Unbound neck to replace bound neck on an S Series?

[ketiov]

A couple months ago I bought an S540 with a bound neck. I also have an earlier S540 with an unbound neck, which I happen to like a little bit better. The binding just doesn't work for me, and I don't really think it goes well with the color of the guitar.

I was thinking of replacing the bound neck with an unbound one, but I don't know if it will fit due to likely being made at a different period. The one I have is a 1997 model, and is the AANJ version.

Does anyone know if the spacing of anything differs during certain periods?

Thanks!

[ketiov]

Sorry for the early bump, but a seller of a neck on evilbay got back to me with dimensions.

His neck is a Wizard II, whereas mine is a Wizard, according to this. My guitar is the S540FMTP.

The only difference I can see is the thickness of the necks, with mine being 2mm thinner at both the nut and the last fret, and also the radius. The width at the last fret is however the same, so is it safe to assume that this neck would fit? Here's the link to the sheet with some dimensions.

[gpenguins]

There are a lot of necks available but many are Korean or Indonesian and, and the quality is often suspect on those - I've had some that were perfect for a long time and some that are warped beyond belief. You might put a "WTB" ad in the Classifieds.

Now, all that being said, I may have what you're looking for (I've got a couple of Japanese AANJ S necks) especially if you want to swap towards the neck you currently have - send me a PM, I'm around Chicago too so I could actually meet you somewhere and you can see if I have what you want.

[S-man]

Like this....



Wizard I from 1992 with no binding on a s540fmtp.

[Agent540]

Originally Posted by S-man

Like this....



Wizard I from 1992 with no binding on a s540fmtp.

mmmmm where is the "CUSTOM MADE" inlay ? :scratch:

[Agent540]

sorry, I haven't read/understood the whole thread before posting !

[ketiov]

@SMan - That is basically what I'm going for. Not having the custom made inlay is kind of a bummer, but I don't know if an AANJ neck without binding for an S series even had one. I'll go look through old catalogs later. If I was desperate enough I bet I could get someone to make a copy of the inlay for it.

@Agent - That is the exact guitar I have, although I must admit the flame on yours is insane.

@Gpenguin - PM'd you.

[S-man]

Well...they did make a Wizard I for the S series. S470 before they sent them to Korea.

The custom made inlay is a fraud on those guitars anyway. My guitar is exactly like yours... only it has a Wizard I from a 92 S470. It is ANNJ...you will find those in the 93 catalog. Mine just happened to be an early production model for 93.

[ketiov]

Originally Posted by S-man

Well...they did make a Wizard I for the S series. S470 before they sent them to Korea.

The custom made inlay is a fraud on those guitars anyway. My guitar is exactly like yours... only it has a Wizard I from a 92 S470. It is ANNJ...you will find those in the 93 catalog. Mine just happened to be an early production model for 93.

But without the inlay my guitars won't match :P

[S-man]

Well...I believe your out of luck.

I'm not aware of any unbound, 22 fret, Wizard I, AANJ, S series, necks with the custom made inlay. Mostly because the higher end guitars came with binding...hence the custom made inlay. That said, the custom made inlay used to mean "custom made" ...to a degree.

As far as the S540FMTP is concerned.. the inlay really means nothing. All S540FMTP's came with that inlay. Which is kinda...anti-custom.

So have your luthier add the custom made inlay and it really will be custom made.