rick_here Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Greetings, My 1995 Mexican Strat's body is (apparently?) designed to be able to accommodate a Tele neck (?). Sorry, no pics available @ this time. What is is...is...the body is routed with strange "round edges" in the corners where the heel of the neck meets it. This leaves gaps (on either side) with the stock Mexican Strat neck installed. Also, even if I were to put a Tele neck on, there would still be small(er) gaps. Questions: 1] Should I fill in these gaps? (as I'm sure it would improve the tone/volume output & "neck-to-body resonation"...noticably, I'm thinking. 2] If so, how would you do it? I've considered epoxy...sanding down to wood then filling in (using some kind of "mold" to hold the epoxy in place). Any ideas? Thanx, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Maybe this one was made when the Mexican plant was just starting up? (just kidding) As long as the butt end of the heel is snug against the back wall of the cavity, I can't believe there's any real dramatic effect going on there. The bolt on design is pretty accommodating in this way --most of the transfer comes from the contact of the bottom of the heel against the wood of the body, which is drawn tight by the screws. At least, in theory. Certainly the difference wouldn't be noticeable anyway. I can't believe epoxy or added wood and glue are going to help much either. So shame on you for looking under the hood! Think of it this way, at least the guitar didn't cost you $2,000. Do you like it otherwise? My feeling is that the gaps are probably more cosmetic than anything else --other people may disagree with me though, depends on their joinery geekage level (love that term!). But this is exactly why Fender puts that huge pickguard on the Strat. And why some models have fretboard overhangs. They're bumping out as many guitars as they can, as quickly as they can, as cheaply as they can. FWIW, I just pried up the pickguard on my MIJ strat--the butt end is snug against the back of the pocket but I can see very small gaps at the corners--I didn't pull the guard all the way up though, so I can't really measure that. The guitar sounds great, plays great, so it's not really any kind of issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 On my '93 Mexi-Strat, the heel of the neck is also rounded slightly, and there is a bit of a radius to the end of the neck heel. It is not squared off with sharp corners. The end of the neck is butted-up tight against the neck pocket, and there is only a very slight gap on either side which a business card goes only about 1/4" in. I've had this neck off before, and it's a pretty tight fit. I am left to wonder if perhaps the neck pocket on your body has been altered in some way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_here Posted May 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 (edited) Mickguard, As long as the butt end of the heel is snug against the back wall of the cavity, I can't believe there's any real dramatic effect going on there. The bolt on design is pretty accommodating in this way --most of the transfer comes from the contact of the bottom of the heel against the wood of the body, which is drawn tight by the screws. At least, in theory. Certainly the difference wouldn't be noticeable anyway. I can't believe epoxy or added wood and glue are going to help much either. I hear what yer saying about the bottom of the heel & body contact. This guitar's good & tight along these lines. Btw, I "looked under the hood" coz the frets are all worn down...I've been contemplating refretting this guitar...(otherwise, plz see my reply to erikbojerik, below). On my '93 Mexi-Strat, the heel of the neck is also rounded slightly, and there is a bit of a radius to the end of the neck heel. It is not squared off with sharp corners. The end of the neck is butted-up tight against the neck pocket, and there is only a very slight gap on either side which a business card goes only about 1/4" in. I've had this neck off before, and it's a pretty tight fit. I am left to wonder if perhaps the neck pocket on your body has been altered in some way. erikbojerik, First off, I bought this guitar new in '95...it hasn't been altered. The neck is butted up against the body but only about 3/4" meets the body "there." The corners of the body have these radiuses (where the neck doesn't make contact). The no-contact area is +/- 3/4" on either side with about a 3/32" gap. crude attempt at an illustration of the neck pocket (butt of neck meets body) : ( < these "corner radiuses" in the body | < where neck & body make contact....headstock is > that > way > ===::: ( < corner radius Don't know if that helps any. The thing is, approximately 2/3rds of my neck & body don't meet where it seems they should. Mickguard may be right. If I filled these gaps in it may not make much difference. I don't know (is why I asked)! Don't know what else to say but: Thanx, Rick p.s. Maybe I could just stick a few toothpick ends in there? (or something like that), lol Edited May 25, 2006 by rick_here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Leave it to me to have a picture of this.. haha This is a picture of my Fender Roland Ready Strat, yet it's a Mexican Strat, since they don't make an American Strat that has the Roland synth pickup on it, so I ended up with this one. First off, it's obviously the way they cut the neck pocket out, it's not something that was altered, as mine was bought brand new also. It's not really going to affect anything as long as the neck is stable and makes good contact like others have suggested, but it still makes you wonder the exact reasoning for routing it out this way. On a side note, my Strat plays like a dream, and I found it odd that when researching the Plek machine, one article talked about how amazed that out of all the guitars they put on it, when analyzed, the Mexican Strats had better fretjobs than anything else. I'll try to find that article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Wow! Maybe they had sent the proper tool out for sharpening or something....mine does not do that. All the same, I'm pretty sure you don't need to do anything, I don't think it will affect the tone much at all. But then again (like LK) I'm no Eric Johnson... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_here Posted May 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Leave it to me to have a picture of this.. haha Thanx Mr. Guitarfrenzy, I remember you! Yep, that's what mine looks like except the gaps are noticably larger: 2/3rds making contact, 1/3rd not. Btw, I had this guitar initially setup by a pro in Memphis. He commented that it was "one of the nicest necks" he had seen in quite some time. (Later on I set the action really low...it plays very well...'cept I wore out the frets). I can't afford having a refret job done and realize it would take me something like "forever" to do it myself. One of these days.... Thanx again, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 It must be something in the machining process. I found this on the bay this morning. And Mick, the reason Fender puts that big honkin' guard on Strats is because Leo designed it to be installed as an assembly. Pickups, pots, switch, etc. all in one unit. Saves time, saves money. Leo was a tightwad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 They probably just reused the same CNC code when they set up the machine for the different body styles. Like was said before, unless you're Eric Johnson you're probably not going to notice. On another note, my MIM Strat does have a nice pool cue feel after 10 years of playing on it, but it could use a fretjob. The old vintage frets are worn down and out. Maybe I'll send it down to the store I bought it from in Norman, OK ten years ago and have 'em Plek it out, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Leo was a tightwad. Sure. He also figured out that there's a lot of wiggle room in tolerances before an electric guitar becomes unplayable --the pickguard helps to cover up most of that. Saves money when you don't have to be too careful about it. There's a reason why Fender is the king of rock n' roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Well, he may have figured out that there's a lot of wiggle room, but he practically reinvented fret scaling. The first Fenders were lightyears beyond anything else in precision fret positioning and craftsmanship. Now the new Fenders, on the other hand, cut corners just to cut corners. When Leo designed the Strat bridge with the sheetmetal saddles, he did it to save time and money machining the part--but he made damn sure it wasn't going to negatively affect the tone. When FMIC engineers designed the American Standard trem block with powdered metal casting and an angled cutaway, it was purely for cost--and it did negatively affect the tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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