Mixing and matching necks and bodies?

[86barettaguy]

Was hoping to find some answers on the topic of mixing and matching bodies and necks from different brands. Mainly concerned with the dedicated 24-fret necks as the aftermarket is sort of limited (at least compared to 21-22-fret necks). Just how similar are the necks used by Jackson, Kramer, ESP, Ibanez and so on? Interchangable or not?

[84sups]

Kramer uses the same neck pocket as a Fender strat. I have a American Kramer neck on a Warmoth body. The Jackson Strat 22 has a wider neck pocket and wont fit. What body/neck combo are you going for?

[jdr94]

i dont have an answer, but i do question. why would you want to put an ibanez neck on a jackson body or esp on a kramer or anything like that. wheres the loyalty and love for a particular company? aftermarket replacements i can understand, but why mix match.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

24 fret necks will only intonate properly with a body routed for a 24 fret neck. The bridge spacing is different. other than that, all you really need to be concerned about is the neck pocket width.

[86barettaguy]

jdr: love for a particular company? I'm looking into my options for building a 24-fret guitar from used parts, so that doesn't come into play at all. If I find a suitable Jackson neck and body, well that's fine, but I want to know what my options are if I'm not that lucky.

84sups: yup, Kramer used Fender specs for their bodies. I built Jackie from a 1987 Kramer body and Allparts neck. Very tight and nice fit. Now I'm just looking at doing something similar, but using what I can find cheap and used to build a 24-fret superstrat.

DR: I would think I need to worry about neck pocket width as well as distance from neck pocket to bridge (or, looking only at the neck, distance from nut to heel)?

[Dreamland_Rebel]

DR: I would think I need to worry about neck pocket width as well as distance from neck pocket to bridge (or, looking only at the neck, distance from nut to heel)?

Yeah... that is the 24 vs. 22 fret difference... But I'm not sure if scale length affects that distance or not, now that I think about it.

[86barettaguy]

Yeah... that is the 24 vs. 22 fret difference... But I'm not sure if scale length affects that distance or not, now that I think about it.

purely a result of design. If they all designed from scratch, all necks will differ. But if one of them came first and the rest decided to use the same basic dimensions (to make things easier for the korean and chinese factories) we might have the same situation as with the 22-fret necks.

I disassembled a Kramer FR422 to get the following measurements off the neck:
FR nut rout to end of fretboard: 497mm
Fretboard overhang: 8mm
Heel width: 57.1mm (2 1/4 inch)

[vector]

Was hoping to find some answers on the topic of mixing and matching bodies and necks from different brands. Mainly concerned with the dedicated 24-fret necks as the aftermarket is sort of limited (at least compared to 21-22-fret necks). Just how similar are the necks used by Jackson, Kramer, ESP, Ibanez and so on? Interchangable or not?

At the risk of hijacking this, it's kinda ironic cuz I was pondering the same- replacing the neck on an RR EX I pimped out years ago. I needed a 22 fret, sharky inlay, reverse HS and couldn't find an official Jackson replacement. Ended up using a Mighty Mite version that just isn't cutting it. Was just on (fe)eBay looking for 22 fret
Jackson necks and couldn't find many in the specs I've listed above.

[86barettaguy]

Vector: when it's time to re-fret my 1986 kramer (22-fret neck) it seems I might as well go with a new neck (prices for re-frets are scary and I wouldn't mind going to a maple fretboard). Warmoth looks like a good alternative for that.

[rstites]

Speaking of Warmoth, you do always have the option of buying one of their conversion 24 fret necks and putting it on an old body built for a 22 fret neck. The neck pickup might be in the way on some models. However, there are a lot of single humbucker bodies out there that I've always though this was a very logical thing to do on one of those.

[Twitch]

http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/112684-charvel-and-jackson-bodies-the-same-specs

From my own post in the above thread "..........the only reason I can think is that the end of the neck that goes in the pocket actually extends with the two extra frets instead of the 2 extra frets hanging off the end of the neck, which would mean the pocket on the 24 fret guitar would be routed further into the body, thus if you put a 24 fret neck on a 22 fret body, the scale becomes longer on the bridge side and vice versa for a 22 fret neck on a 24 fret body."

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

You can always plug and re-drill neck attachment screw holes and re-route the neck pocket wider or add shims to make it narrower as a matter of "make it fit." Might need to adjust the heel area of the neck or neck pocket, too.

If you're thinking more in terms of "bolt it on and go" then it depends on how good of a fit you are looking for. Even within the same specification you can have some pretty bad mismatches that require some hand-fitting. Even CNC'd parts made within relatively the same "run" of bodies and necks won't always interchange easily.

As far as scale length, number of frets, etc. there are some "rules of thumb" but basically as long as the 12th fret is exactly halfway between the point the string leaves the bridge and the nut (plus a little bit for intonation compensation) then it will work OK.

Anyway... Unless it is 100% Fender spec it's not likely to be a good match without some work, and even then it takes some work if you want it to fit really nice. If you're the type that can deal with 1/16" gaps on the sides of the neck a la Eddie's Franenstrat then you're that much farther ahead in the game of bolting shit together to make an ugly mutt of a guitar.

[86barettaguy]

You can always plug and re-drill neck attachment screw holes and re-route the neck pocket wider or add shims to make it narrower as a matter of "make it fit." Might need to adjust the heel area of the neck or neck pocket, too.

If you're thinking more in terms of "bolt it on and go" then it depends on how good of a fit you are looking for. Even within the same specification you can have some pretty bad mismatches that require some hand-fitting. Even CNC'd parts made within relatively the same "run" of bodies and necks won't always interchange easily.

As far as scale length, number of frets, etc. there are some "rules of thumb" but basically as long as the 12th fret is exactly halfway between the point the string leaves the bridge and the nut (plus a little bit for intonation compensation) then it will work OK.

Anyway... Unless it is 100% Fender spec it's not likely to be a good match without some work, and even then it takes some work if you want it to fit really nice. If you're the type that can deal with 1/16" gaps on the sides of the neck a la Eddie's Franenstrat then you're that much farther ahead in the game of bolting shit together to make an ugly mutt of a guitar.

A bit of play in the pocket doesn't disturb me too much. I have that issue with my kramer (neck pocket a bit too wide) and it still plays and sounds great. Adding a small shim or removing just a tad from the neck or body isn't beyond me But it is nicer not having to do permanent damage to the parts if it can be avoided.

So did anyone measure a dinky neck to shut me up yet?

[86barettaguy]

just found a thread: http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/104...mutt%29-gawdy-...

think I'll pm j4vice...