Newbie--replacement Neck Question

[deeboy]

Hi-

I am attempting my first refinishing project over the next couple of months. I just picked up a Fernandes Dragonfly body on ebay and I am looking to replace the neck and bridge. From my understanding, the seller indicated that the neck that was previously on the guitar was a standard 22 fret neck. I am not really sure what a "standard" neck was so I asked him if he knew the scale length....no response. On the Fernandes website all 2007 Dragonflys have 24 fret necks. I believe my body is from 1990's (stamp at neck joint is #90110). I searched online for old Fernandes catalogs and couldn't find any. I noticed on Harmony Central that Fernandes had 22 fret necks on the Dragonfly in the 90's. So I am pretty sure that the seller was correct in saying that it was a 22 fret neck. Anyway....will a tele neck work? I noticed that the neck pocket on my body seems to have a right angle on the left side and a more curved angle on the right side. From my understanding, teles have rounded necks at the pocket. I am note sure if the right angle on one side and curved on the other is propeitary to Fernandes or if I am just a newbie who is looking at it wrong. My main concern is getting a neck that 1) doesn't fit the pocket properly and or 2) is the wrong scale length and I will have to move the bridge. Any and all opinions, options, suggestions are welcome. I am looking forward to this project.

Edited November 27, 2007 by deeboy

[zyonsdream]

You should be able to contact Fernandez to get the correct scale length if you can’t find any online. It’s most likely the same scale as their current model but I always like to have proof.

You might have to re-shape the neck pocket to make a tele neck fit snug. Stew-mac sells great neck pocket templates for nominal cost. If done correctly you can shape the pocket and keep the heel of the neck in the same location as it relates to the bridge.

Just make sure you get a neck for the correct scale before ordering or making templates for conversion.

[Mickguard]

For the neck pocket, a photo will help a lot.

Measure from the forward edge of the nut to the ridge of the 12th fret, then double that. This will tell you the scale length of the neck.

Now, fit the neck in the neck pocket and measure from the edge of the nut to the notch of the high E saddle --this measurement needs to equal the scale length of the neck. The other saddles will be set more or less back from that point.

So if you find it's impossible to adjust the high E saddle to get the correct scale length, then the neck won't work.

There's a big difference between a 22 fret neck with no fretboard overhang and one with a fretboard overhang.

Obviously, if you can't get the neck to fit the pocket, then you'll have to resolve that issue.