Quality Costs

I have toned down my wish list a bit from my recent post about building my own custom Explorer via Warmoth parts. A few days ago I decided to price out what it would cost for a replacement neck (with all the needed accessories) for my old Squier ("by Fender") Strat. The original neck has some really bad fret wear on it--I have been playing it going on about 20 years now. It's either hoping a grind & polish and a proper set up would bring it back to life, or it's time for a new neck. Of course you know it will have to be a Warmoth "Pro" compound radius neck. I've never played better. So without further ado, here is the scoop on what a retrofit would run:

Maple neck/Maple fingerboard.

With satin finish: $325
With no finish: $250

P/N	Price	Description
	$157.00	Neck, Replacement Strat Warmoth "Pro" Construction
	$75.00	Finish, Clear Satin
SS6105	$20.00	Frets, Stainless Steel
	$20.00	Nut, GRAPHTEC GRAPHITE
SMLC	$48.00	Schaller Mini Locking Tuners
	$5.00	String Trees

Going this route is far less expensive then building a whole Explorer!

Stainless steel frets for sure! Man, they would last forever! As for the finish, way back when I was putting together my main guitar (Warmoth; Soloist-style body; Explorer-style maple neck w/ ebony fingerboard) I experimented with a wipe on statin finish on some scrap maple. I got some really good results. I think I could do it again, and I am sure the neck would turn out well, but I'm not sure how the fingerboard would fare.

We'll see. I'm not in any hurry to part with any more funds probably at least until next year...