79' Stratocaster With a Warped Neck

[Philip Secrist]

I have a '79 strat (one piece maple neck) that came into my shop that has a warped neck. The guy left it strung up in the basement for 20 years with the truss rod loose, so the neck has a pretty severe concave bow (two much relief) from the 7th fret to the nut. I measure about a 3/64ths dip from level at the worst point. The rest of the fretboard is reasonably straight and can be adjusted with the truss rod, but it doesn't straighten out the bow from the 7th fret to the nut. Any suggestions?

Removing the frets, leveling, re-fretting, and refinishing the neck, would normally be the fix, but I haven't done fingerboard leveling on a strat (I work mostly on acoustics) and I am concerned about thinning the fretboard too much at the nut end. The thickness of the fret board there measures about 5/64th, so if I have to level that end down 3/64ths to get the fingerboard flat, that doesn't leave much thickness above the truss rod channel. Is this a problem?

Anyone else have a strat with a similar problem? Am I wrong to put the chances of suing heat and pressure applied to the neck to help the problem at about zero. What do you all think?

I suggested a replacement neck, but the customer wants to preserve the Fender decals and keep everything as original as possible, even though I explained that it is not a vintage instrument.

[Tim Mace]

Necks are so easily acquired...put a new one on!Looks more like a twist.........

[Philip Secrist]

Thanks Tim. I recommended this but the customer wants to keep the Fender Name and Serial number decals on the peg head, even though a new neck would probably be about the same price as a fingerboard leveling, refret, and refinish job!

[Philip Secrist]

Here is the bass side. You're right. This is a twist.  Would heat and clamping help this? Does it look too severe to level and re-fret, or do you think a new neck is the only option? Thanks.

[Tim Mace]

It would be IMO my only option rather than waste time on something so convoluted but I'm no expert.20 years is a long time.It may have been on its way when stored.New fretboard for sure 'cause it would likely have to be removed for the attempt.

[Paul Verticchio]

I'd say a refret w/planing etc. looks possible.  Give your customer an estimate for the work (around $350 in my workshop due to the radical neck twist) and an estimate for a new neck with an aftermarket Fender decal [I've only heard those are available (;] and let him decide. The S/N is of no value whatsoever.

Anyway, let the customer choose the solution and remember that you are under no obligation to accept the project.

In the event that you two agree on a refret...keep in mind that those frets were driven into the FB from the bass side and need to be removed in that way.  Also, it's been my experience that maple FB Fenders from that era which have been stored in basements and other high humidity storage areas, have "iffy" fret slots.  Lot's of potential problems could present themselves. BTW: I agree that this guitar may have had this neck flaw for decades.

Just as frightening, I also see huge gaps in the neck pocket, especially on the bass side.  Yikes.  Typical of the worst years of QC at the Fender factory.  

The majority of late 70 Strats I've worked on are of fairly substandard quality, even by CBS standards.  I have a nightmare 25th Anniv. Strat on the bench right now.  No wonder everyone was buying vastly superior Tokai copes.

Bottom line: I'd personally pass on the project unless he opted for a new neck which will undoubtedly be far superior to the one on it now. 

 

Best of luck (:

 

[Philip Secrist]

Thanks Paul for the helpful information. I discovered the neck also has an s-curve looking toward the peg head from the bridge. It is in bad shape and yes the gaps in the the neck pocket are horrendous. This is all more than I want to take on. This guitar just really needs a new neck.

[Russell Vance]

Hi Phil,

We specialize in refurbing 70's/CBS  necks - not sure if this is one of them but if it is apply the following info if relevant.   I haven't seen one with a problem quite like this but the following are my general observations and pre-requisite factors:

Firstly, the frets in this neck are possibly mounted with a sideways sliding caul - hard to detect but try lifting  a fret out at the 21 fret position - it it resists try driving it out sideways  - we use a particular punch (a small nail set punch with a hollow tip) and a dead blow brass block hammer to drive the frets out sideways. We heat the frets, especially at the ends to break the grip of the unusually thick poly finish but expect to lose the finish anyway as the poly tends to detach quite readily from the maple.   We punch in new frets from the top and use the StewaMac 80 x 50 thou' special frets to get the right feel when a thick CBS poly finish is required to look authentic.   We pre-finsh the fingerboard and neck edge  with a couple of thin coats before refretting and do it quick so the poly coats bond to each other and the fret gets to stick to the surface coat a bit better before the final coats are sprayed over the bare fret.

Secondly, removing the frets and leveling the board in this situation will do two unwanted things:

*you will get close to or lose the side dots in the kinked area as material is taken of the top of the neck.

*you will lose most of the nut slot (or all of it in this case) and this brings you perilously close to the top of the truss rod bullet tip and the truss rod itself which is close to the surface of the fingerboard in this area.

Heating and attempting to set the neck this way is, in my experience, a waste of time, and the neck will revert to the original 'set' in a season or so.   You could possibly use a hybrid/expanded  fret tang size and compression fret in the warped/twisted area but that's a last resort and high risk/difficulty repair.

S bends (compression bends) are a sign of weakness and if the '14 fret Fender kink' is also present in this neck you are batting zero with getting this neck back into playable service with just a neck level and refret.

The other more drastic fix and the one I would go for is to machine off the old fret board surface (one piece/two piece neck - doesn't matter), insert a couple of graphite strips and manufacture a new board with dots and slots etc (the finger board dots on CBS are 7mm - bigger than normal - DIY,  or I think StewMac have this larger size).  Refinish and relic to the remaining peghead condition. 

The sloppy neck pocket is normal but be careful not to thin the neck width any when refurbing - the E strings are close to the side of the board even when new.  If it is a three-bolter neck consider  putting some metal gauze between the neck and the body (like a spacer) to get some grip between the neck and body.  Try to avoid using the neck tilt system as it only exacerbates the insecurity that comes standard.

If the customer balks at this and does not want a new neck you are now in the situation of working out if you actually want the job -given that the outcome is unlikely to be good.

 

Good Luck, Rusty.

 

 

 

[Philip Secrist]

Thank you for the help Rusty. The customer is not willing to go the new neck route and doesn't want to go to the extent needed to get it playable, so I am passing on the job.

[Tim Mace]

whew!!!!!

 

[Jeffrey L. Suits]

Bottom line: I'd personally pass on the project unless he opted for a new neck which will undoubtedly be far superior to the one on it now.

Ditto this...

[Gary Fried]

That neck is toast.  I would definitely replace it or pass on the job.  I have replaced multiple necks from the 70's era in the past year because of similar problems. I'd rather pass on the job than start planing the neck only to find out that it is beyond repair.  Allparts has some nice vintage style necks.

[Chris Rochow]

Remove fretboard, then plane teh neck...re-attached fretboard.