OffsetGuitars.com

It's my first time trying this, so be gentle...

I'm a longtime offset fan. caught the bug off my dad. Learned to play on a 66 Mustang, which I still use as my main guitar (though don't remind me of the time I turned down a '59 Jazzmaster for a squier strat as someone had sprayed it pink). As I said, my dad was too. He'd often buy parts and try to 'construct' his own frankenstein creations. The furthest he ever got was this.



He found a body and neck sans electronics/hardware that purported to be Fender and went wild. The body i'm pretty sure is fender- feels just like the mustang. The neck though- eesh. Also, his taste in pickups, hardware etc. not for me.

Think i'm going to take this back to a single pickup musicmaster II/duosonic vibe, so need parts. Where is good, aside from Reverb/ebay? Where can I not spend £500+ on a neck? thanks

Fun project!
You should be able to get a Mustang neck for lots less than 500. Allparts jag/Mustang 24" necks can be had under $200
Where are you located? Since that's pounds in your message I'm assuming the UK?
Are you keeping the maple board? That might be harder to find. I have one with a maple board in a box somewhere, but its a Warmoth.

-A

what don't you like about the neck?

Imho - it looks pretty cool as is. I’d put some more vintagy pups in and enjoy it.

It'd be good to see some 'taken apart' shots if possible.

I was wondering if any Japanese cloners ever got round to doing a MM, which could account for the weird neck.

Establishing the era of the body would also be cool. The fact it's black (assuming the finish is og) was making me think like, 77/78, but the scratchplate shape - though obv that's not original - is more like the 64-75 or so versions.

A neck could definitely be had for cheaper than all the stupid buy it now prices on ebay. I checked completed listings and there were a couple of 70s mm necks that ended round the 250 dollar mark, which seems much more reasonable to me. Assuming this is what it appears to be, *any* 24'' fender neck would do, Jag, Mustang, Duo, Bronco

terminalvertigo wrote: ↑

Thu May 14, 2020 1:58 pm

what don't you like about the neck?

Its hard to put my finger on. It sort of looks a bit goofy- just ever so slightly proportionally wrong. Doesn’t play quie right either- action always high, just feels- off. not a huge maple neck fan either, though the competition style headstock colour groovy

beauzooka wrote: ↑

Thu May 14, 2020 6:32 pm

Imho - it looks pretty cool as is. I’d put some more vintagy pups in and enjoy it.

Its fine, but gold hardware’s just not me, like something a bit more minimal.

mgeek wrote: ↑

Fri May 15, 2020 1:38 am

It'd be good to see some 'taken apart' shots if possible.

I was wondering if any Japanese cloners ever got round to doing a MM, which could account for the weird neck.

Establishing the era of the body would also be cool. The fact it's black (assuming the finish is og) was making me think like, 77/78, but the scratchplate shape - though obv that's not original - is more like the 64-75 or so versions.

A neck could definitely be had for cheaper than all the stupid buy it now prices on ebay. I checked completed listings and there were a couple of 70s mm necks that ended round the 250 dollar mark, which seems much more reasonable to me. Assuming this is what it appears to be, *any* 24'' fender neck would do, Jag, Mustang, Duo, Bronco

Managed to get a 66 Mustang neck for relatively cheap, though US-UK shipping always eye watering

fartboy wrote: ↑

Sat May 16, 2020 2:30 pm

mgeek wrote: ↑

Fri May 15, 2020 1:38 am

It'd be good to see some 'taken apart' shots if possible.

I was wondering if any Japanese cloners ever got round to doing a MM, which could account for the weird neck.

Establishing the era of the body would also be cool. The fact it's black (assuming the finish is og) was making me think like, 77/78, but the scratchplate shape - though obv that's not original - is more like the 64-75 or so versions.

A neck could definitely be had for cheaper than all the stupid buy it now prices on ebay. I checked completed listings and there were a couple of 70s mm necks that ended round the 250 dollar mark, which seems much more reasonable to me. Assuming this is what it appears to be, *any* 24'' fender neck would do, Jag, Mustang, Duo, Bronco

Managed to get a 66 Mustang neck for relatively cheap, though US-UK shipping always eye watering

niiiiiice! 22.5 or 24?

mgeek wrote: ↑

Sun May 17, 2020 10:53 am

fartboy wrote: ↑

Sat May 16, 2020 2:30 pm

mgeek wrote: ↑

Fri May 15, 2020 1:38 am

It'd be good to see some 'taken apart' shots if possible.

I was wondering if any Japanese cloners ever got round to doing a MM, which could account for the weird neck.

Establishing the era of the body would also be cool. The fact it's black (assuming the finish is og) was making me think like, 77/78, but the scratchplate shape - though obv that's not original - is more like the 64-75 or so versions.

A neck could definitely be had for cheaper than all the stupid buy it now prices on ebay. I checked completed listings and there were a couple of 70s mm necks that ended round the 250 dollar mark, which seems much more reasonable to me. Assuming this is what it appears to be, *any* 24'' fender neck would do, Jag, Mustang, Duo, Bronco

Managed to get a 66 Mustang neck for relatively cheap, though US-UK shipping always eye watering

niiiiiice! 22.5 or 24?

24. Bit beaten up but that's fine, everything I own is player condition lol

fartboy wrote: ↑

Sun May 17, 2020 11:35 am

24. Bit beaten up but that's fine, everything I own is player condition lol

Great! It's gonna be good. + I'd also rather have a chewed up version of 2 great guitars for bargain prices than one clean one I prefer things to be original and play nicely, but could not care less about general condition

So I managed to get the guitar out of storage and have started looking at it. It is, uh, a weird one



The body about to reveal its secrets



Hmm, ok. Thought it would be a mustang setup under here but it's not routed the same. Any ideas? Also, it clearly has been chopped up a fair amount. And there looks to be blue paint under there. Is that primer or might it have been blue?



This doesn't look like a fender neck



lol



Expert routing job by my dad

So- Worth fixing up?

fartboy wrote: ↑

Tue May 19, 2020 7:54 am

This doesn't look like a fender neck

I defs wouldn't give up hope on that being a fender neck, yet I've not seen any maple fingerboard necks from that era in person but those first name intial followed by surname stamps are pretty typical of a 70's fender. Is there any stamp on the end the of the neck (at the heel). Must admit the telecaster decal is an odd choice.

Nothing on the heel. The decal I’m pretty sure my dad put on. The headstock was definitely black when he bought it though

Those heel stamps could easily be Fender marks. I can’t say that I’ve seen those exact ones, but the ‘70s Fenders I’ve owned had similar stamps.