Can a Telecaster neck be used with a Strat body?

[Lewguitar]

I have a nice Warmoth Tele neck I'd like to mount on a MIJ Squire body.

The butt end of the Tele neck is more or less straight across whereas the butt end (heel) of a Strat neck is rounded.

I'm a good woodworker and am thinking I could round the end of the Tele neck to fit snugly in the neck pocket of the Strat body. If I get it nice and snug it might even couple with the body better and sound better.

My concern is will I be able to set the intonation correctly, and will the guitar play in tune?

Has anyone done this?

 

[Rick]

Will it fit my Guitar Body?

warmoth.com

 

[Lewguitar]

I guess the answer is "yes" and both necks are the same length from the nut to the end of the heel.

But I'll have to reshape the end of the Tele neck to a Strat profile.

 

[mayfly]

Yep that's correct. BTW, re-shaping the heel is such a PITA you might find it's easier to re-route the neck pocket (that's what I did...)

 

[Rick]

Same scale length but potential to really mess it up. I’d be interested in how you do it. Post pics.

 

[Lewguitar]

Same scale length but potential to really mess it up. I’d be interested in how you do it. Post pics.

I will. I learned woodworking repairing guitars as a kid and then became a furniture maker. I'm sure I can do a good job.

 

[Lewguitar]

I was thinking I'd trace the curved shape of the butt end of a Strat neck on the back side of the Tele neck.

Since the Tele neck I plan to use has a 22nd fret extension, I was thinking I'd protect the underside of the extension with some thin metal.

Then i think some files and some sand paper ought to do the trick.

I'll file and sandpaper just short of the line I'll draw on the back of the neck and do a bunch of trial fits until I get the curve and the fit just right.

I think a tight fit is important. Especially at the end of the neck where it presses against the body.

 

[aarontunes]

If you have the will and the skill to make modifications, then you can get just about anything to fit.

Otherwise, here is the lowdown:

 

[aarontunes]

I was thinking I'd trace the curved shape of the butt end of a Strat neck on the back side of the Tele neck.

Since the Tele neck I plan to use has a 22nd fret extension, I was thinking I'd protect the underside of the extension with some thin metal.

Then i think some files and some sand paper ought to do the trick.

I'll file and sandpaper just short of the line I'll draw on the back of the neck and do a bunch of trial fits until I get the curve and the fit just right.

I think a tight fit is important. Especially at the end of the neck where it presses against the body.

I think this is the approach I would take too.

If you can get those corners rounded without removing anything from the center I don't see why it wouldn't work.

 

[triple jim]

Agreeing with the above, I've seen guys just screw a Tele neck onto a Strat as-is and everything worked. The neck sat back a small amount and the saddle adjustment was enough to get it to intonate fine.

I'd do it as above though, reshaping the heel of the neck.

 

[Spud]

Agreeing with the above, I've seen guys just screw a Tele neck onto a Strat as-is and everything worked. The neck sat back a small amount and the saddle adjustment was enough to get it to intonate fine.

I'd do it as above though, reshaping the heel of the neck.

I did do this once 30 years ago and it worked ok. I eventually reverted back. If your gonna go for it, get some dowels or something and line up the neck attachment holes, trace what needs to be removed, and work carefully and slowly with a file. Alternatively, use router and make a "Mickey Mouse" shaped neck pocket on body.

 

[BroccoliRob]

Yep that's correct. BTW, re-shaping the heel is such a PITA you might find it's easier to re-route the neck pocket (that's what I did...)

^^^the best answer^^^

Agreeing with the above, I've seen guys just screw a Tele neck onto a Strat as-is and everything worked. The neck sat back a small amount and the saddle adjustment was enough to get it to intonate fine.

But u would have to drill new screw holes and the neck plate would hang off the edge of the body. those things physically do not align if you put a square heel into a round pocket.

 

[Spud]

^^^the best answer^^^

But u would have to drill new screw holes and the neck plate would hang off the edge of the body. those things physically do not align if you put a square heel into a round pocket.

I gotta disagree here it will work with existing screw holes.

 

[Spud]

Be like Jimi!

 

[BroccoliRob]

i mean i guess you could just hog out the screw holes in the body but the plate would still be shifted back

 

[Spud]

i mean i guess you could just hog out the screw holes in the body but the plate would still be shifted back

Sorry buddy you are just incorrect on this one. Grab a tele and a strat and see for yourself.

 

[DuckBaloo]

Alternatively, use router and make a "Mickey Mouse" shaped neck pocket on body.

That's how Fender does in in Mexico...one route that fits both Teles and Strats and can be done with a large, durable CNC bit. The pickguard hides the extra space

Rounding the neck butt is definitely possible, but all the work will show, so it's got to be just right. As long as the neck is where the Strat neck should be, no intonation problems. BTW, this is what Neal Moser did on Jimi's Newport Strat above.

I vote against the idea of trying to mount mount the Tele neck to the Start pocket with any expectations of intonation, screws lining up, oor being able to hide the gap with a pickguard.

 

[BroccoliRob]

what am i a millionaire? i guess you could drill out the neck plate holes at the same time as the body holes. it just seems like a weird thing. like, my hard milk, carbonated BBQ sauce, and monster energy ham have been wild successes in field of alternative food science, but you know what i thought would work but just doesn't? Hard soup. for several years in the 90s on my busking voyage across america i became very ill and got stuck in a remote enclave in rural southern Arizona, forced to subsist on a thin stew of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk, moonshine, and four kinds of rice as the locals nursed me back to health. i came close to madness trying to recreate that moonshine it here in missouri, but i just can't get the ethanol content right, and using store-bought liquors in my stews just hits different, not unlike an ill fitting neck heel

 

[Lewguitar]

I guess you could drill out the neck plate holes at the same time as the body holes.

Why? Doesn't seem necessary.

 

[teleme01]

I would start a new build , great excuse, get a body to match the neck and a neck to match the body. The wife thinks I'm wasting money and I am, only played in a band 1 out of 63 years, but I got a lot of guitars.