Hamfist Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 How does a guy identify what neck goes on what body ?? I bought a body on line , also got a 22 fret neck , 25.5 scale length on line . Strat body , HH configuration , Floyd Rose route When i installed the neck , the neck position was way off , meaning the neck will have to move way back into the body to meet the 25.5 ' scale length . So far back that the neck over hang would be into the neck pick up big time !! So , i'm assuming the body was set up for a 24 fret neck from the start ?? Would i be correct on my thoughts ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamfist Posted March 3 Author Report Share Posted March 3 As seen in these pics the neck still needs to go back towards the bridge another 1/2 in aprox , so just not usable on the body etc . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted March 4 Report Share Posted March 4 7 hours ago, Hamfist said: How does a guy identify what neck goes on what body ?? For clarity, you're talking about kit guitars or spare parts, right? A good kit guitar maker should mark the scale length but a sticker or label can easily get lost. Also, mixing parts from various makers can be a hit or miss game. The safest bet assembling a guitar from random parts is to use 'official' spare parts for a certain guitar model. With unbranded parts the only way to find out is to measure. Obviously that's not possible when buying online, not to mention that many Far East vendors seem to copy their marketing material from each other without actually understanding what the terms mean. In your case they might tell that the body is for 21, 22 and 24 fretted neck, not knowing that they should have three different versions for that. If it looks like a Strat, it suits all Strat necks, right? 7 hours ago, Hamfist said: So , i'm assuming the body was set up for a 24 fret neck from the start ?? Most likely so. Oh, and welcome to the forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted March 4 Report Share Posted March 4 Is the body meant for a 25.5" scale? What length do you get from bridge to nut when the neck is in place? From what you're saying a 24 fret neck would make the issue worse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamfist Posted March 6 Author Report Share Posted March 6 On 3/4/2024 at 7:47 AM, Crusader said: Is the body meant for a 25.5" scale? What length do you get from bridge to nut when the neck is in place? From what you're saying a 24 fret neck would make the issue worse With my neck in place it measures dead bang on 26 inches from bridge saddle to the entry of the lock nut . I got this body with the understanding that it was meant for 25.5 scale The neck is a 22 fret , 25.5 scale Both pieces came from China , so all bets are off ... Thank for your Help !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamfist Posted March 6 Author Report Share Posted March 6 On 3/4/2024 at 12:21 AM, Bizman62 said: For clarity, you're talking about kit guitars or spare parts, right? A good kit guitar maker should mark the scale length but a sticker or label can easily get lost. Also, mixing parts from various makers can be a hit or miss game. The safest bet assembling a guitar from random parts is to use 'official' spare parts for a certain guitar model. With unbranded parts the only way to find out is to measure. Obviously that's not possible when buying online, not to mention that many Far East vendors seem to copy their marketing material from each other without actually understanding what the terms mean. In your case they might tell that the body is for 21, 22 and 24 fretted neck, not knowing that they should have three different versions for that. If it looks like a Strat, it suits all Strat necks, right? Most likely so. Oh, and welcome to the forum! No ! Bought both neck and body off Ebay from China ... I was led to believe both neck and body are 25.5 scale etc . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamfist Posted March 6 Author Report Share Posted March 6 The distance between the centerline of the humbucker routes measures 4 1/4 inches . So the distance between the humbuckers is 41/4 in center to center . I have a Charvel duel humbucker 22 fret Floyd Rose equipped guitar that the humbuckers are 3 3/4 center to center . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 2 hours ago, Hamfist said: I was led to believe both neck and body are 25.5 scale etc . The body can only be specified for a particular scale length if the builder knows how it will interact with the neck it's intended for. If the body and neck come from disparate (or maybe unreliable) sources then, as you say, all bets are off. Trying to get a pre-routed body and a neck to match up if all you have to go on is scale length and number of frets is a bit like trying to guess a number pattern if you're only given two numbers in the sequence - If you were shown '1' and '2', would the next number be 3, 4 or something else? The only way I'd personally trust matching a neck with a body is if they came from the same supplier and they guaranteed their compatibility, or if the neck and body were from some kind of authorised reseller like Warmoth or Mighty Mite. 2 hours ago, Hamfist said: So the distance between the humbuckers is 41/4 in center to center . 2 hours ago, Hamfist said: With my neck in place it measures dead bang on 26 inches from bridge saddle to the entry of the lock nut . You might be able to make it work with a 21-fret neck instead. The distance between the 21st and 22nd frets at 25.5" scale is nearly 0.5" (it's actually 0425", but the extra 0.075" could probably be adjusted out with the intonation movement in the saddles), which would get a neck back to being in the right spot relative to the existing bridge and pickup routes. If you're dead-set on using the 22 neck, the other option is to plug the neck humbucker route and re-route it 0.5" further towards the bridge. The neck pocket would also need to be routed 0.5" further back to allow the neck to sit at the correct position relative to the bridge location and restore its compatibility with the intended 25,5" scale length. A lot more work though, particularly if you're short on tools, time or experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 5 hours ago, Hamfist said: Bought both neck and body off Ebay from China ... That's what I meant, Ebay from China aren't among the most relied part makers regarding accuracy, be it the actual woodworking or their product information. Other than that, what @curtisa says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted March 6 Report Share Posted March 6 the pickup routes will be much closer together on a 24 fret body, also if it's a 22 fret body and you've got a 24 fret neck, the correct location for the bridge will be in the bridge pickup route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamfist Posted March 7 Author Report Share Posted March 7 So i messaged the Ebay seller this morning and they said this as a reply . The body is for a 22 fret neck ... 24 3/4 scale length 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamfist Posted March 7 Author Report Share Posted March 7 Im at the point where i think it would be easier to buy a new body ??? Anyone else think the same ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 18 minutes ago, Hamfist said: The body is for a 22 fret neck ... 24 3/4 scale length Again, that only makes sense if you know exactly what neck is designed to fit in the pocket that is already cut into that body. On face value, the specs they've provided don't make any sense, as your measurements showed a discrepancy from bridge to nut of +0.5" (26" vs 25.5"), whereas they're implying that there is a -0.75" discrepancy (24.75" vs 25.5"). But we also don't know what heel shape or position their proposed neck was designed to have for their body, which could shift the neck forwards or backwards from the bridge beyond where this unknown scale reference is (eg, does the 22nd fret on their 24.75" neck overhang the pocket or is in front of the pocket?). Too many variables... 16 minutes ago, Hamfist said: Im at the point where i think it would be easier to buy a new body ??? Anyone else think the same ? Very much so. But you will need to do your homework to establish whether the neck you have is compatible with whatever body you get as a replacement. Doing that with Far-East vendors will very much be a game of chance now that you're trying to match a known neck with whatever body you can lay your hands on. The pocket might fit, but there's no guarantee everything else will line up to result in a guitar that intonates correctly. This could be a good opportunity to learn how to cut your own neck pocket though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 10 hours ago, curtisa said: This could be a good opportunity to learn how to cut your own neck pocket though... Exactly my thought, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 18 hours ago, Hamfist said: The body is for a 22 fret neck ... 24 3/4 scale length That's what I was thinking, or 25 1/2 inch scale with 21 frets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamfist Posted March 9 Author Report Share Posted March 9 Well all i know is that this neck will not work with this body . I can save one or both pieces for a later project if need be . Im having a hard time finding a 24 3/4 22 fret neck online ... lots of 25 1/2 necks available , seems like thats a standard scale length ( Or most common ) Any links to Web sites that sell necks ? ( Other than Ebay , China ) I tend to like necks with binding like this one ( See pic) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henrim Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 31 minutes ago, Hamfist said: lots of 25 1/2 necks available , seems like thats a standard scale length ( Or most common ) 25,5 is the typical scale for Fender guitars. 24,75 is more of a Gibson thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 Have you tried asking the vendor of the body if they have the neck that matches their products? Seems odd that they would go to the trouble of making a body for a very specific, non-standard scale length and not offer the matching component. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 Musikraft will do a Fender-style 24.75" neck with the options you want, but it gets pricey quickly: https://musikraft.com/product/strat-neck-custom-build/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamfist Posted March 10 Author Report Share Posted March 10 10 hours ago, curtisa said: Have you tried asking the vendor of the body if they have the neck that matches their products? Seems odd that they would go to the trouble of making a body for a very specific, non-standard scale length and not offer the matching component. Yes ... They told me its a 24.75 scale body . The neck is from another Ebay seller , and the Ebay Ad says its a 25.5 scale neck , with 22 frets. etc I bought the neck first before the body , and i just assumed it would fit . With that said , the body Ad did not specify any scale length etc . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamfist Posted March 10 Author Report Share Posted March 10 Thank you for everyone's help so far ... It sucks being a rookie at guitar building ! Ive been doing some reading online about , scale lengths , frets , necks , bodies , etc etc ... there's alot to know ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted March 10 Report Share Posted March 10 4 hours ago, Hamfist said: there's alot to know ! Well... actually not so much but even that little seems to be too much for the Chinese Ebay vendors! For what I've learned there's just one essential thing: The 12th fret has to be right in the middle of the scale length. No matter how many frets you have or what the scale length is, that rule can't be omitted. When building from scratch it may be easier, with prerouted/-drilled parts from here and there you'll never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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