New neck thing

[sanitarium]

Ive got a Fender Strat, I'd love a JEM but can't afford it, and I was thinking that would I be able to take the neck part of a Jem (not the whole thing just the bit with the frets on) and change it with my strat one? First question would this be too scabby of me? 2nd would it fit? 3rd any one any idea how much this sort would cost? 4th would it cause any long term damage?

Sorry I don't know what half the bits of a guitar are called so I hope this makes sence. Or am I just being really stupid and should I just leave it as it is?

[Al M]

Get a jem.

I worked my ass off at the local corner shop for 18months to get my VWH but it was worth it

[vaijem777]

Technically, it's probably be possible to do a fingerboard transplant, but...it'd be pretty pricey. AND you'd need to completely re-arrange your pickup/pickguard assembly since the scale length on a JEM is longer than that of a Strat.

Jeremy? This one's for you!

[littlegreenman]

Sanitarium,

You'd be way further ahead to get a vine inlay done on your strat neck for a few reasons.

First, if you want to put a Jem fretboard on your strat, you'd have to find a Jem neck, you'll probably drop at least $200 on a used Jem neck assuming you can find one. Then, You need to have 2 fretboard pulled and the jem board glued onto the strat neck, there's probably another $175. Then, a strat neck isn't designed for use with a locknut, so you'd have to do modification there to either put a standard nut on that fretboard, or a locknut on the strat neck. You would likely have to lose the last 2 frets on the Jem neck or do some major mods to the body. Some fretwork may be necessary after changing the fretboards (but not always) The Jem fretboard will be wider than a strat, so it would need to be sanded down to match, this means at the VERY least redressing the fret ends, but personally, I wouldn't do that with the frets in, so you'd have to pull the frets anyway.

I would say you'd be looking at somewhere around $800 to buy a JEM neck, swap 2 boards, modify, and refret the strat neck.

Or, for around half of that, you could have a jem inlay put in your strat neck in whatever colors you want

[littlegreenman]

Originally Posted by vaijem777

re-arrange your pickup/pickguard assembly since the scale length on a JEM is longer than that of a Strat.

Jeremy? This one's for you!

actually, that is the only thing that would work, JEM and strat are both 25.5" scale length, but you do have 24 frets to contend with on a JEM fretboard vs 21 or 22 on a strat.


Oh, incidentally, if your strat has a maple board, you might be screwed anyway, as the maple board strats are integral with the neck, in otherwords ,it's not a seperate fingerboard, and you can't remove it. The truss rod is put in from the back.

[pawel]

Originally Posted by littlegreenman

I would say you'd be looking at somewhere around $800 to buy a JEM neck, swap 2 boards, modify, and refret the strat neck.

For that price you might just save up a bit and start looking for a used Jem...

[DirtyBird31]

You'd be better off hacking off the last 2 frets and accompanying neck wood of a JEM neck and trying to just remount it that way. It would still be a hell of a lot of work though.

[Scott 74]

Your better off buying a used player Jem! All that work isn't worth it. Be patient, save your money, and keep looking. You will find one eventually!

[littlegreenman]

Originally Posted by DirtyBird31

You'd be better off hacking off the last 2 frets and accompanying neck wood of a JEM neck and trying to just remount it that way. It would still be a hell of a lot of work though.

yeah, except, the chances of a Jem neck lining up to the pocket of a strat are slim. I'm sure the Jem neck is a fair bit wider at the heel, you're also assuming it would put the nut in the same position, it might not, I'm not totally sure.

[Swiss Bob]

Get a Warmoth neck maybe?

http://www.warmoth.com

[DirtyBird31]

as far as neck pocket issues I'm not sure it would fit anyway, but unless you cut out into the neck pickup cavity, maybe farther, it's not going to have the 25.5 inch scale. Chopping off the 2 bottom frets would fix the scale problems and keep you from having to mount it deep into the body where there is no way you can reach it on a strat... That said I'm not sure how hard it would be to

1. Convert the neck heel of the strat body
or
2. Convert the JEM neck to strat-style 4 bolt. Of course getting an old 4 bolt JEM would be a much better bet now that I think of it. But either way it's designed to be mounted with the extra 2 frets, and Im not sure if there would be enough flat space left to bolt it normally as with a strat neck with the back half of the neck heel missing...
It's really just not very feasible...

[sanitarium]

Thanks to all who replied, I think when I typed this post it was a bit of a "spur of the moment" thing, i thought it was cool but didn't really think about it. What I mean is that I really want a vine inlay, my strat has a dark neck, I think it's 2 differant parts.
The webs ite u gave me a link to is good but it's an american one, I live in england, any one know any english places?

[dcord]

Originally Posted by littlegreenman

yeah, except, the chances of a Jem neck lining up to the pocket of a strat are slim. I'm sure the Jem neck is a fair bit wider at the heel, you're also assuming it would put the nut in the same position, it might not, I'm not totally sure.

JEM necks - before the AANJ - have a standard Fender neck heel. The necks are completely interchangable with any standard Fender neck pocket. Also, JEMs have the exact same Fender scale length - 25.5". The number of frets does not determine scale length.

Sanitarium - you can put a JEM neck on your strat, but you'd have to either cut off the last two frets or remove your neck pickup.

~d~

[sanitarium]

Ummm, I don't want to remove my lovely new SD hot rails pick up. Is there no way I can get a vine thing on my neck I have at the moment? Sorry to sound a bit thick here.

[Darin]

It sounds like you would do well to jump on the 'bay and pick up an RG550 or 570 for $300. It's close enough to a Jem to keep you satisfied till you pull together another grand, then get your $300 back for your RG and get a Jem. The RG's aren't really all that different from Jems in so many areas, you may just used the extra grand to get some other sweet gear.