AliExpress floral neck, scalloped from 12th to 24th fret (finally ended building a new guitar from parts)

Dave Merrill said:
I meant the bottom right pickguard :)
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That one is Alianthus wood.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32855546364.html
I'm gravitating between this one and the black, though the wood is more expensive
HTB1ff_zb_tYBeNjy1Xdq6xXyVXaH.jpg
 
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spagthorpe said:
I'd assume either damage, or it needs a refret, and buying a new neck is cheaper.
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Just for fun. I was attracted by the 12th to 24 fret scallop, and curious about its quality.

Surprisingly, it is a high quality neck. So I have ordered a body to use that neck, and I will probably scallop all the frets.

I will also refret the MIJ Wizard and put it back where it was.

I've had several disappointments with expensive guitars while I tried to retire my RG550LTD, so I wanted to experiment with cheap options.
I shared the story of some of these expensive lemons here: https://www.jemsite.com/threads/my-rg550ltd-sounds-better-than-all-my-prestiges.106825/post-1565149
 
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I have received the body. It looks great. Nicely finished, polished and painted.

However... It is for a 21/22 fret neck. The position to install the bridge falls in the middle of the bridge pickup cavity :eek:

I assumed that by having a FloydRose route it would be ready for a 24 fret neck. Wannabe luthier mistake 🤪

Anyway, for $48 this is not a big disaster. Maybe I will order a 22 fret scalloped neck, but the purpose was to use this one that is very well built.

This weekend I will dismount the neck from my Fender American Deluxe to see how it fits here

OangeFankenstein.jpg
 
Andy Eagle said:
if the neck pocket is 55.5mm wide (at the widest) and 15/16mm deep it should fit but I bet it's 56mm.
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It fits. The neck pocked of the body is 47mm. I am not going to screw it though, because the American Deluxe doesn't have the 4 neck screws aligned.

I am considering trying luck with this one:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...26-0&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id":"12000015773073632"}

22 fret, maple, rosewood fingerboard, scalloped, locking nut, heel width = 55.5-56.5mm
 
47mm?? are you sure. The neck you link says 55.5mm / 56.5mm which is typical. I have never seen anything like 47mm.
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This is the standard fender neck pocket (strat) .
 
Fender USA and Mex are pretty consistent at 55.5mm so that's a huge gap. The Chinese neck will be on the 56.5mm side so you might be lucky with the fit. Also you can hide a lot with a good fitting pick guard and aligning the neck against the bass side of the pocket.
 
I have received the 22 fret scalloped neck. It seems to be well constructed, with a smoth finish. No visual flaws. Frets are nicely polished and rounded at the edges. The scallop work is pretty good
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Andy Eagle said:
Fender USA and Mex are pretty consistent at 55.5mm so that's a huge gap. The Chinese neck will be on the 56.5mm side so you might be lucky with the fit. Also you can hide a lot with a good fitting pick guard and aligning the neck against the bass side of the pocket.
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I have marked the holes with a screw, aligning the neck against the bass side of the pocket. Consequently, I have a 1mm gap at the treble side.
Here are the measures after marking the holes:
02.jpg

Does everything look OK? I hope that there will be no misalignment

I am not drilling yet, because I still have to go to the store to buy some wood drill bits. Including a 10mm one to mount the Floyd Rose studs.
 
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Hey there @Piing

That full scaloped 22 fret neck looks great man. Does it have a truss rod? Before mounting to the body I guess there should also be some flattisch alignment between neck and body if it has a rod, or set it slightly back so after stringing, the 22 fret string is leveled if it doesn't have the rod. Just a thought as i dont see a rod cap on the neck like the 24 fret neck has got.

Something im curious about, like what electronics, PU'S, tuners and string gauge etc are you going to use?

Great project man, good luck on this one 🙏

Cheers
 
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Axelman8 said:
Hey there @Piing

That full scaloped 22 fret neck looks great man. Does it have a truss rod? Before mounting to the body I guess there should also be some flattisch alignment between neck and body?

Something im curious about, like what electronics, PU', tuners etc are you going to use?

Great project man, good luck on this one 🙏

Cheers
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Yes, it has a truss rod.

It sits well on the neck pocket, with just that 1 mm tolerance. What I will have to measure carefully, once the neck is mounted, is the position to drill the two mount studs for the bridge.

I am using these parts that I already had inside a drawer:
  • Floyd Rose Original
  • Dimarzio Gravity Storm (bridge)
  • Harmonic Design Z90 (neck)
  • Pots, 5-pos switch, caps, jack, knobs

I have purchased:
  • Gotoh SG381-07BK tuners
  • Black pickguard
  • Body & neck
  • Jack plate, neck plate, neck screws, strap buttons

I still do not have a mid pickup. I will decide once I verify that this Frankenstein can dance.

The total cost, including the parts that I already had, is around $700. The most expensive parts are the Floyd Rose ($252) and the Z90 ($157) followed by the Gravity Storm ($80) neck ($78), body ($49) and tuners ($40)
 
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Use dowel drills that have a centre spike and are designed for wood . Also with these holes you NEED to use a drill press.
With your neck aligned to the long edge it is most likely to be in reasonable line with the string plane but with the Floyd yet to be drilled you are in control. Even if it is slightly off you can almost always get it with a slight neck push with the screws loosened a bit this is normal for a fender style neck although obviously not ideal.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Use dowel drills that have a centre spike and are designed for wood . Also with these holes you NEED to use a drill press.
With your neck aligned to the long edge it is most likely to be in reasonable line with the string plane but with the Floyd yet to be drilled you are in control. Even if it is slightly off you can almost always get it with a slight neck push with the screws loosened a bit this is normal for a fender style neck although obviously not ideal.
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Thank you. I will go to a workshop with a drill press, for both the neck and the trem studs holes.
 
You can put a small black shim in the gap to keep it snug, make it undersize and cut the plate to cover over the poor fit.
The most important part for you in this is the Floyd post position needs to be spot on or it adds considerable friction(unless you use the 1996.)
 
The scallop job looks pretty good and that's a time consuming thing to do well unless you have CNC programmed to do it.
I have always liked scalloped necks right back to the first one I did for me in 82. I did my 72 strat because I hated the tiny frets and you couldn't get tall wire in the UK. If you asked for jumbo frets when you had a refret you got wide low ones. It took me half a day.
I just got a Richie Blackmore Strat a couple of weeks back in a trade and I'm going to refret it in Jescar 58118 (Dunlop 6000 size) stainless. I hate vintage size nickel frets even with a scallop .
 
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I agree, that's a good job. I wish these companies would get on the case when it comes down to dimensions and compatibility with other stuff. They need to realise that they should adopt accurate Fender dimensions . These are like Chinese Squire, they don't quite fit anything without work.
 
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