Use "real" 24 fret neck on Warmoth Musiclander?

[Deadlock]

Hey guys.  I'll make this as succinct as I can...

I once used a 22 fret Charvel neck on a Fender-spec body.  The 4 neck mounting holes lined up perfectly, but I had to enlarge the neck pocket to accommodate the 2 1/4" wide Charvel heel.  The guitar turned out really well.

Now, I'm considering a Musiclander build, using my other 22 fret Charvel neck.  I could order a Musiclander body, enlarge the neck pocket, and BOOM: Metal Musiclander  arty07:  But, I also have a 24 fret Jackson neck (same heel dimensions as the Charvel).  The plot thickens...

I'll have to widen the neck pocket to 2 1/4" either way.  I'm tempted to slap my 24 fret Jackson neck in there.  Yes, I realize that would put the 24th fret where the 22nd fret is "supposed" to be.  But, I could order a Musiclander body without pickup or bridge routes.  For correct intonation, I would have to install the bridge a bit closer to the neck pocket.  After that, I would do the pickup routing.  Sounds easy enough...  :doh:

I don't have the skill or equipment to do much in the way of routing.  Luckily, I only want a bridge humbucker in this guitar.  The pickup mounting ring should hide my non-professional (ugly) pickup route.  And I plan to use a Kahler flatmount hardtail bridge, which shouldn't be too hard.

Have any of you guys done something like this?  Are there any issues I'm not thinking of?

I usually subscribe to the "Keep It Simple, Stupid" philosophy, which dictates that I should stick with my 22 fret Charvel neck and have Warmoth do all the routing for me.  On the other hand, the 24 fret option doesn't seem that difficult.  Also, I've always thought the Musiclander's bridge looked too low on the guitar, almost like a baritone.  Using a 24 fret neck would shift everything up, and that might look kind of cool.

Super lo-tech mockup:





I'm leaning toward a quilt top with a Washed Black Dye finish and Black Burst back.  Something like this:

 

[stratamania]

You seem to have considered the main issue which is bridge placement. But you need to be accurate with routing and if you feel the humbucker rout may be untidy are you confident enough to get the tremelo rout. That may be something to consider. You would also need to drill for the tremelo bushings so would need a drill stand.

The main thing would be accuracy, having the correct tools and confidence. And practice first on scrap wood.

 

[Cagey]

Trem route is much less complicated for a Kahler and there are no mounting studs, so this is more plausible than one might think at first blush. 

 

[Deadlock]

Thanks for the replies guys.  One thing I should clear up: the Kahler I'm interested in requires no routing, just 4 mounting screws.  It's a flatmount fixed bridge with fine tuners. 

It's a Kahler 3300 fixed bridge

 

[Fat Pete]

The only issue with that bridge may be the required string height at the bridge. If the geometry is the same as the tremolo version - which it's likely to be but I don't know for sure - then some angle may be required at the neck joint.

 

[stubhead]

If you've got a ruler and a piece of string and are true of heart, do it. Some time back, before Warmoth even made short scale basses, I needed a 5-string high-C short scale fretless. So I had them make a five string fretless neck with no side dots, and a G5 body with the pickup moved 1.5" north and no bridge drilling. Then I put the bridge on 30.5" from the nut and put in my own side dots, using Milliput, a casting epoxy clay.



If Warmoth will supply wood that's part of the way there, and your brain is connected to your hands  - why not? Here it is next to a Warmoth seven-string:



You can see the Guit-7 & G5 bods have more than a passing similarity.  I wanted a 2-point non-locking whammy on the seven, but Warmoth only offered a Floyd option. So I asked Warmoth to build the body with only the spring cavity routed, and I cut the slot with chisels & a Dremel. It's just wood....

 

[stratamania]

Trem route is much less complicated for a Kahler and there are no mounting studs, so this is more plausible than one might think at first blush.

Correct, I missed that before coffee this morning I didn't notice Kahler, just saw the trem picture and thought rout.

 

[Ddbltrbl]

I love the idea, I love the Kahler bridge too. I don't see any reason not to go for it!  :icon_thumright:
I would add a contoured heel as well, it is not that difficult, unfortunately you can't get Warmoth to do it.
Not sure what issues you might run into with widening the neck pocket.