Are necks interchangeable?

[FritzCat]

I'm in the process of redoing my '66 Joe Maphis. I'm done with refinishing the body, but the guy replicating the neck is taking his sweet ol' time, and I'm getting antsy to play it. I was wondering if the neck from my Excellent Ventures could be used as a temporary stand-in? Thanks in advance for your insights.

[Sarah93003]

I have my doubts if it would be a direct replacement. Even if the neck pocket is the same, and the scale length of the neck is the same, and all of the other dimensions, the screw holes would have to line up or you'll end up adding more holes to mount it into the body. That's a lot of variables. Only one way to find out though.

[FritzCat]

Well, if it does fit, you'll see it in 2 weeks!

[MWaldorf]

If the neck fits the pocket, go for it! You'd only be talking about extra screw holes in the bottom of the neck. Have fun at the roundup, too!

[Sarah93003]

Well, if it does fit, you'll see it in 2 weeks!

Cool! I'll cross my fingers!

[FritzCat]

So much for that experiment, for some reason the neck sits crooked in the pocket. Guess I'll just have to wait for the guy to get off his butt.

[Sarah93003]

What do you mean by crooked? Did you try shims?

[FritzCat]

Shims won't help, I meant that when viewed from the front the neck goes off at a slight angle to the side. The neck fit too tight to allow any angling in the right direction. I might have been able to contour the neck to allow movement, but it's from another guitar and I didn't want to screw it up.

[FritzCat]

Apparently I gave up too easily! I found the interference and strung it up without any major problems. Next phase: adding electrics and adjusting everything.

[MWaldorf]

yahoo!