Could this really be a 50's or 60s Tele neck? (pic heavy)

[Brow]

Hey guys.

I picked up a Metallic Red Telecaster from a local shop for the measley sum of £150.

The guy in the shop said that the body of the guitar wasn't original, but that it was an original late 50's or early 60s Telecaster neck, and he'd had this verified by a guy at a 'well respected' guitar shop in Doncaster.

Apparently the guy that sold the guitar to the shop had the neck re-laquered and re-fretted at some point during the 80s and also put the current body onto the neck as the original body had started to crack in places.

How feasible a story does this sound to you guys? The guy in the shop seems like a fair enough guy, so unless he's been mislead by the guitar shop in Doncaster, I don't have any reason to not believe what he told me.

I've enclosed pictures of the neck so you can have a look for yourselves and maybe offer an opinion either way. (sorry for the quality, had to take them with my phone as both cameras are away on holiday :roll:)













Thanks.

Craig

[Twinfan]

Kinda hard to tell from the pics, but I'd guess that's a Japanese reissue neck...

[Philly Q]

I think it's probably a home-made/custom neck to be honest.  It's definitely not Fender, and probably not 50s or 60s.

(a) the truss rod adjustment is at the nut

(b) it has 22 frets! And worryingly, the 22nd fret seems to be where you'd expect the 21st fret to be on a normal Tele neck...  :?

[Twinfan]

Good points Phil - my lack of attention to detail is showing this morning.  Must be the hangover...

No way is that an old neck.  Something in the grain of the wood looks wrong too.  Can't put my finger on it though.  Like it's not be cut the correct way for a neck?

[Philly Q]

Yeah, there are lots of things "wrong" - looking again, it has a separate maple fingerboard (so why the skunk stripe?), which Fender didn't start doing until the late 60s(? not sure about the dates...).

But for £150, does it really matter?  How does it play?

[Brow]

Hey guys.

Thanks for the replies.

I also posted this on another forum I go on and they said the same thing about the 22 frets/truss rod adjuster etc. Someone said it may be an 80's neck, but it's definitely not a 50s or 60s.

The guy in the shop obviously believes it to be genuine as per his guy in the Doncaster shop, as he offered me a full money back guarantee on it if I investigated it and found it to be a fraud.

What I'm now contemplating doing is taking the Piledriver bridge pickup and Feline custom Esquire scratchplate off my current Tele (a Sea Foam Green Gould Tele), putting them on this red tele (I prefer the colour of it) and then selling my Sea Foam Green 1. Providing this guitar plays ok anyway.

[Philly Q]

I'm just wondering if it plays in tune - the 21st fret would normally be near the end of the neck (where the 22nd is on this one!) so I imagine the intonation must be all over the place.

Unless the neck pocket extends further into the body or the bridge is closer to the neck than normal?

[Brow]

I'm just wondering if it plays in tune - the 21st fret would normally be near the end of the neck (where the 22nd is on this one!) so I imagine the intonation must be all over the place.

Unless the neck pocket extends further into the body or the bridge is closer to the neck than normal?

As you can probably tell, my knowledge of Telecasters is very limited, so here's a few more photos for info:

[WezV]

Its worth checking what philly is saying about the intonation.  Measure from the nut to the bridge on the high e, it should be 25.5" or very slightly longer.  nut to 12th fret should be 12 3/4" and 12th to bridge should be 12 3/4" on the high e string.  It will be slightly longer on the other strings because of compensation.

I was going to point out the seperate fretboard and truss rod thing as well.  I also thought the maple looked wrong.  Its a flatsawn maple neck as it should be but there are different kinds of maple in the world and that doesnt look the same as many fenders i have seen - but thats really hard to be sure on because wood is so variable

[Elliot]

Isn't the headstock pattern wrong for Fender as well?

But if it plays  ok - as you say £150 aint bad.

[PhilKing]

Hi Craig,

Warmoth make 22 fret necks that fit a standard tele so you should be able to ge the intonation ok (other than the normal issue of tele's with 3 piece bridges).  The other comments on the neck are all accurate, 22 frets, separate fingerboard, neck truss rod adjustment, 60's rosewood decal, skunk stripe with separate fingerboard and Fender headstocks chamfer off the bottom into the neck, not a square edge all the way round.  None of these are Fender features.  My guess is it is a Japanese or Korean neck.  The body looks fine, though it is a top loader, so not as much ring.  If you like it £150 isn't a bad price.  

As music shop owners go though, I would have to say that he shouldn't be in the business.  If he can't tell a 50's tele neck from a 60's, let alone a real Fender from a fake he can't have much idea.  Also, if he really thought it was a refinished 50's/60's neck, then the cost should have been in the thousands not hundreds.

[Philly Q]

Warmoth make 22 fret necks that fit a standard tele so you should be able to ge the intonation ok (other than the normal issue of tele's with 3 piece bridges).

Really sorry to keep going on about this, but the Warmoth (and modern Fender) necks have the 22nd fret on an "overhanging" fretboard extension, so the 22nd fret is (roughly) directly above the very end of the neck heel, not half an inch away from it as it is here.

So I still think there could be an intonation problem.

EDIT: Looking at the bridge saddles, they're sitting an unusually long way from the back of the bridge - the B/E saddle is almost off the screw!  I would guess that's because of the odd fret placement.

[PhilKing]

Warmoth make 22 fret necks that fit a standard tele so you should be able to ge the intonation ok (other than the normal issue of tele's with 3 piece bridges).

Really sorry to keep going on about this, but the Warmoth (and modern Fender) necks have the 22nd fret on an "overhanging" fretboard extension, so the 22nd fret is (roughly) directly above the very end of the neck heel, not half an inch away from it as it is here.

You are right Phil, my excuse is that it is still early here!  I think it is probably a 24 3/4in scale not a 25 1/2, that would allow 22 frets and would still fit into the fingerboard length.

However, I always think part of Fender's sound is the scale length, so if it is 24 3/4, then it will get a different sound with the regular pickups.

[Brow]

Hey guys.

Thanks for the replies.

I haven't been able to 'play' the neck as when I got the guitar, I checked in the shop that it worked (just through a small practise amp they had) and then removed the 5 strings the guitar had hanging off it to check the end of the neck for a serial number. So I haven't actually played it as a guitar yet.

Its worth checking what philly is saying about the intonation.  Measure from the nut to the bridge on the high e, it should be 25.5" or very slightly longer.  nut to 12th fret should be 12 3/4" and 12th to bridge should be 12 3/4" on the high e string.  It will be slightly longer on the other strings because of compensation.

I've checked all these measurements and they appear to be correct.

What would you guys do in this situation? I can either take it back and get my money back, or put my Piledriver pickup in the bridge and sell my other Tele. But if there may be playability and intonation issues with this 1, maybe I should just take it back?

[Twinfan]

I'd play it and see how it feels/sounds first.  If you like it, keep it!