Scale length question...

[Musician78]

...Ok, so I have wanted a Strat project forever. Not a complete one, but a project that I can gradually build however I want. I bought a genuine body. Supposedly it takes any fender neck (MIM, MIJ, anr USA). The MIM neck I know is 21 frets while the USA is 22. Won't one of them give it a slightly different scale length from the other??

[Matt_B]

The number of frets doesn't have anything to do with the scale length.

[DonP]

The 22 fret necks have an overhang. The neck is not longer and will not stick out of the neck pocket any further.

Talking strat projects, I have a smoking Allparts Fender neck with 22 Jumbo Frets and a 12" flat radius. I need to find a body for it or take it back.

[Musician78]

The number of frets doesn't have anything to do with the scale length.

Actually sometimes it does. If it doesn't have an overhang then obviously it would...

[Matt_B]

The number of frets doesn't have anything to do with the scale length.

Actually sometimes it does. If it doesn't have an overhang then obviously it would...

No, it does not.

The number of frets a neck has and its scale length are 2 independent things. What matters is that the neck pocket of the body and the heel of the neck match up for when they are mated together, the neck is positioned correctly (length-wise) so the scale length is correct for the neck and body.

[DonP]

Actually sometimes it does.

WRONG!

Get some books on how guitars are built. Scale length is determined by bridge to nut length.

Swapping necks is introducing issues with a scale length that YOU are creating, not what the manufacturer intended.

[Matt_B]

What DonP said.

Whether or not there is an overhang (of frets) on the neck does not inherently mean there will be scale length problem when mating a neck with a body.

The fretboard overhang is, as DonP put, just how the neck was manufactured. The overhang may or may not cause issues with the neck and body working together.

For example, the overhang could hit the neck pickup if the body was designed for a fretboard overhang neck but that has nothing to do with the scale length.

Necks with different scales lengths (24.75" and 25.5" are the most common) can be made with any number of frets.

That said, if the scale length is constant the neck with the greater number of frets will be physically longer assuming you use the end of the fretboard as the determining factor in its length and not the heel.

[Newc]

And then there's the major caveat that the neck heel must match the pocket. Take Jackson's JTX models - the two necks I have do not have an overhang. The fretboard goes all the way to the end of the heel.

Granted the edges of the heel are rounded to match the pocket, and the very ends of the fretboard hang over (the bass and treble), but not the center end as found on most necks.

This neck required the heel to be shaved down before it would match up with a non-JTX body.


However, since you're putting a Fender Strat neck on a Fender Strat body, there should be no trouble.

As I understand it, 22 fret Fender Tele necks have no overhang, and hence would be a problem.

[Musician78]

Yeah but... if there is no overhang for the last fret.... then the neck has to be slightly longer in order to provide that last fret.... nut would pushed further from the bridge.... how does that not affect the scale length? I mean unless I am really missing something. I am thinking that if you have two Fender necks, one with 21 frets, and one with 22, and there was no overhang for the last fret on the one with 22, this would mean the neck with 22 frets would have to be slightly longer. Wouldn't the cut have to be deeper into the body (where they 2 pieces join) for the neck with 22 frets in order for the scale length to stay the same?

[toejam]

22- and 21-fret Strat necks are interchangeable, so nothing to worry about.

[Musician78]

22- and 21-fret Strat necks are interchangeable, so nothing to worry about.

Ok, everyone seems to have the same consensus regarding this, so.. sweet, ty...

[Newc]

Yeah but... if there is no overhang for the last fret.... then the neck has to be slightly longer in order to provide that last fret.... nut would pushed further from the bridge.... how does that not affect the scale length? I mean unless I am really missing something. I am thinking that if you have two Fender necks, one with 21 frets, and one with 22, and there was no overhang for the last fret on the one with 22, this would mean the neck with 22 frets would have to be slightly longer. Wouldn't the cut have to be deeper into the body (where they 2 pieces join) for the neck with 22 frets in order for the scale length to stay the same?

Fender added the 22nd fret by adding the overhang to a 21 fret neck.

[Musician78]

Fender added the 22nd fret by adding the overhang to a 21 fret neck.

I got that now, but when I asked the question I didn't know that. That was why I said the scale length can be affected by the number of frets... I honestly don't even remember the 22 fretter having the overhang... hence my obvious confustion.


Ty.

[j4vice]

rok