AndrTay

Ah. Many thanks, will give it a go.

Anyone any opinions on whether this : http://www.axminster.co.uk/sieg-miniature-universal-bender-prod815798/ or even this http://www.axminster.co.uk/sieg-miniature-wire-bender-prod815800/ might be able to bend frets into a usable radius? The £40 one says "Will create smooth curves in any radius". The £9 one, I think it'll only bend 'shapes' ( hopefully funny ones at that )

Hi, Replacement nut is all under control, it's the piece of wood required to re-build the missing 'tuner side' slope I'm thinking about. ( Apologies if I'm misunderstood your answer and there's an Allparts part that is specifically designed for glueing onto a Floyd routed neck to create a Strat type nut shape )

Hi, I'd like to convert a maple headstock neck that's been routed for a floyd rose nut to a standard Strat type nut. Anyone ever had to do this, any tips? I'm thinking I'll need a block of maple to shape, plus a couple of dowels to fill the holes? Small job, but advice welcome. A

Straight Edges are tricky. I've bought about three now from hardware suppliers in the UK and while they're cheap none of them give any data on how accurate they are, and if they do it's usually too inaccurate for measuring relief to any standard. But I suppose you could be lucky and get a perfectly straight one! I've seen other ones that cost quite alot of money though, they make StewMac look good value.. [edit - just found an old email from Axminster about their straight edge, they say "The tolerence on these bevelled straight edges are 0.5mm over 1 mtr"]

I bought a whetstone ( 600 grit ) from Axminster in the UK a while ago ( http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-DMT-Dia...tones-21925.htm ) Apart from the available grits being different, I think they're the same as the ones sold by StewMac, also by Dia-Sharp. Stewmacs version : http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_suppl...t_Levelers.html My plan is to use the 600 grit to level my compound radius frets. Not something I've ever done before but I balked at a £90 quote I got from a luthier! [edit - I should've written 'leveller' in the topic line!]

Can you post a pic of the body? You can buy 'genuine' replacement Fender parts off ebay from people like 'reliablefender' or 'stratosphere'. Alternatively you can buy replacement parts from Allparts or Stewart Macdonald ( StewMac.com, I like them because their website has lots of specs to check you're buying the right thing, as well as 'Free Information' on a number of topics). For custom necks Warmoth and USA Custom Guitars seem to get the nod. Spend time thinking about what you want in a neck - apart from the obvious things like wood and headstock shape there's back contour ( eg 'C','U','V' shape), radius ( 7.25", 9", 10"-16") , thickness ( measured 1st fret to 12th ), tuner hole diameters, nut slots etc. Oh, like all mutts it's quite likely that only the owner will love it. So don't expect a decent resale value. A mutt is for life, not just for Christmas.

Thanks for all the advice so far. The neck I have has a truss rod with a heel adjustment screw, so there might be a problem if I use the centred body screw. I can't find any pictures, but the 1970's Strat neck design has a truss rod that adjusts at peghead instead of the butt-end of the neck. Presumably this allows for the centre body screw to attach to the neck safely clear of the truss rod? To be on the safe side I'll probably have to tackle it using the neck plate in the neck pocket to mark 4 holes and just hope they match up with the neck. StewMac have an article about bolt on necks that has some measurements to work with, plus some tips on getting the neck lined up.

That's what I'd prefer, but would I need to plug the top two holes on the body first? They're slightly closer together than the existing top two holes on the neck, I don't think either lines up with the neck holes as they stand, they're more central.

Morning all, Can anyone offer advice on the best way to go about attaching a Warmoth strat neck with it's pre-drilled 4-holes to a Fender strat 70's type body with it's three holes? I only found out today that the top two holes on the body are slightly closer together than the top two on the neck... Bah! The way I see it the best option would be to fill the holes in the neck and then use the 3 pre-drilled holes on the body to attach with. The neck itself doesn't have the 'micro-tilt' groove rout, and I'm not planning to use the one on the body. If filling is the way to go, what type should I use? Many thanks, Andrew

Thanks men. Just a tidy up on the scalloping I reckon. I'll get the camera out and send some pics on to you ( maybe you could PM me an email address? ) Cheers, Andrew

Many years ago I made a bad job trying to scallop a 1986 rosewood/maple skunk Fender Japan neck. Uneven wasn't the word. Fortunately I don't think I took much wood off, the problem is more of uneveness of scoop and a lack of professionalism shall we say. So, can anyone recommend a place/person in London or therabouts who might fire a decent quote at me to sort it out? Thanks, A