NOGD: Back to Black + Warmoth Neck!

[Maggot Brain]

My 1992 MIM Fender Stratocaster is truly a gem and plays and sounds unlike any other Strat I've ever played or came across. Last year I upgraded to a loaded pickguard from 920D with Fender CS '57/'62 and era correct wiring, pots etc. I thought I dug the "aged" mint colored pickgaurd etc but no matter how much I tried to like it, it was boring. I decided to swap all the electronics back to the original black pickgaurd and feel reunited with an old friend... That black on black was MY guitar for 5+ years and it just wasn't going to jive with any other pickgaurd.

Now the neck!

I've been noticing pain in my fretting hand after extended playing, mostly in the joint of my index and middle finger. I noticed the neck on my Strat is thin, I think a slim C? Too thin for my playing technique (thumb over). My Epiphone LP has a pretty thick neck and I've been playing on that for days without any hand discomfort. I go back to my Strat and sure enough I start feeling discomfort in my fretting hand so I decide to consider replacing the neck. The frets on that neck are nearly shot, it's been leveled several times and it's just due for a refret on that neck. I've seen this Warmoth neck on CL for like a month or more so I decided to just throw a trade offer at the guy and he accepted. Just holding it in my hands I could tell the quality and craftsmanship was impeccable. The neck has a V profile that I have been eager to try, it sounded like the perfect profile for my thumb over playing. I get it on my strat, give it a cleaning and wipe the fretboard with lemon oil and get all the hardware swapped over... The very moment I wrapped my hand around that neck taking it on it's first test drive... Wow! I'm smiling ear to ear, feels PERFECT and I truly mean that with all my heart. Playing this neck feels like it was made for my hand , just absolutely amazing, "guitar plays itself" type of speil.

Neck specs:
Modern/Vintage construction, Maple with vintage finish, Rosewood fretboard, V profile, 10-16 compound radius, 6150 Tall/Wide nickle(?) Frets.

This strat plays and sounds AH-MAY-ZING!

 

[Deftone]

Looks nice! Warmoth quality is top notch.

I have a '91 MIJ Strat...they have been accused of being better than the USA made models.

 

[El Gringo]

That looks killer !

 

[paul-e-mann]

My 1992 MIM Fender Stratocaster is truly a gem and plays and sounds unlike any other Strat I've ever played or came across. Last year I upgraded to a loaded pickguard from 920D with Fender CS '57/'62 and era correct wiring, pots etc. I thought I dug the "aged" mint colored pickgaurd etc but no matter how much I tried to like it, it was boring. I decided to swap all the electronics back to the original black pickgaurd and feel reunited with an old friend... That black on black was MY guitar for 5+ years and it just wasn't going to jive with any other pickgaurd.

Now the neck!

I've been noticing pain in my fretting hand after extended playing, mostly in the joint of my index and middle finger. I noticed the neck on my Strat is thin, I think a slim C? Too thin for my playing technique (thumb over). My Epiphone LP has a pretty thick neck and I've been playing on that for days without any hand discomfort. I go back to my Strat and sure enough I start feeling discomfort in my fretting hand so I decide to consider replacing the neck. The frets on that neck are nearly shot, it's been leveled several times and it's just due for a refret on that neck. I've seen this Warmoth neck on CL for like a month or more so I decided to just throw a trade offer at the guy and he accepted. Just holding it in my hands I could tell the quality and craftsmanship was impeccable. The neck has a V profile that I have been eager to try, it sounded like the perfect profile for my thumb over playing. I get it on my strat, give it a cleaning and wipe the fretboard with lemon oil and get all the hardware swapped over... The very moment I wrapped my hand around that neck taking it on it's first test drive... Wow! I'm smiling ear to ear, feels PERFECT and I truly mean that with all my heart. Playing this neck feels like it was made for my hand , just absolutely amazing, "guitar plays itself" type of speil.

Neck specs:
Modern/Vintage construction, Maple with vintage finish, Rosewood fretboard, V profile, 10-16 compound radius, 6150 Tall/Wide nickle(?) Frets.

This strat plays and sounds AH-MAY-ZING!

Needs a gold pickguard

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

Oh I love stories like this. Good on you. I had a similar problem and once I got my most recent LP (epi) with the slim taper D neck it helped a ton. I'm a thumb on the center line of the neck guy.

I love those mint guards but it ain't my axe so rock it dude.

Glad you got it to work in your favor.


Cheers

 

[Deftone]

I did something similar.

I bought an '81 Strat with a floyd a few years back. Wasn't crazy about how it sounded, so I ended up buying a Warmoth body with all new parts and the old Strat body went into a box. The Warmoth Strat sounded amazing, only problem was the frets were too low for my taste. So I was about to get a fret job but I remembered the USA Strat neck I had bought for a Tele body was about the same price as the fret job. I started looking at Fender necks and up pops a Fender MIM Tele Deluxe necks for $299. I put one in my watch list and the seller sends me an offer for $250. Conclusion:

'81 Strat neck and body are together again.
Warmoth Strat now has a USA Fender neck.
Tele Body now has a MIM Tele Deluxe neck.

So two guitars became three.

 

[Maggot Brain]

Needs a gold pickguard

I've actually thought about that! The Custom Shop Strat I had had a gold pickgaurd and it was pretty cool.

Oh I love stories like this. Good on you. I had a similar problem and once I got my most recent LP (epi) with the slim taper D neck it helped a ton. I'm a thumb on the center line of the neck guy.

I love those mint guards but it ain't my axe so rock it dude.

Glad you got it to work in your favor.


Cheers

For as long as I've been playing I'm still discovering a lot of things I've either neglected to look into or didn't really think about. I've never really thought about neck profile or variations of radiuses. I've always played whatever the guitar came with but tbh I don't think I've really encountered too many different profiles. I think most I've played are the modern c profile used by Fender and a few "wizard" slim necks. My Epi LP has a bit thicker neck than I've ever really encountered and that's what got me thinking.

I did something similar.

I bought an '81 Strat with a floyd a few years back. Wasn't crazy about how it sounded, so I ended up buying a Warmoth body with all new parts and the old Strat body went into a box. The Warmoth Strat sounded amazing, only problem was the frets were too low for my taste. So I was about to get a fret job but I remembered the USA Strat neck I had bought for a Tele body was about the same price as the fret job. I started looking at Fender necks and up pops a Fender MIM Tele Deluxe necks for $299. I put one in my watch list and the seller sends me an offer for $250. Conclusion:

'81 Strat neck and body are together again.
Warmoth Strat now has a USA Fender neck.
Tele Body now has a MIM Tele Deluxe neck.

So two guitars became three.

That's awesome man, I've been kicking around the idea to assemble all the Strat parts I got. I could piece together atleast 1 guitar. I really want to order a reversed maple CBS headstock to slap on my LH MIJ Strat and have myself a Hendrix strat.

How much of an improvement would you say the Warmoth body made? I've played a few Warmoth strats at my LGS and they were all phenomenal axes.

 

[Deftone]

I've actually thought about that! The Custom Shop Strat I had had a gold pickgaurd and it was pretty cool.

For as long as I've been playing I'm still discovering a lot of things I've either neglected to look into or didn't really think about. I've never really thought about neck profile or variations of radiuses. I've always played whatever the guitar came with but tbh I don't think I've really encountered too many different profiles. I think most I've played are the modern c profile used by Fender and a few "wizard" slim necks. My Epi LP has a bit thicker neck than I've ever really encountered and that's what got me thinking.

That's awesome man, I've been kicking around the idea to assemble all the Strat parts I got. I could piece together atleast 1 guitar. I really want to order a reversed maple CBS headstock to slap on my LH MIJ Strat and have myself a Hendrix strat.

How much of an improvement would you say the Warmoth body made? I've played a few Warmoth strats at my LGS and they were all phenomenal axes.

I went with Basswood vs Ash...huge improvement in tone (IMHO) and I dropped 2-3lbs. The '81 Strat is over 10lbs. I'm really impressed with the Warmoth body.

I was just watching some Hendrix vids today and I had the same thought on the reversed neck, love that fat CBS headstock too.

 

[Kinkless Tetrode]

I went with Basswood vs Ash...huge improvement in tone (IMHO) and I dropped 2-3lbs. The '81 Strat is over 10lbs. I'm really impressed with the Warmoth body.

I was just watching some Hendrix vids today and I had the same thought on the reversed neck, love that fat CBS headstock too.

I never had any luck with heavy ash. Swamp ash on the other hand has always resulted in a good guitar in my experience. It's probably my favorite body wood for strats and teles. One problem with either type of ash is finishing it.

Quality basswood can result in a great guitar. Just be careful not to get it banged up.

11lbs ! Might as well be maple (which usually sounds great too).

 

[Chris Banuelos]

My 1992 MIM Fender Stratocaster is truly a gem and plays and sounds unlike any other Strat I've ever played or came across. Last year I upgraded to a loaded pickguard from 920D with Fender CS '57/'62 and era correct wiring, pots etc. I thought I dug the "aged" mint colored pickgaurd etc but no matter how much I tried to like it, it was boring. I decided to swap all the electronics back to the original black pickgaurd and feel reunited with an old friend... That black on black was MY guitar for 5+ years and it just wasn't going to jive with any other pickgaurd.

Now the neck!

I've been noticing pain in my fretting hand after extended playing, mostly in the joint of my index and middle finger. I noticed the neck on my Strat is thin, I think a slim C? Too thin for my playing technique (thumb over). My Epiphone LP has a pretty thick neck and I've been playing on that for days without any hand discomfort. I go back to my Strat and sure enough I start feeling discomfort in my fretting hand so I decide to consider replacing the neck. The frets on that neck are nearly shot, it's been leveled several times and it's just due for a refret on that neck. I've seen this Warmoth neck on CL for like a month or more so I decided to just throw a trade offer at the guy and he accepted. Just holding it in my hands I could tell the quality and craftsmanship was impeccable. The neck has a V profile that I have been eager to try, it sounded like the perfect profile for my thumb over playing. I get it on my strat, give it a cleaning and wipe the fretboard with lemon oil and get all the hardware swapped over... The very moment I wrapped my hand around that neck taking it on it's first test drive... Wow! I'm smiling ear to ear, feels PERFECT and I truly mean that with all my heart. Playing this neck feels like it was made for my hand , just absolutely amazing, "guitar plays itself" type of speil.

Neck specs:
Modern/Vintage construction, Maple with vintage finish, Rosewood fretboard, V profile, 10-16 compound radius, 6150 Tall/Wide nickle(?) Frets.

This strat plays and sounds AH-MAY-ZING!

You would hope for the price that they charge they would roll the edges. I did it myself with a screwdriver and it feels much better.