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

[gwEm]

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?

[Philly Q]

You need Prawnik to comment on this thread, he seems pretty clued up on vintage Fenders.

I don't know how the shapes varied during the '70s, but I am fairly sure they were gloss poly finished.  I think they always sprayed nitro over the headstock decals, though, which is why you see maple-neck Strats with the headstock more yellowed than the rest of the neck.

Or that may all be a load of bollocks, in which case I apologise.

I'm surprised you're finding them at a reasonable price, to be honest.  The few times I've noticed '70s necks on eBay they were £500-£600 or more.

[gwEm]

You need Prawnik to comment on this thread, he seems pretty clued up on vintage Fenders.

I don't know how the shapes varied during the '70s, but I am fairly sure they were gloss poly finished.  I think they always sprayed nitro over the headstock decals, though, which is why you see maple-neck Strats with the headstock more yellowed than the rest of the neck.

Or that may all be a load of bollocks, in which case I apologise.

I'm surprised you're finding them at a reasonable price, to be honest.  The few times I've noticed '70s necks on eBay they were £500-£600 or more.

i saw a couple sell on US ebay over the weekend for £400, not bad nick either... and you can get shonky ones for less

i heard similar about the nitro on the headstock, poly on the rest of the neck. was wondering if that would be the case for the whole of the 70s period

if they really are all poly finish, i may pass on this idea. though i don't mind poly too much with a rosewood board

[Philly Q]

I can see the appeal of having a genuine "vintage" Fender neck, but in terms of quality/playability I don't think it would be any better than a new Fender neck or a good copy (I'm trying not to say W_____th because I always seem to be going on about them recently!  :lol: ).

But I'm of the generation that grew up in the '70s, when the received wisdom was that all new Fenders were shite and the only ones worth owning were pre-CBS.  That's so ingrained that I still can't believe people pay "vintage" prices for '70s Strats, even though I'm sure there must be some great ones out there.

[WezV]

gwem - if you email rather than PM i can respond much quicker ;)  cant Pm from work :(

[gwEm]

gwem - if you email rather than PM i can respond much quicker ;)  cant Pm from work :(

just sent you an email to the address on your webpage

[WezV]

thats the one!   its so frustrating when i get asked a question in the morning and cant respond all day :)

[Ted 'N' Leo]

even though I'm sure there must be some great ones out there.

My friends dad has a CBS era strat which he thinks is 1 of only 5 made for Zappa, although i can't be sure how much truth is in that statement (he says himself he isn't too sure about its origins). I've played it once, back when i was a teenager and although i was well into pointy guitars with EMGs and FRs, i remember thinking at the time that it was an awesome guitar.

[38thBeatle]

I have a mid 1970's Strat with a rosewood board and I love it. I haven't played a maple board version for many a year and so cannot give you  much of an answer. I am lucky in that I have one of the great 1970's Strats- they do exist.

[jpfamps]

Fender used poly for virtually all their finishing from around '67 except that the front of the headstocks was finished in nitro as the poly reacted with the decal. This is why you get the strange effect where the headstock has yellowed but the rest of the neck is still white.

Incidentally some custom colours such as Candy Apple Red were always done in nitro until it was discountinued in around 1974.

The desirability (and in most peoples opinions including mine the quality) of Strats drops sharply after '74 and consequently an early 70's neck will cost more than a late 70's. For about one year around '72 Fender made a bullet headstock Strat with a single string tree and you would pay a bit more for one of these.


As a general rule the early 70's neck are much better than the later 70s (and I've played a lot of 70's Strats). The late 70s profiles go to a more pronounced U shape and can be quite thin.

Regarding price, sady vintage Strats are worth more in parts than they are as whole guitars so there are several internet vendours buying 'straight' guitars and breaking them for parts; a fairly souless way to make a living.

The main determinant of price is originality and condition, so a mint neck will command a premium price. Check wether the neck has had/ needs a fret etc.

There are a lot of punters out there asking la-la land money, so checked the completed auctions on ebay to find out the real price 70s necks go for. For an early 70s neck in playable condition I wouldn't want to pay more than £400.

Regarding maple vs rosewood, the rosewood on the 70s Fender is often v-v-v-very thin, even compared with a 60s veneer board. This can make refretting a real problem as there isn't much in the way of board left, so I would be slightly more cautious buying a rosewood board.

[gwEm]

thanks for the great responses so far!

[Prawnik]

Philly: you rang?

I've been out of the country, so sorry if I am trying to revive a dead horse, but do you have a general preference for rosewood vs. maple?

Otherwise, all other things being equal, I'd go with the rosewood, mostly because the CBS poly finishes can be very thick. On a maple neck, this can make you can feel like you are playing a piece of plastic. I am not sure how much that really affects tone, especially through an amp, but a lot of people don't like the feel.

Otherwise, most of the advice is dead on, although I would say that a lot of the complaints with late '70's necks are related to the fretwork. Frets take take to get right and CBS often rushed necks though. However, this is relatively easy to fix, even if the neck hasn't been refretted already.

[maverickf1jockey]

If you are desperate to get through a poly finish you could always use an abrasive to smooth it out and make it less 'sticky' (say a low to medium grit glasspaper then a going over with wire wool and beeswax.).

Though I would wait for this method to be confirmed as a good idea by one of the luthier members before jumping on the opportunity.

[Prawnik]

Now, I have been rumored to take down the back of a guitar neck and roll the fretboard edges to simulate a guitar that has been played (hint: don't use steel wool or a sanding block. Use a sanding sponge or a fiberglass kitchen scouring pad instead.)

But the problem with CBS poly finishes is more on the fretboard itself. The finish on a fretboard is hard to take down, unless you are prepared to remove the frets.

Apparently, CBS/Fender didn't spray poly on rosewood fretboards.

[Philly Q]

Now, I have been rumored to take down the back of a guitar neck and roll the fretboard edges to simulate a guitar that has been played (hint: don't use steel wool or a sanding block. Use a sanding sponge or a fiberglass kitchen scouring pad instead.)

How do you roll the fretboard edges?  It's a question I've asked before, but there seem to be a number of different approaches!