What Neck To Buy? What Company Is Good?

[ClueLessTim]

Hi, I've just bought a Charvel Body with pickguard that I love and it has a Gotoh / Wilkinson Trem on it. Well, I want to put a Jackson like neck, or reverse headstock Strat style neck on it, but I need to make sure it fits which I think I understand, but I also want to make sure it's a good neck. I wrote a post ealier and they guy tells me that since the original neck was a 22 fret neck and the guitar has a scale of Fender, that I'll need a 22 fret neck with same scale and same neck pocket dimensions. I think that's what he meant anyway. So, now where to get the neck. I've narrowed it down to three or four places, but I'm wondering if there's a big difference in worksmanship?

1) I can get a used Japanese Jackson or Charvel Neck on Ebay that has the feel I like and 22 frets

2) I can get a Warmoth Neck pretty cheap that has what I want

3) I can get an allparts neck that has what I want but it's a tad bit more expensive or nearly the same as the Warmoth. I can get the Warmoth on sale for about 150 to 160 bucks shipped.

4) I can get a Mighty Mite neck, but I don't trust them and I don't like the idea of a plastic nut.

So, I'm wondering if anyone has a preference on the necks from the various companies above?

What I'm looking for in a neck is the following:

22 Jumo Frets with a flat radius of at least 12" or up to say 14" or even better like a Jackson with the compound radius which Warmoth also has.. I also love it if it has a double truss rod like warmoths, and I would love it even more with a reverse headstock like the Jackson Pointy Variety or even better the Jiimi Hendrix look which I think means I can just buy a left handed neck from Warmoth or Allparts?

I have an Allparts neck now that is a strat, along with a strat alder body and it's ok, and says licensed by Fender allparts on it. I'm just curius where these necks are made? Allparts that is? I know that I can get a Japanese neck from Jackson or Charvel used, or a Warmoth neck New from the US!

What neck would you folks recommend? The most important thing is that the neck is stable and has good jumbo frets, and won't warp, etc,. The body has a checkered black and white pickguard with one Hum and I'll be using an EMG in it.. This will be my Metal and Hard Rock neck. The Allparts guitar I've been building with the allparts neck and strat front routed body is going to be using a blue lace in the bridge and two golds in the mid and neck and will just be stained and used for everything from blues to rock.. I'm using these guitars thru a Peavey Ranger 2 x 12 Tube amp which has 4 pre tubes and 4 post tubes.. I love the clean channel and use it with pedals since it's a 120 watt amp and is LOUD!

Thanks and sorry for the verbosity. I hope this is the right place to post such a question..

Tim

[westhemann]

Most charvel bodies will accept the standard "fender" neck pocket at 25.5" scale...my charvel body accepts the warmoth neck I purchased for it..so it is a safe assumption that the warmoth neck will work...my neck cost me $400 so the price you quote is a good one.Of course mine has stainless frets and was set up for a locking floyd nut,but other than that was standard with a jackson style headstock ...

It is a quality neck...But just for grins you should email Doug at Soulmate guitars..he is a member here who makes custom necks at very reasonable cost(for what you get)...

[avengers63]

Any of those you mentioned would be fine.

A used Jackson on eBay would probably be your cheapest route.

There is nothing wrong with Mighty Mite necks. If you don't want the plastic nut, then replace it. It's unbelievably easy.

Warmoth would be your most reliable & predictable option, but as you said, not the cheapest.

My suggestion is decide what your priority is and go with that. If cost is #1, look on eBay. If you don't want a used neck but still don't want to pay a lot, then use a MM. If money isn't the issue, then go to Warmoth.

[fookgub]

Sounds like your best bet would be to find a used Charvel neck on eBay that's in pretty good shape.

You might look into Carvin, too. I bought a neck from them recently and was pleasantly surprised by the quality. It's got a fairly thin carve (about halfway between an Ibanez and a Strat), clean fretwork with lots of options (I got mine with med-jumbo stainless steel frets), a few headstock options (you may be able to reshape the reverse headstock shape to fit your tastes, or cut your own from a blank paddlehead), compound radius, and they're pretty cheap. One thing to be wary of, though, is that the Carvin necks are a bit wide, so you may need to modify either the neck pocket or the neck to make it fit.

Also, don't buy a left-handed neck unless you want to install side dots. They will be on the wrong side of the fretboard for right-handed use.

Edited May 13, 2009 by fookgub

[avengers63]

You might look into Carvin, too.

+1

Carvin makes some REALLY good stuff. I have a kit from Carvin - the neck is outstanding.

[Rockhorst]

Let's make this a bit broader: what makes a good neck and what do you have to look for when buying one new or second hand. I'm slowly gathering parts for a Part-o-Caster and have options to buy a second hand neck. I find it difficult to judge beyond cosmetics whether or not a neck would be a good buy. Any thoughts or pointers?

[Narcissism]

The only thing I would like to point out about Carvin is that they don't use a scarf joint with their angled headstocks. I personally haven't had any problems with mine (I have 2 bass necks from Carvin), but I just thought i'd mention it.

[Rick500]

That's true. I have, I think 15, of their guitars, though, and never one problem with a neck in any way in all the 15 years I've been playing their guitars.

[westhemann]

There are quite a few san dimas necks on ebay right now for cheaper than warmoth.