Considering a small project - SX necks?

I'm tempted by SX neck prices, of course. The only mention I've seen in recent history is from @FerruleCat - a vote in favor. Anyone else use them with confidence? Any bad experiences? I ask 'cause I have one of these:



It's a Teisco/Kawai Zen-On/Audition. I saved it from neglect from a horrible pawn shop, and it was rotting there so they let me have it for $30. I can sell the gold foil pickups and partially fund a budget shortscale build. I love the body and pickguard, which I'd likely trace and make a custom knockoff. I think if the measurements work out, it'd make a cool short scale with this SX neck (after neck pocket routing) and some Hipshot ultralite tuners. I have a bridge and pickup I can use unless the project goes off the rails, as projects do...

I'd love to hear thoughts or words of warning. Thanks!

 

Was it sold to you in that condition, or did the twist develop over time? I've heard great things about Rondo's return policy, so that never should have happened! So QC might be bad, but returns aren't a problem. Really awful that you got sold a dud from a middleman.

 

Thanks everyone, for all the feedback! The negatives are especially helpful, so I can decide between saving money or saving time. I've never done fret work before, so assuming my time is worth something, I might be better off buying something more expensive. On the other hand, the rest of the instrument might not be worthy of the better neck!

If I do this, I'll certainly post the results, or anything interesting along the way.

 

I'm having trouble finding a good neck source, in part because I have no idea what's good and reasonable quality. I considered Warmoth because I've heard good things, but they come with pre-drilled neck heels, and screw holes for a specific tuner, which is a bummer. Plus they're on the pricey side. They charge $15 MORE for NO neck heel holes!

I'm not super interested in a Fender-style headstock, so something like this unfinished paddle headstock Eden is pretty reasonable if the quality is good, but I don't know anything about them, and I'm not sold on making that much more work for myself:

EDEN 30" Short Scale Paddle Bass Neck Maple/Rosewood Right/Lefty Dot Inlay

@Wafl - I checked stratosphereparts.com, but if any of those non-Squier necks are 30" scale, they don't say in the specs.

There's only one SX 30" scale neck with a rosewood board and it's fantastically cheap, but the @bolophonic twist story scares me! There's no way to test the neck without drilling and mounting, so it's a tough gamble.

 

I'm probably doing weird electronics for this. No volume, no knobs, lots of options.

knobless schematic for 4 conductor humbucker by cdlynch posted Oct 5, 2016 at 1:21 PM

View is looking at the top of the pickguard - I'll have to flip the schematic to wire it so I don't screw it up.

options:

* either coil as single coil
* series or parallel humbucking
* series or parallel out of phase
* tone switch: no load, min, and max settings

 

The saga continues here.

 

The story picks up here after the knobless circuit revision thread, which ended with the purchase of a 30" scale SX neck.

Before destroying a semi-collectable 60's classic, I'm going to try to put the SX neck on a now sacrificial Squier Strat, which is currently a worthless guitar scale bass. The neck plates are different sizes, but the bigger Strat plate can be made to fit the Teisco as long as I plug and re-drill the existing holes. I love to complicate everything, so I got threaded inserts for the neck.

Now I have to find some way to get this neck to fit both bodies perfectly BEFORE I chop up the Teisco. The Strat is mostly for checking pickup placement and wiring, and to make sure that the existing Bartolini is what I really want in the Teisco.

Question: Does anyone know if SX bass neck heels fit Fender neck pocket routing templates? If not, I'm WIDE open to suggestions!

 

I'm getting this for widening neck pockets with my dremel. There isn't much material to remove, so I'm just going to make a paper template and go slooooooow with rotary sander bits.

I wanted to test on the Squier body first, but it's too complicated to get the holes and threaded inserts in the right place for two bodies, because I need to get things placed experimentally. Even just doing the Teisco will be a difficult. I'm worried about getting the neck holes accurate. I'll have to come up with some way to clamp the neck in straight, and use a drill press through the body holes to make sure the alignment is good. I think I'm going to have to come up with a funky jig.

I'm also going to skip the Bartolini PU for now. I was going to sell the Teisco gold foil pickups, but once the scale length changes, they're going to be placed nearly in Ric 4001/3 positions, and they're quiet for single coils, so wth. Since they mount on the surface, if I change the positions slightly for exact placement, no routing, just a couple new holes in the PG.