I had a Strat neck with a dark finish inspired by Vince Van Trigt's Smokehouse Stratocasters around that didn't sold, and I was thinking of what I would do with it when I had an idea. All my life as a room guitar player, I didn't liked Fender's headstocks at all when I was a kid, or even their guitars FWIW. My favourite headstock was Gibson's; it's symmetrical and it has this visual appealing magic power. Technically, some people think it's not the best way to stay in tune, but this is not a discussion forum.
Over time, I have learned that (some) guitar shapes and finishes, apart from the technical and playing side, are something you start by getting used to, until one day you love it. Yes, aesthetics is an acquired taste to me, something that grows inside you. When I was 25, I wouldn't even go near a relic guitar, and I'm not talking about the cost. I didn't see the point of it.
But even now, I fancy more the Strat headstock than the Tele headstock, even if I prefer the Tele body shape to the Strat body shape, although I like the belly and arm cut. I hope I didn't get you mixed up... My kind of Tele would have a Strat headstock and probably arm and belly cuts.
I decided to match that Strat neck to a Tele neck to see it in person, and I chose a B-stock 2pc Alder T body from my usual UK supplier, meaning that "B-stock" is due to a 3cm wood knot hole that goes all the way from the side of the control cavity to the back. I glued a small block inside the cavity and filled the hole on the back, but I'm not going to lie, the wood filler absorbed more nitro than the rest of the wood, and once dried you can see a tiny lump on the finish that I tried to dissimulate the best I could. On a relic guitar I believe you can live with it, but if not, don't buy it.
Speaking of the neck joint, I didn't just screwed the neck on; I have worked the neck joint with my Dremel to this specific neck heel so it could fit perfectly. About 2 hours of work and then I did the same to the pickguard. You can see what's "under the hood" on one of the photos before installing the pickguard, easy access to the truss rod without having to unscrew the whole neck out.
The base color was Sherwood Green Metallic from Dartford's in which I have added their Aniline Blue powder dye dissolved in alcohol, to get that Ocean Turquoise, and i love it! The first one, but certainly not the last!
What more is there to say? The neck has a regular C shape, 21 frets (no nut yet!), 1 piece maple and vintage truss rod at heel as you can see also on one of the photos at the end; the usual vintage 3-saddle bridge, vintage jack cup (no jack yet!), 3-way american style selector from Thomann, and the pots are from a chinese control plate set I have bought long ago. The best thing you can do is to get rid of them, keep the knobs and install some decent ones. 2 string tree retainers are included along with the bridge hex key, all inside a small bag you can find in the control cavity. Before you ask, this set as it is, weighs 3,2kg.
