Upgrade path plan... does this make sense?

[daizee]

Greetings all, first post.

I've been lurking the Warmoth website for some months now.
I have a 2020 Squier Classic Vibe 60's Thinline Tele that I like a lot, but the neck is FAR too narrow at 1.650" at the nut. I have size-large hand span, but slim fingers. My hand cramps up trying to reach the strings because there isn't a lot of meat to take up the space behind the neck.

My 1.8" wide Seagull S6 is lovely...
Ibanez AM53's 1.6875" nut on a gibson scale is also kinda cramped, but I like its thicker neck profile. String spacing at the bridge is a bit narrow, tho.

My notion at the moment is to order a neck for the Tele:
1.75" nut, 59 roundback, roasted maple, warhead. If I love it on the Tele, then either strum and be happy, or develop a plan to build a body around the neck sometime in the future - maybe a hardtail soloist?

Does that sound like a sensible path to neckvana?

Cheers,

-Daizee

 

[Rick]

You should try the super wide strat neck with the 1 7/8 width and the Wolfgang profile.  You can off menu order it with a tele neck joint scarf, I believe. If you have broad hand issues like I do you’ll find it nice and roomy.  Like cruising full speed on the highway ...

I also have the same neck in the specs you’re eyeballing but in goncalo and rosewood and it’s a joy to play.

That said the 1 3/4 necks are the next logical place to explore, so go for it, you got nothing to lose.

Makes sense to me

 

[daizee]

Cool, thanks for the feedback.

1-7/8" is wider than I'm aiming for. My mom's Harmony Classical is 2" wide with a D neck, and that's a bit much unless I'm trying to duplicate an acoustic guitar completely. I want to go CLOSE, but not ALL the way.

The neck will cost nearly as much as the original guitar, so I want to thread the needle of options and get it right the first time.

 

[stratamania]

It seems like a reasonable plan, but it is only yourself ultimately that can answer this for you.

If you buy a neck with a Tele style neck heel then you need to bear in mind that it will not fit in a strat style neck pocket which is what a Soloist usually has.

 

[Rick]

Oh yeah, make sure your joint will fit the dimensions of the neck scarf.  Look at the measurements on the warmoth web site.

 

[stratamania]

Oh yeah, make sure your joint will fit the dimensions of the neck scarf.  Look at the measurements on the warmoth web site.

Neck pocket...a scarf is a type of joint for creating a tilt back headstock...

 

[Rick]

Thanks Spock.  It's the neck heel that fits into the neck pocket. Forgot the words.

 

[daizee]

I've seen enough reports of Warmoth necks fit to Squiers and did some measurements without disassembly - should be good there. Unless someone has some experience to the contrary with recent Squier bodies?

re: Soloist body
I'd configure custom to match the neck, all the options are available. Ideally I'll only ever do this once, so buying off the rack seems silly unless *exactly* what I want happens to be listed.

Probably mini-humbucker neck plus noiseless Tele bridge.
Thinking blue burst quilt maple top... spent 9 years working on the ocean and I sing a lot of sea shanties.  :headbanging:

 

[stratamania]

On the soloist body - then that would work. Just wanted to point it out as there are no end of assumptions we see folks fall into. (I am sure Warmoth sales see more)

A blue burst for a sailor - makes sense and will remind you of the ocean... :icon_thumright:

 

[daizee]

Being reminded of the ocean isn't always a good thing.  :laughing7:
But It's either that or more dark red.

Anyone have an opinion on Standard Thin vs. 59 Roundback on a 1.75" wide nut? I know it's all so personal, but I've never held a single Warmoth neck in my hands, and surely never will before I pull the proverbial trigger.

My Seagull has a 1.8" wide nut and 0.800" thick behind the 1st fret. Not sure what to call the neck carve. Maybe a "Thin D"? I like it pretty well. Could tolerate another 1/16" of thickness, though, and miiiight prefer it.

 

[daizee]

I ordered my first neck!
Stuck with standard thin.

Gonna go for Gotoh vintage split tuners to keep weight down.

Any recommendation for string trees?? Such a simple part, but obviously should be as low-friction as possible.

 

[stratamania]

I would normally recommended staggered locking tuners and no string trees. But if you need string trees perhaps look for some kind of roller string tree or something from Graphtech.

That said if you are going for a vintage type vibe I have guitars with slotted tuners and the standard Fender bent steel tree that work fairly well. The key is to make sure the nut is well cut and that the bottom of the tree is smooth and lubed if needed.

 

[daizee]

Ah, thanks, Strat!
I didn't see staggered tuners from Gotoh when I first looked, but found 'em just now on Stewmac.
Glad I asked before ordering in my excitement!

I opted for Warmoth to cut a TUSQ-XL nut. The fellow I spoke to on the phone said they cut for the string spacing appropriate to the selected nut width, rather than sticking a pre-cut nut in. Since it's 1.75" wide, that was the key.

Last week I replaced the factory nut on my Ibanez AM53 with a pre-cut one from Graphtech, and it solved the string spacing (too narrow for the neck) and tuning stability issues.

 

[Rick]

I second the recommendation on staggered tuners.  Hipshot makes some nice ones.

 

[stratamania]

Yes the Warmoth fitted nut will be correct for spacing but dependent on string gauge etc and final set up sometimes the depth of slot can be dialled in a little. Many folks just play them as is out of the box without issue.

 

[daizee]

Ok, good to know about fine-tuning. It didn't occur to me to specify expected string gauges on my order, so I'll just roll with what happens. While I lack guitar-specific tools, I do a bunch of small-scale metal work, and count various abrasives and and abrading tools among my friends.

Figure I'll run 42-9 to start, since that's what's on the Tele now. The AM53 is running 46-10, which would be my second choice.

Hmmm...
https://hipshotproducts.com/collections/guitar-tuning-machines/products/vintage-guitar-tuner-upgrade-kit-6-inline-headstocks

I think I'm going to stick with the vintage-style split ones, tho. I love not having the string ends sticking out, and now that I've read about how to use them properly they're much more appealing. The half of my guitars-shaped objects that I have NOT changed strings on (2 of 4) have the split style, and have waiting to figure that out.

 

[stratamania]

You cannot specify string gauge when you order. But with those gauges you should be fine, the dialling in would be fine adjustment to depth which as I say for many folks how it comes out of the box may be okay for you.