Can you put a Telecaster Neck on a Stratocaster?
WHy would you want to do this?
If you’re like me, you like assembling guitars and in particular you like creating Partcasters. I’ve done a number of builds over the years and I really find it fun to pick and choose all the parts and pieces, and then assemble them to make your own custom guitar! I’ve done a number of Telecaster partscasters and I’ve also done a Stratocaster build and most recently a Jaguar build.
So maybe you’re looking to mix things up and try to create your own odd creation similar to Fender’s Parallel universe series of guitars. This is their line of guitars that mixes and matches different elements from different models. You might find a Telecaster with Jazzmaster, or a Stratocaster with Jaguar pickups. The combinations are endless. And now you think it’s a great idea to put a Telecaster neck on a Stratocaster body. Or maybe you’d like to put a Stratocaster neck on a Telecaster body! Without doing any significant modifications to the original neck and body, one of those options will work and one will not. It all comes down to the neck pocket and the heel of the guitar neck. Let’s take a look at both scenarios and see what will work!
Telecaster neck on Telecaster body. No Problem!
Stratocaster Neck on Telecaster Body
If you’ve ever seen a Telecaster Deluxe, it’s essentially a Telecaster electric guitar that is using a Stratocaster headstock and neck, on a Telecaster style body.
So in general a Stratocaster neck will fit on a Telecaster body without any modifications to either piece. The neck pocket shape on a Telecaster is rectangular with rounded corners. The neck heel of a Stratocaster is curved around the bottom. However even with this rounded bottom, the stock screw holes line up properly and allow you to connect the neck to the body. Take a look at the images to see how they will fit together. One thing to note is a stock Telecaster pickguard is not curved on the neck pocket portion. So it would need to be modified and rounded to fit properly. You will notice a small gap in the neck pocket where the rounded Stratocaster neck does not fit flush against the Telecaster’s flat neck pocket end. Rounding a Telecaster pickguard is fairly easy and I’ve done one myself.
Neck and Body
Using a Stratocaster style neck on a Telecaster body
To see what I’m talking about in action, take a look at the Telecaster build video that I created using a Telecaster Deluxe Roadworn neck on a Telecaster Body. Essentially I used a Stratocaster style neck during this build project. I had to customize the telecaster pickguard to hide the gap in the neck heel. A Fender Telecaster Deluxe has a curve on it’s pickguard, so I essentially modded my pickguard to match a Deluxe pickguard style.
Telecaster Neck on Stratocaster Body
So we saw that a Stratocaster neck can generally fit on a Telecaster body. What about putting a Telecaster neck on a Stratocaster body? You might think that because one way worked, it should be fine. However this is not the case!
Without doing some type of custom modification, a stock Fender Telecaster neck will not fit into a stock Fender Stratocaster body. It all comes down to the curved neck pocket. Take a look at the images to see what I’m talking about. The Stratocaster’s curved neck pocket will not accept a Telecaster’s flat neck heel and allow the screws to line up properly. Is it possible to mod the Telecaster neck heel and create a curve so that it will fit inside the Stratocaster neck pocket? That’s beyond the scope of my guitar assembly skills, so I can’t answer that question! I’m not saying it’s impossible, I just wouldn’t be willing to mod a beautiful stock Fender neck and risk the chance of ruining it!
Pro II Stratocaster Body
Fender Telecaster channel bound neck
WHAT ABOUT OTHER STYLEs of NECKS?
I haven’t looked into other options and styles of necks myself, but in general Fender necks have a flat bottom heel or a curved bottom heel. You’ll find a curve heel on other Fender necks such as their Jazzmaster and Jaguar models. So it looks like it would be possible to stick those necks on a Telecaster and Stratocaster body. I’m only talking about official Fender parts in all these cases, and your mileage may vary with other brands! Maybe in the future I’ll try creating my own alternate/parallel universe models!
As always, Play Guitar and Have Fun!
Assembling a Fender Jaguar
