Deciding on a neck for my Jaguar

[thx712517]

Hey everybody, I've got one of the P90-equipped Fender Blacktop Jaguars and I've been slowly upgrading it over time. Right now it's stock alder body, Lollar P90s (5% overwound bridge), 500k audio taper pots, 0.022uf cap. Played through a Vox AC4TV.

I'd like to get a new neck for it so I've spent time over the past few weekends playing a variety of guitars to get an idea for what I like. For reference, my current guitar neck is 9.5" radius, medium jumbo frets, rosewood fingerboard. Here's my top three.

1: Fender 1972 reissue Thinline. U-neck, 7.25" radius, vintage frets. Felt good in my hand, comfortable and easy to play barre chords.
2: Standard Stratocaster. Modern C, 9.5" radius, medium jumbo frets. I liked the satin finish on the back of the neck. Wish the fingerboard was satin as well instead of gloss.
3: Classic Series '50s Strat. Soft V, 7.25" radius, vintage frets. Wish the neck was a little thicker, gloss finish on the fingerboard felt "draggy" when bending notes.

I've noticed with the V necks, it's a very distinct feel at the first fret. Feels like I could wrap my hand around the whole thing. I definitely prefer a satin finish over gloss because to me it feels slicker and less sticky or draggy. With the frets I'm not too particular, I just know I don't like the jumbo frets on the American Specials. String bends were a little meh with the '50s Strat, but it felt like it was because my finger was dragging on the fingerboard finish.

For frets, I think I'd like to match the Fender medium jumbo since they're working for me right now. I'm learning some George Harrison solos that feature a lot of sliding into the note or bending into it. Is that the 6105? 6130? With the neck profile, I preferred the U, so I'm leaning toward the fatback as the closest way to get that shape. I'd like to try unfinished roasted maple with a rosewood fingerboard, and the Black Tusq nut.

Am I close with those specs to what Warmoth offers? I hope the unfinished roasted maple feels closer to a satin rather than the sticky gloss finish.

And what is it with Stratocasters that make you want to buy one? I almost walked out with a Standard in white today.

 

[rgand]

I stepped out recently with a roasted maple neck. It's the finest neck I've played. The sanded finish drags much less than my satin Strat neck. There are some on this forum who burnish the raw necks to get a shine like nothing else. They also say the shine doesn't drag like a gloss finish. I believe them. I just installed mine as it came from Warmoth and on my next one, I may burnish it but the feel is outstanding with the factory ±320 grit finish or whatever they sand it with. You shouldn't be disappointed.

As to your list of preferences, they're all good.

I got the 10-16 compound radius and once I got used to it, like it. It makes bending much easier than the 12 radius I had before. I'll probably stay with that in the future, too.

I'm looking forward to trying the fatback profile myself.

Go for it, pard. You'll be glad you did.

And what is it with Stratocasters that make you want to buy one? I almost walked out with a Standard in white today.

That's just your addiction. Enjoy it. :icon_biggrin:

 

[thx712517]

I can't find the exact dimensions for the tuners currently on my Jaguar neck. I would assume since it's built in Mexico it would feature the same 10mm holes that the MIM Strats have. Not knowing for sure (and not wanting to worry about drilling holes for prongs) I decided I would go for the Gotoh SG38 tuners in chrome. I like a convex knob versus a concave one. From measuring the frets on my current guitar it looks like (and this is rough eyeballing since I don't have calipers) the frets are 2.25mm in width and about 1.75mm in height. That's a very rough measurement but it seems the 6230 fret wire is the closest to that size.

I'm going to stick to the straight 9.5" because I like a tighter radius. If I could get this neck in 7.25" I probably would. Now to start saving up, I guess.

 

[thx712517]

I'm having second thoughts about the fatback profile. I'm worried it will be too much. I folded up some paper strips and put it on the back of my guitar neck to get an idea. I think I might go for the '59 instead.

 

[stratamania]

The 59 profile is already reasonably chunky and similar to a Fender U shape I have in terms of depth. The shape is different of course.

Easiest way to find hole sizes on an instrument you have is to remove a tuner and take a look. Getting a set of calipers is well worthwhile and they aren't too costly.