Project "Black Strat" : Step 5 - The Neck Arrives

As I described in part 2 of my Project "Black Strat" posts, I had originally wanted to go with an All-Parts 'SMNF-V' neck. The way my Telecaster neck had turned out was really nice so I figured I'd put the same neck on my project Strat. Brian had already told me he was kinda busy/not doing a lot this summer as far as guitar work was concerned and I respected the guy taking a break. I figured I'd get back in touch with him in a month or so and see how he was doing.

I had figured that this neck, including tuners, nut & work would run anywhere from 300-450ish, so while I was waiting I figured: why not see what you can get all done for that price? I checked out eBay again, and naturally there was a plethora of necks available in all shapes & sizes. Now being that I wanted a 'V-Shaped' neck the choices got drastically slimmer.

Option a) Mighty Mite Neck. Cheap.. but if I were to go that route again I'd prefer the All Parts neck.
Option b) Fender 50's Re-Issue Neck, Made In Mexico. Decent Price, Decent Neck
Option c) 2011 American Deluxe V-Shaped Neck. WOW, this is an AMAZING neck - VERY nice! It's also the same as I have now on my Tungsten Deluxe. However the Pricing (around 600) for just the neck was a little steep to go on a Highway-One body in my opinion.

Now everyone always says that All Parts is basically Fender Japan.. As I was browsing eBay trying to make up my mind as to what route to take since I didn't really want to wait much longer I notice a decent looking ,  Fender 57 Reissue "Made In Japan" Neck with a current price of a little over $100 with about a day to go.
It was listed as:

• Make/Model: Fender 57 Reissue Stratocaster Neck (ST54-EX)
• Serial #: M028590
• Nut Width: 1 11/16
• Weight: 1.6
• Features: Comes with tuners, neck plate, and screws.

A Quick look at the serial number on the Guitar Dater Project website shows:

Your guitar was made at the
Fuji-gen Plant (for Fender Japan), Japan
in the Year(s): 1992 - 1993

Fuji String Instrument Production Corporation

Fuji String Instrument Production Corporation was opened in may 1960, they initially started manufacturing violins and quickly switched to classical guitar production. In 1962 electric guitar construction was started. Fujigen has a reputation for excellent quality and craftsmanship so the guitars they produce are highly regarded. They produce guitars via OEM for famous brands such as Ibanez, Epiphone, Yamaha and Fender (the import Special Interest Group nature model), G&L and others."


I had also heard (read) lots of good things about Japanese Fenders where it was stated that their quality is nearly, if not 'as-good' as American Made Fenders.  So I entered the bidding process. I had to up my bid a few times, and by the end of the day - having learned from me losing a Deluxe Strat at the last second - I gave my self a nice margin to go up with my Max Bid. It is a good thing that I did, because with LITERALLY 10 seconds to go & whilst I was 'in the lead' TWO people came in and each bid $10 more than my last bid ! Luckily I had my max bid set even higher than either one of theirs because I figured it would still be cheaper than any other Neck option! (All Parts, MIM Fender etc).

Initially I was confused about it being a '57, whilst the neck said 54, but according to this site the only difference between a 54 and 57 neck is the 'butterfly' string-tree for the 57 vs round for a 54. For an almost 20 year old neck I think it still looks pretty decent. There is one small/medium chip on the bottom of the neck near the high E-String by the 5th fret, but that doesn't really bother me.

Then when looking REALLY closely (barely visible in the picture) there seems to be a slight hairline crack right in front of the D-string slot in the nut. I can't feel with my finger or nail, so it would seem the finish is on top of the crack and this could possibly just be a manufacturing 'defect'. As long as the truss-rod works that's fine with me.

There's also a few minor scuff marks from the neck pocket, but once installed they won't even be visible.

I did notice that the finish/poly seems to be 'missing' right around every fret which makes me wonder if this neck has been refretted in the past. The frets definitely seem 'wider' that the 'vintage' style frets that came on the All-Parts neck and a little 'flat'/worn on top. (perhaps they are simple so worn & levelled so many times they feel wider).  It may be time for a re-fret anyway since a few of them (especially 1-3) seem a little worn where there actual grooves of the strings. I'm going to install it & try it out to see how it plays and then take it from there! If I do need to refret it , I may actually have a go at it myself and see how hard it is.

As far as the V-Shape itself I once again notice that it's not as 'hard' as the All-Parts neck I have, and more inline with my Deluxe -V Neck.. I'm going to have to play them side by side to really get a feel for which one I prefer.