drftrman Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 I have a tele body, that i would like to put a gibson scale neck on. Of course it won't intonate, and I don't want to move the bridge. Can I take some of the heel of the neck,(shorten it) or will it throw the scale off? Can this even be done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 I have a tele body, that i would like to put a gibson scale neck on. Of course it won't intonate, and I don't want to move the bridge. Can I take some of the heel of the neck,(shorten it) or will it throw the scale off? Can this even be done? It can. Just draw it out full size, and figure out where the neck would have to be to intonate properly. I believe Warmoth sells conversion necks for this. Might be easier to re-route the pocket on the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drftrman Posted March 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Ok I have seen the conversion necks, but this neck is special to me. I relly want to use this one. I can't reroute the pocket, because I would be hitting the neck pickup. I want to cut 1/2 inch off the neck, but am afraid it may ruin the scale. Can I trim off 1/2 inch, and still be in tune up the neck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drftrman Posted March 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 This is the body, so you can see why I don't want to monkey with it very much. The neck is the one that is on it in this pic. Help please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwhiteandthemaple Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 It can. Just draw it out full size, and figure out where the neck would have to be to intonate properly. I believe Warmoth sells conversion necks for this. Might be easier to re-route the pocket on the body. I think he's trying to put a 24 3/4" scale neck into a 25.5".. by cutting the neck's heel... I thought this was impossible..? Did I miss something? -IR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drftrman Posted March 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 I thought it might be impossible to do that. If I made a new body, would I be able to keep that tele twang? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian d Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 I thought it might be impossible to do that. If I made a new body, would I be able to keep that tele twang? A large part of the characteristic Fender sound is from the 25.5" scale length. You won't keep the tele sound with a Gibson scale length no matter what you do. Regards, Brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 You have to make sure the distance between nut and bridge is 24 3/4". If you can't shoehorn it in by lengthening the neck pocket then the only other option is to remove the last fret and cut the neck down, or possibly a little of both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 You could change the bridge to a top-loading bridge, then it wouldn't be too difficult to move the bridge forward (you'd have to re-route for the pickup though). But another option would be to shave away just the heel--not the fretboard. That would let you shift the neck back in the pocket. The fretboard would butt up against the pickup, but that's not a big deal, might even end up sounding cool. You'd have all your frets too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 I don't think you will be able to cut back the neck...you'll hit the truss rod for sure... Really...it is a little impossible...what is it you want to achieve...I take it that it is a "magic" neck! SO you wouldn't want to cut that up either, would you? The twang does come in large part from the scale length. The maple bolt on neck and pickups, placement and bridge type also has a lot to do with it... If you want to use the neck for a tele type guitar I think the best way to use this neck is to make a new tele body. You could if you like strip this guitar for parts, but it looks pretty good so I'd keep it myself... If you wanted a similar look you could try a veneer on a solid slab body. It wouldn't be too hard to do and may have an interesting sound, not quite tele but interesting all the same... good luck... pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 I don't think you will be able to cut back the neck...you'll hit the truss rod for sure... I was wondering about that. And I didn't really look at the neck he's trying to put on there-- it's 24 frets? Well, before I started cutting up the neck, I'd look at making a new body instead. But anyway, it gave me an idea...I just took a 24.75" scale (22-fret) neck I have here and laid it on top of the Bocaster. Placed the end of the heel where the end of the Bo's current heel is. And it looks like it should work, with no changes. Hmm...maybe there's life to the ol' Bocaster yet... The biggest problem I can see is that the heel of the other neck is slightly thinner than the current neck--so either I'd have to add in an angle or a shim. Oh hell. I'm just going to make a new Bocaster... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Oooh - 24 fret neck - nice catch Idch. No way can you make that work without extensive buthcery to both parts, To see exactly how much butchery, measure the distance from the centre of the 12 fret to the fretboard-side edge of the nut. Now, transfer this measurement so that it starts from the treble side saddle of the bridge. Place the neck over the body, and slide it back and forwards until the 12th fret lines up with the end of your measurement. See how much the heel overlaps the body, and you'll know how much material you have to remove from one or other or both parts, In short, I think it'll be too much. Most importantly, if the tele twang is important to you, stick with the Fender scale length, the Gibo' won't twang, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Most importantly, if the tele twang is important to you, stick with the Fender scale length, the Gibo' won't twang, Yeah, but maybe it'll twong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 (edited) like folks are saying, there's no easy way to modify the body or neck so the two scale lengths match. one thing you might try, with that Tele bridge. if you could find intonation screws to fit your Tele saddles that are really long--screws 3/4" longer than the stock ones--you might could get the saddles another 3/4" inch closer toward the nut. maybe that would be enough to make things intonate properly. you should have enough clearance for the lower strings, but the treble saddles might end up hitting the bridge pickup. the guitar also might sound rather bright, with the saddles closer to the bridge pickup than usual. but at least it would be playable. Edited March 20, 2006 by scott from _actual time_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Instead of hacking up a perfectly good guitar, why not just build a new one the way you want it? Then you'll have two purty geetars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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