis

[Devon Headen]

I'd say stay on the safe (big) side for your first neck. It will give you the confidence you need when your first neck doesn't actually blow up when you're through with it. Then, down the road when you have more experience, go for a thin neck.

[Southpa]

It seems you can't get a straight answer when you need it sometimes. I copied my strat neck to build my tele neck. Its 1" thick at the heel, 7/8" at the 12th fret and thickens back up to 1" at the nut. The thinnest part is 13/16" at the 5th fret. But that all depends on how you want to shape the back of the neck. I usually just sand it until it feels good.

[RGGR]

Hi Travis, didn't mean to flame you.

Good idea might be to shoot the guys of Warmoth or Tommy at USA Custom Guitars a email and ask them/him about their Tele neck profiles.....They will be able to help ya out.

[thedoctor]

I got some Warmth Tele neck prints. (don't tell) What dimensions do ya want? You probly will be better off with a single-acting double rod if you are going for thin or safety . Let me know where you want the dimensions read.

Well, duhhh! If I had just read your post I would have seen it!

This neck shows .860 at the nut .890 at the 12th fret and .990 at the heel just before it flattens to an even 1.000000000. Decimal points added for comic relief by me.

Edited May 9, 2005 by thedoctor

[S.A.]

Hey thanks Guys

RGGR - didn't take it as a flame at all, in fact it sparked me thinking more.

I don't have my head around the how yet, so I am just lacking in confidence to do it. I have already lost a weeks worth of work to a severe tear out, so I am just doubting myself.

Thanks for all the posts guy, I am going to take all the measurements and cad it then print and use that as my shaping guide. I will find one that I think I can copy with my dodgy woodwork skills.

Big ups

Travis

[mrdevoe]

For your first neck, I wouldn't even worry too much about measurements. You should do it more by feel. When I did my first neck, I was quite hesitant and worried about screwing up, like you seem to be. However, it was actually quite easy, and it really didn't take that long.

My first neck also was a telecaster and I looked at pictures to get an idea of the transitions at the headstock and the heel and then just started carving. If you're worried about thickness, just don't take any off of the middle of the neck until you've shaped the rest of it to see how it feels. I actually left it 1" thick the whole way, but that's because I like those big old 50s tele necks. If you prefer it thinner, then you can take a little off of the middle at a time, checking every so often to see how it feels.

I agree with Devon who mentioned above to keep it on the thick side. My advice for a first guitar would be to keep it as thick as you are comfortable with.

Good luck,

-Mark