70s strat necks - better to take rosewood or maple?

[jpfamps]

Usually if a Fender maple neck has been refretted the finger board should have been refinished, so it could be that a refretted neck plays better due to lighter poly coat than the original.

If you've got a maple neck that needs refretting you could ask for a lighter poly coat on the finger board.

From my recollection in the 70s Fender actually sprayed maple necks after they had been fretted, so there is often a lot of poly lacquer built up around the base of the frets.

For what it's worth, I find the early 70's maple necks more playable than the rosewood, which is odd as I generally favour rosewood fingerboards on Strats.

The late 70s necks are too thin across the nut for my taste, although obviously this could suit some people (I have quite large hands). I would agree with an earlier post though — the fretting on late 70s Fenders is often poor. The nuts are often cut really badly too.

[Philly Q]

Will a (new) Stanley blade be sharp enough?  I have a bit of a phobia of razor blades (a lifetime watching horror movies...)

[WezV]

as long as its fresh it should be alright.  the razors area bit easier though.  a light touch is essential with either and the thinness and slight flexibilty of the razors helps with that

maybe practice on some thing else first to develop the technique.... my dining table has some hand rolled edges ;)

[hunter]

as long as its fresh it should be alright.  the razors area bit easier though.  a light touch is essential with either and the thinness and slight flexibilty of the razors helps with that

maybe practice on some thing else first to develop the technique.... my dining table has some hand rolled edges ;)

would be great if you could make a youtue vid!

[WezV]

i tried to look if there already was one - but no joy.  maybe i will at some point.  either that or a photo essay

[WezV]

done!

new thread
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=18062.0

[Prawnik]

One thing that is probably sort of obvious, but it is an important point which noone has said and therefore should be mentioned:

Talking Strat necks: unless you get a neck before mid-1971 or so, you will get a three-bolt neck. Strat necks before that time are much more expensive (and therefore also much more frequently faked.)

IIRC, Teles and most low-end Fenders (Mustangs and the like) always had four-bolt necks. At the time, the three-bolt was marketed as a desirable thing, believe it or not.

hi everyone!

i'm looking at vintage fender necks. if you shop around you can get a decent deal on a neck from the US - and theres plenty to choose from. reading up on this online, and theres some decent information in fact, but also some contradiction and so on. but i'm pretty up to speed on serial numbers, date codes, tuners etc.

are the early/mid 70s necks alot nicer quality than the late 70s ones? or is there no real difference? generally speaking there is a difference in price on the secondhand market.

i read that 70s maple boards all have poly finish on the fingerboard - is this true? is it the same feeling as todays poly finished maple necks? (which i don't like the feel of) is there a period where they still took nitro?

not expecting a 70s rosewood neck to be the same quality as a 60s slab rosewood neck, though the playability may be better than a 70s maple one due to the finishing issue. what do people think about that?

all things being equal i prefer maple boards on a fender, but am open to the rosewood suggestion in order to get the most playable neck.

if you had to have a vintage 70s fender neck, would be pick a late or early, rosewood or maple?

anything else to be aware of? are they prone to warping etc etc?

[jerry]

This is only a personal opinion , and it'll probably upset people : I'm old enough to remember 70s Fenders when they were new . I can' t see why anyone would consider spending decent money on one , and the best place for any parts would be in a skip! If you really want the 70s vibe , get a Highway One Strat - great guitars for little outlay , and certainly better than anything that came out of Fullerton back in " the decade that taste forgot ".

[Prawnik]

I remember 1970's Fenders when you could not give them away.

IMHO, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with 1970's Fender necks that some fretwork will not fix. Fender used decent quality maple in its necks, even then. Bodies, again, IMHO, are another matter, espcially ash bodies which were often made from some tone-free wood that was rejected as too heavy for shilleaughs.

I do not care for the Highway One necks at all, but that is because they are a sort of "fun vintage" that does not appeal to me. You may feel differently and all that.

[jpfamps]

This is only a personal opinion , and it'll probably upset people : I'm old enough to remember 70s Fenders when they were new . I can' t see why anyone would consider spending decent money on one , and the best place for any parts would be in a skip! If you really want the 70s vibe , get a Highway One Strat - great guitars for little outlay , and certainly better than anything that came out of Fullerton back in " the decade that taste forgot ".

Well I would argue that the decade taste forgot is the 80's........

[Philly Q]

Well I would argue that the decade taste forgot is the 80's........

Agreed 100%!!  :lol:

[38thBeatle]

I have a 1970's Strat that I would never sell or swap.Plays beautifully and sounds better than any Strat I have ever played. I don't dispute that there were issues with QC but I suspect the same could be said of any era of construction. I have played some poor 1970's Strats but I have also played a few ropey pre CBS ones.

[jpfamps]

I've played some fantastic early 70's Strats.

Still not 100% convinced by the large headstock though...........

I would also agree that there are some duff pre CBS Strats out there, although to be fair many of them have been butchered.

Having said that, I really like the sound of good early 60's Strats. I also don't think that any of the modern Fender Custom shop Strats or Nashs, McGuires etc, although they are excellent guitars,  capture the sound of the early 60's Strats.