May 18, 2012 2:22 PM
JTV-69 neck replacement
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Like (1)
posted once before with no response, so i'll try again. can i put a Variax 600 neck on my JTV-69?
i'm a maple board guy ! besides, i don't really love the stock neck. also, will a Jap Fender Strat neck fit?
thank you in advance for the help.
Hi Mr solo
I'm not sure about the 600 neck fitting the 69 but I can tell you that there are good necks out there that will.
I took the neck from my Warmoth Strat and bolted it to the 69 and gigged with it ever since.
It was only today that I have bought a new Maple neck to replace the one on my Warmoth strat and it went on like a charm which in turn means it would also have fitted the 69 with the same ease.
I bought my neck from an internet only shop in Hull, England which is just across the river from me and I was a tad apprehensive about paying only £100 for a maple neck with 22 medium jumbo frets. I needn't have worried. The neck is perfect in every detail. It was supplied with a bone nut which I had to file down for my own taste and I used the tuners from the 69 neck which fitted perfectly in the 10mm holes. No string tree necessary as the ploes on the tuners are different heights. I am so delighted with this neck I may even build a another new strat from scratch with parts from this company. The web site is http:\\axesrus.com Mine is the True Modern series but they do have others.
No reason why a japanese neck would not fit.
Hey Mark,
Did you put an oil finish or satin lacqer on the birdseye maple neck? Also is it a one-piece or maple fretboard on maple neck?
I don't think the 600 neck will fit on a JTV as I have a Warmoth Strat neck and it won't fit on my 300 Variax. Not even close. But as stated regular Strat necks do fit on the JTV's. Warmoth can set you up with a Strat neck for under $200. Be advised it will most likely need a fret leveling and crowning which will cost around $200 on top of the neck costs. Of course this would void your warranty if L6 was to know about it. If something did go wrong with the guitar putting the original neck back before sending it in would negate this issue if you kept your mouth shut about it. Obviously.
thanks for the responses ! the Variax 600 neck did work....however, i had to use wood filler in the existing pilot holes and redrill. they were slightly off and caused a tiny gap on the bass side. it's amazing how a few millimeters can make a difference with neck placement.
in the final analysis, i didn't like the feel of the 600 neck. i picked up an unfinished USA Custom Strat- style neck , 10" radius. gonna try and paint the headstock to match the JTV Lake Placid Blue, and tint the neck vintage Fender -style (like the Vx 600 neck.
this will be a lengthy project. will post pics.
Hi there Airforce guitar
The Warmoth neck is very likely a one piece maple with maple fretboard but it is very difficult to see a join at all. Not sure how else they could get a truss rod down it otherwise which is adjusted from the bottom end next to the pickup. I may be wrong. The neck is laquered and plays beautifully.
The new neck I bought to replace the one on the Warmoth body (left in photo above) is a one piece maple and completely dry wood but again plays really well for a cheap no name stock 9.5 inch radius neck which only cost 100 pounds. The frets aren't as big as massive frets on the Warmoth neck but honestly both necks play really well. It goes without saying that the new neck on the Warmoth body would equally have fitted the JTV. For that price I can honestly say that I would just replace the neck when I need new frets on either guitar.
I can take more closeups if you require them.
Mark,
Thanks for the response. I'll go ahead and order a one-piece birdseye for my JTV-69 and get it leveled/crowned and bolt it on! Yours looks GREAT! and I'm sure it feels wonderful!
-airforceguitar
Most of the strat ready necks on Warmoth have (Vintage Style (11/32") Tuner Ream)... will the Variax locking tuners fit in these? The post above says 10mm fit.. which ones should I get? I have a JTV69...
Thanks
I can't answer that directly. My Warmoth neck already has locking tuners and high quality ones at that. I didn't need to remove or replace them at all.
I used the tuners from the JTV neck on the cheap replacement neck I bought for the Warmoth body and they definitely have 10mm holes which the tuners fitted perfectly.
Hope that helps.
Incidently, any UK guys want to know where I got my cheap neck from: axesrus.com. Based in Hull. Great people and very good service. I have had a lot of dealings with them since and they have been excellent. There is a chap there called Craig who is very knowledgeable about all this. Worth a look if you can't quite run to a Warmoth. I kid you not, the neck I got from them is very good indeed and I won't play any old bat. Tell them Mark from Scunthorpe sent you and I might get some more discounts (he says with his cheeky grin).
As you can see from the photo left, I have had to install a string tree on the B and E strings. The E string fell off the nut once and that was once too many. No difference to tuning stability at all even under some serious whammying. Pic right, the two beauties together making babies. Just in case anyone was wondering, everyone calls me Dude.
nice job everybody ! after seeing these posts of your awesome aftermarket necks, i must get with it and start
painting and decaling and clearcoating !
After having my JTV for about 6 months, I went ahead and bit the bullet for a new neck. I was not having the string slippage issue as others had, as my neck was pretty good. But, it still felt like playing a boat oar as the neck was a little too thick. I eventually got used to it, but decided to get a replacement neck just for the heck of it. I'm glad I did. My JTV now feels incredible. I got a Mighty Mite compound radius neck from CEG Hardtails on ebay, who polishes and levels the frets before selling. Now, my JTV feels like my Ibanez JS-1000 neck - fast and comfortable. Thanks for all those before me and their advice. Here is a pic of my new JTV...
I like that maple on with the black. Think I'll do the same. Did you keep the same tuners?
Same tuners. Peg holes on the new neck were slightly larger, but once tightened down, no excessive play. Feels fantastic.
Here is where I got mine (3rd one down)
Thanks Khoff2, I just got my mighty mite from the same place you got yours. Man, its awesome. My lutheir has a couple days off and wont be able to put it on in time for my gig this weekend, so I was thinking of MAYBE trying it myself.... what say you?
I have an insane playing american standard tele to use.. but i may want to try to put this on... since my new neck is already finished, should it be that hard to bolt it on and set it up?
Thanks!
Nice to see a JTV with a more traditionally shaped headstock. I like that look much more. Enjoy your newly improved instrument!
Here is my new JTV 69 with a mighty mite neck. I've never insalled a neck, but I did this one and it plays great. I felt okay doing the install because the frets were already crowned and leveled. I almost saved $100 and bought one from guitarfetish but I didnt want the neck to be worked on once I got it. I git mine here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Maple-Strat-Neck-Compound-Radius-Full-Speed-Fretjob-and-Micropolish-Speed-/130812018041?
I used the tuners from the variax. You have to be careful with all the pilot holes. I designed the custom headstock and applied it with water glide paper.

I am also considering replacing the neck on my JTV69. I am not necessarily hating the neck I presently have,however anything that has less thickness will likely help my playing since I have smaller hands. I have had the occasional string slippage on high E but had attributed that to my playing. A neck change looks like a viable option.
I appreciated looking and reading about what others have done here. I checked out the Mighty Mite site and was already familiar with Warmoth two very good options only I want abalone inlays and a rosewood or ebony fingerboard.Warmoth can probably do this but not inexpensively,at least not from my perspective.
If a strat neck will fit the JTV69 there are a lot of options. One of the least expensive options would be to go to GC and purchase a lower priced guitar with a nice neck on it. I have seen guitars there with decent necks for less than 100.00. You really need to know what you are looking for here though. Frets need to be ok and neck straight, but you could walk away with a great neck and still have some pickups and a body to play with later.
Noone has mentioned Carvin yet either. These guys build great necks and you can get more frills than with a Mighty Mite neck. I really liked the suggestion made that you could potentially go to a 241/2 scale as there are necks made that fit the strat pocket but are of that scale. I guess my only concern with that would be intonation and playing ok with everything else on the JTV. If I thought I could do it I probably would.
Anyone else tried this yet. You will have to trust me that this works. Despite what a few may think to the contrary, this Japanese made neck from my trusty old unused Variax 700 is much better than the original Tyler designed neck and feels very familiar in my hands with hundreds of hours of playing and gigging with it. It is still in perfect condition apart from a little fret wear but the action is great and intoned perfect. You may notice that these are not the original tuners but they do allow dive bombing and still she stays in tune.
No problems fitting, just the extra hole needed pre drilling with a 3 mm bit. Both E strings are pretty close to the edge but thus far with some pretty heavy testing have stayed put. I think in all probability this neck will stay on this JTV.
Just thought I'd let you know.
Great job!
In my humble opinon...Almost ANYTHING is better than the stock neck. I absolutely love mine now that I put that mm strat neck on it.
Thanks for the compliment. I bought some water glide paper. You then can design to your liking and print iit out on your computer. It then takes a few coats of acrylic spray. You have to wait over night for each coat to dry. Especially the final coat. I put three coats on. It was also helpful that I had a template of the headstock. I just printed a couple copies in Draft mode on regular paper to make sure everything lined up right before I printed the final
If you look in the corner of the headstock, you'll see I added my avatar in there as well. It's a cartoon of myself I made in flash
How's that neck working out for you? Thats the Mighty Mite on yours right?
Like I posted, it's night and day compared to the stock neck. I have the mighty mite and I absolutely love it.
Having the mighty mite is like Fender now built my Variax. Yep, is awesome
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