Squire Strat neck replacement

[Sonic Mountain]

Whew, that took a bit longer than I thought - but valuable learning experience.

So I know the skunk stripe is how the truss rod is installed, but I thought maybe the channel would go all the way through. Plus I knew I could get the fret board off, I wasn't as keen to try taking the stripe out straight up.

Anyway, pulled the 22nd fret and nut and drilled a small hole in the slots for some positioning dowels when it goes back together - pretty sure I saw that in one of Frankies threads, good tip.






Then, lots of heat and steam and a really fine stainless scraper that I sharpened the edge of. Getting it started cleanly is the hardest part. Apart from that it's mostly paitence getting it hot enough. Came off pretty easily and cleanly in the end.






Of course - no channel, which I half expected. So now I can see that the rod actually runs and an angle through the neck, which I thought was interesting. So I drilled a hole in the dowel plug in the heel where the end of the rod is. I went to put a screw in it to pull it out and it just disintegrated. Easy to replace, but I wonder if it was contributing being so soft and spongy.




I then initially tried to steam the skunk stripe and carefully lever it out. Which did not work lol. So I'll be replacing that. Looking online it seems like destruction is pretty much the only option here.



So I drilled a bunch of holes along the length and using a cheapy narrow chisel I carefully chiseled it out.




Flipping it over, I noticed where the big lug in the heel had been acting against the neck wood - it was clearly pushing the wood in that area. Again, possibly another contributing factor to the adjustment 'relaxing' over a period of time.




So I drilled a small hole and used a little drift to tap the rod out. you can see how thin the wood is there and eventually I did tear it up a bit. All good though, I have an idea to reinforce it a bit more there.



Interesting how unlike the two way truss rod I put in the Deluxester it is. Rather than acting on itself and then in turn the wood, it applies the tension directly to the wood itself. So again, I think the design itself is contributing to the adjusting flaw. As I tighten, it's just squashing the wood and as it sits with the strings on over time it just squishes further. Does that make sense?





Anyway. So the plan now is to reinforce the areas where the rod acts and put an extra washer under the nut so I can get a few more turns out of it. I'll also steam and clamp the fretboard and the neck, separately, to makes sure they are as straight as possible for reassembly.

then glue it all back together and see how it goes.

Wish me luck.

[king casey]

This is the type of thing I would wade into.
Question: Having separated the parts thus far....
Would it be feasible to simply 'upgrade' the truss rod itself?

cheers, Mark.

[Sonic Mountain]

It's not out of the question. I'd like to put one like the one I used in my build in, but I don't have one here at the moment to see what the fit is like.

I do need to order one at some point, so I'll see.

The channel is pretty different being deeper at one end than the other. But I guess you'd just push the skunk stripe replacement material in as far as you can and then trim it to the neck.

[Sonic Mountain]

Right now I'm thinking some steel reinforcements recessed into the neck at the main contact points, they won't compress and will also spread the load across a wider area than at the moment.

[FrankenWashie]

Exthellent work Marthter Thonic! But where will you mount the electrodth?

[Sonic Mountain]

Hah ha.

Funny you should say...

Bit more work on this. It's been clamped and steamed over the last week or so. It's a lot straighter now, lets see if that maintains through the reassembly process.






So after a bit of thinking I decided to use some washers at the contact points either end. Closer inspection of the end near the headstock revealed that the wood is split there. I removed the plastic insert to give me some more room to work.





I used a forstner bit to recess the washers in, the idea being that these will act as a bit of reinforcement where the truss rod acts on the wood and also spread the load a little. Sanded so they are level with the rest of that surface.






You can also see here a crack in the middle of the neck. That also can't be helping, so I've wicked some thin CA in there.






This is a little concerning. Either the neck has expanded or the fret board has shrunk!





I am guessing the neck is still holding some moisture from being steamed so I'll give it a good while to dry out before I reassemble.

In the mean time I've been working on a new skunk stripe. Just Tassie Oak, but I'll stain it to look more correct once it's in and trimmed.







Little bit more refinement to do on it, but coming along.

[Simon Barden]

All good stuff.

I'm sure you can take the CE sticker off now!

My wife has just come in whilst I was viewing the last picture and said 'Is that someone with a high temperature'. I said 'no, dear, that's a guitar neck." She thought it was a picture of a thermometer. Women!

[Sonic Mountain]

All good stuff.

I'm sure you can take the CE sticker off now!

My wife has just come in whilst I was viewing the last picture and said 'Is that someone with a high temperature'. I said 'no, dear, that's a guitar neck." She thought it was a picture of a thermometer. Women!

Heh, yeah I imagine ito come off once I get to finishing.

My temp might rise if it all goes back together and still won't stay adjusted.

[FrankenWashie]

I like the tack you've taken on this.

I would have been more tempted to convert to a modern two way truss rod. Routing a channel under the board and replacing the skunk stripe as a purely decorative feature. Did you epoxy or CA those washers in?

[Sonic Mountain]

Yeah I did think about that, but I don't have one on hand and I'm trying not to buy anything at the moment. The washers are just CA'd in. I figure once the fretboard is glued on they aren't going anywhere.

Basically I'm just waiting for the neck to shrink a bit and then I can start reassembly.