Crayon Sky Music

Guitars: Fender – can you place a Stratocaster neck on a Telecaster and vice versa?

I have a custom Stratocaster with a terrific neck but a very dated body & paint job. I’d like to buy a Telecaster & replace the stock Fender neck with the neck from the Strat.
Any luthiers / guitar repair enthusiasts out there? Thanks!

The “neck pocket” on a Strat is rounded. The Pocket on a Tele is squared. That means that to place a Strat neck on a Tele, you will have some tricky woodworking to do.

I have successfully placed a Tele neck on a Strat body, but never vice-versa. It was a difficult and frustrating job that ended in failure.

Best advice: Buy a body blank and rout the pocket yourself, (if you have the tools and know-how) or buy a pre-made Tele style body that has a neck-pocket routed for your Strat neck.

Warmoth, Musikraft and other makers will do that for you. You can also buy router-jigs from Stew-Mac.com for any type neck pocket. If you have a router and bits and experience, that’s not too expensive. Typically, most guitarists asking these questions do not have those tools.

It all boils down to how much time you have, how much money you want to spend, and how much work you are willing and able to do.

I have built and repaired numerous guitars and other instruments. When it comes to electric “bolt-together” style guitars, the easiest method its to buy the correct parts from a reputable makers. If you make or modify parts yourself, you will always run into complications that cost money, time and cause frustration.

Fender Relic Stratocaster Custom Shop Part-O-Caster Part 1