Anybody make AANJ Custom Necks ??

[gemini8026]

Just curious.


I'm pondering buying an Ibanez body (I love the lines, best superstrat shape IMO), BUT I would like a 24 fret AANJ neck with a Wolfgang profile and oiled feel!

I know Warmoth wont do it, but does anyone know any Luthiers who would do it? I cant STAND the Wizard profiles, just too thin for my tastes. The Peavey Wolfgang has a great feel, but it's 22 frets, and has a large heel. I would buy an Ibanez RG421 body, put in new pups, and hopefully a new neck, and I would be quite happy.

Please let me know if you know anyone who would tackle a project like this!

[Artist]

click the banner at the top of the page, or take mine

www.lgmguitars.com

[frankfalbo]

If warmoth will make a 24 fret regular neck joint it's pretty easy to carve it down for an AANJ, so long as the butt of the heel is in the same place, and it's squared off not radiused like a strat. I have heard they will do 24 fretters without the extension but you could be right.

[stratoskier]

I was wondering about this same thing. There was a pretty extensive forum thread awhile back about converting a traditional neck joint to an AANJ (it was called "Cutting an original neck to become all-access neck", sure wish I knew how to link directly to other forum topics...). In that thread, several responders said you have to ADD wood to a standard neck up under where the fretboard extends. That doesn't seem to agree with what Frank said about shaving wood off of a standard neck.

So I'm confused. When I compare an AANJ neck to a standard heel neck (both 22-fret Ibanez), it sure looks like Frank is right: you'd just have to sand away some of the wood on the AANJ "sweep" (high-E side). If that is the case, then we could order custom necks from Warmoth or elsewhere and just finish off the job ourselves. So what did those folks mean about adding wood under the fretboard extension? There must be something I'm not getting about this.
Bert

[Jeroenn]

Originally Posted by stratoskier

In that thread, several responders said you have to ADD wood to a standard neck up under where the fretboard extends. That doesn't seem to agree with what Frank said about shaving wood off of a standard neck.

You add wood under the fretboard extend. You shave wood off the heel. From the orriginal heel, only about two to three cm is used, the rest can be shaved of to 'normal' neck. (on a 24 fret neck)

So I'm confused. When I compare an AANJ neck to a standard heel neck (both 22-fret Ibanez), it sure looks like Frank is right: you'd just have to sand away some of the wood on the AANJ "sweep" (high-E side). If that is the case, then we could order custom necks from Warmoth or elsewhere and just finish off the job ourselves. So what did those folks mean about adding wood under the fretboard extension? There must be something I'm not getting about this.
Bert

I think most threads cover 24 fret necks, which have a pretty long extend.
On any AANJ neck, the heel stops at the very end, so if a 22 fret neck also has a fretboard extend, you'll need to add wood there too.

[wilch]

Originally Posted by gemini8026

I cant STAND the Wizard profiles, just too thin for my tastes.... I would buy an Ibanez RG421...

The 421 has a wizard2 neck. Which feels significantly fatter than the sometimes cramp inducing wizard. Have you tried one yet?

wil..

[frankfalbo]

On 22 fret necks, there's always a little overhang. Sometimes the neck heel is curved like a strat and sometimes its straight across like a tele. The regular neck joint Ibanez' are curved, and the AANJ Ibanez' are flat. So if you got a neck with a curved end, and were trying to put it into a flat pocket, (or vice versa) you'd have some work to do, either routing the body or shaping the neck. That being said, there's usually enough room on any bridge to accomodate minor movements forward and backward in the neck pocket after you make a custom fit. But the only time you're adding wood is on a 24 fret neck that has the last three frets overhanging. The old RG necks would fit a 22 fret pocket if you sawed off the last two frets and slimmed down the overhang. The heel on those was in the same place as on a 22. So for gemini, if Warmoth would make a square heeled 24 fret neck, where the heel went back to the 24th fret, it would work just fine. It doesn't look like they will, though. So you're stuck doing that neck as a 24 fret extended fretboard on an older body, or adding wood, or having LGM or whomever make you a custom neck.

[stratoskier]

Some potentially good news here. I've been corresponding with Warmoth, and they are interested in obtaining a Jem neck to serve as a template for designing an AANJ neck. They are several months away from production. I don't own a Jem, but I offered to send them an RG570 neck, as well as a 22-fretter AANJ. I expect to hear back from them soon. If they really need a Jem (in order to get the Jem neck profile as well as the AANJ), are any Jem owners here willing to join in?

To keep things easy on their end, let me continue to be the contact person on this. If they start getting piles of calls and emails from people, it'll just confuse the issue. I'll post again once I've heard back from them.

Incidentally, I'm actually only interested in a JS style replacement neck, but I figure once they get the AANJ thing happening, there will be more to come.
Bert

[stratoskier]

By the way, my first choice would always be to go to the site sponsors (like LGM as mentioned above, or EKG or the others) for custom work. The shops that support this site know Ibanez like no one else and I'd definitely trust them to make the perfect neck to exact specs for any dream guitar. The Warmoth thing... we'll have to see what they do.

[EKG]

The AANJ heel is no problem, it's getting the profile right that gives me fits