What ever happened to replacement bodies and necks?

[William Payne]

I was sitting down for breakfast the other day and started thinking about what I would want if I was ever to buy a tele or a strat and I suddenly remembered that I had an old fender catalog laying around from the early 2000's and that you used to be able to buy bodies and necks and everything else you could think of from fender with all the oficial logos and everything for all there reissue guitars and other models. But when I went searching on the net I realised you couldnt get them no more. Sure you can go to companies who make bodies and necks but not the same stuff I remember seeing in the catalog.

What happened did they just decide they didn't want people making their own anymore?

I mean I may not be wanting a tele or a strat right now but oneday I would like to and I thought it would be cool to make one to match what I wanted.

[Cogs]

I remember those. Many of them had a small silver medaillion somewhere on them; for instance, the necks had them on the back of the headstock.
My guess is the company didn't find them to be the moneymakers that they thought. Too many aftermarket makers are crancking out a better product for less money!
I don't ever recall seeing a genuine Fender replacement neck w/a decal on it, though. They were all left blank.

[William Payne]

Oh ok I was sure they had the decals on them. I may be mistaken.

[Cygnus X1]

Hey, you've met your "1 post per year" limit.



I goofed!

There are some excellent aftermarket parts around.

[Don]

The necks had the Fender Logo on them. I think too many people were building guitars out of them and selling them new, cutting into Fender's bottom line.

One popular website had a section where you could spec out the options that you wanted.

[William Payne]

Do the bodies and necks still show up for sale or do any bodies and necks show up for sale? I found myself becoming a student again this year so money is tight but the reason I started thinking about this topic was I thought that the chances of me affording a genuine vintage tele or strat are pretty slim but if I was to find a fender replacement reissue body and neck for a strat and or tele of the wanted year I could buy parts and stuff from a company like callaham and come out in the end with a very nice replica of a vintage strat and or tele.

Just something I would love to do in the future. Shame fender stopped selling them with the logos and everything because I allways thought it was a cool idea because someone could then build their dream fender and it would still be a fender just not a factory one.

[Don]

Those Fender replacement parts were very expensive. To build a '57 or '62 reissue Strat would cost more than buying a new one! You could do better (for less money) with USACG parts (I did).

[William Payne]

USACG? who are they will look them up.

[Mesotech]

Don't forget to check out ebay. Lots of folks are buying brand new guitars and taking them directly apart to sell them piece by piece for a combined total of what the guitar originally sold for. Of course, if you're just missing that single part from your dream guitar, it's worth the little bit extra to get the parted out part than it is to buy the whole guitar just for that part.

[phantomman]

I remember those. Many of them had a small silver medaillion somewhere on them; for instance, the necks had them on the back of the headstock.
My guess is the company didn't find them to be the moneymakers that they thought. Too many aftermarket makers are crancking out a better product for less money!
I don't ever recall seeing a genuine Fender replacement neck w/a decal on it, though. They were all left blank.

Fender cataloged replacement bodies and necks up until around 2001 -- they're shown in my copy of the #27 Frontline.

Here's a typical replacement Strat neck (shown with tuners installed......











These necks were sold in a fancy draw-string velour bag and retailed for $315. The bodies featured a similar trademark in the floor of the neck pocket (I forget what the MSRP was on them).

The available parts included both '57 and '62 style Strat bodies in sunburst and a few of the more common custom colors, a butterscotch Tele body, a Jazz Bass body in either 3TSB, Oly White, or black, and a Precision Bass body in sunburst. The Tele neck was maple fretboard only, while the Strat's could be had in either maple or rosewood. Likewise the P-Bass neck was available with either fretboard while the J-Bass came in rosewood only. In every case these necks included a Fender decal on the headstock.

HTH

[William Payne]

Thanks for posting those thats what I remember.

[Cogs]

I recall seeing a '62 style replacement neck for sale at the Tukwila Guitar Center that had no logo on the face. It did have the medallion on the back & a nice baggie, though. I laughed at the price.

[Wilko]

wow, that front decal is all wrong.

[William Payne]

wow, that front decal is all wrong.

At risk of sounding silly could you point out the wrongs?

[Wilko]

How's this?

[William Payne]

Agh thankyou for posting the difference. You can really see it when you do a side by side.

[Don]

You sure can! Is the font on the American reissue guitars like that?

[Wilko]

The reissue guitars are fine:



BTW: 1962 and later will have extra patent numbers along the bottom under the tremolo line.

[Don]

If I remember correctly, the replacement necks did not have model names on them. I believe that was added by someone else.

[William Payne]

Silly question but how do the reissue necks compare to the originals they are replicating?

[Wilko]

I like the early-mid 80s reissue necks a lot. Mine was a '62 reissue that bought new in '84. I got my 1960 in '86 and it compared well.

They made a sweet '57 style neck with great "V" profile and the rosewood '62 style neck was a nice full profile slab board. Real '62s are a bit slimmer and many were round lam boards.

The body contours for the '57 were nice, but the '62 style was way off. Real short cut on the arm contour and the back wasn't deep enough.

[William Payne]

I just did some searching on this forum. I had no idea there were so many companies making repro period correct parts for vintage replicas. I just found out about crazyparts they must go through alot of hassle to get their parts correct.

[Don]

The contours of my md '80s '57 reissue were cool. The body radius between the belly cut and forearm cut were almost a full radius with no little flat between them.

[William Payne]

I have been reading up and it looks like a replica of a vintage tele is in my future. I am going to have to start putting money aside for all the bits and pieces. I am not any time soon going to be able to afford a real one but I think a pretty close replica is a very realistic option.

[William Payne]

When some of you guys who take guitars with poly and refinish them with nitro on the necks how do you not damage the logos when taking the finish off?

[Cogs]

I just find another logo & put in on instead.
No- don't ask, don't tell.

[William Payne]

Haha was just wondering as have seen a few examples of people refinning fender necks and was wondering how they safe it.

[stratcat33511]

there IS a place
Somewhere in 'the Stratosphere'
that sells (IIRC) licensed replacement bodies and necks
I got this Tele here ......
Gonna build up another Strat from the Stratosphere

[Don]

Those aren't licensed bodies and necks. They're the real deal. He buys guitars and parts them out.