Bit of a tricky question I know but just in case anyone has done a project...I'm thinking of sticking a Yamaha Pacifica neck on a cheapo Squier tele body for a project, because I love the necks. Will this work? THe scale length is the same but I can't find any info on the width at the heel etc.

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" Charles Darwin.

basically, no..... although it's not impossible, it depends on the precise model,

even with the same scale length, and width at heel, there are still a number of factors that can preclude this without indulging in some woodwork butchery , of either neck, or body, or both, or some other kludge...


a couple of examples.

1) "vertical" Depth of heel & socket.

the neck may not be the same thickness from fingerboard to rear surface, so the relative height of the frets may be different, this MIGHT be solvable with bridge adjustment, or it might not..... it may require either shimming of the neck socket entirely, or thinning of the neck heel.....


2) Number of frets....
21, 21.5 22, 24..... if the body is built for a 21 fret neck, a 21.5, 22 or 24 fret neck, even if it has the same heel width and depth of thickness, will not fit correctly, in that the frets will be in the wrong position as the neck is physically longer , even if it's the same scale length.

3) Heel end profile.

Some are very rounded, others are more or less squared off, the neck will almost certainly require re-profiling on the end to fit snugly, even if all other things are equal.... and this may result in incorrect fret positioning.


sorry

Sorry, it's not something I've ever tried.

And what info I can find online about Yam necks is inconclusive, some people say they are interchangeable, others say they aren't.

I think you need to get your hands on a neck before you can work it out. Unless, as you hoped, someone has done this already and can confirm it works.

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.

Posts on Axecentral suggest that the opposite swap isn't viable because although the heel width is fine, the neck length is too different to allow adjustment for intonation. Might be more trouble than it's worth.

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Not much in life worth running for. Or from.

And when I posted I saw what ODBBQL wrote while I was writing,

+10 to all he says, he's highlighted everything you need to be aware of.

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.

Why remove a Pacifica neck from what is very likely to be a superior body to a cheapo Squier (Are you thinking the Affinity Tele body?) The Pacifica is such a great guitar for what it is. They always benefit from better pickups, but other than that, very little to improve on them.

No removing necessary, there's a Pacifica neck on ebay by itself! I don't need convincing of Pacifica build quality, bodies or otherwise! We've got five Yamahas in my house already, two pacifica 'strats' (the slightly posher pac604w) a 'tele' (pac102) (plus an AEX, an RGX and two Yamaha acoustics. We like Yamahas here!

Still dream of the day I can afford an SA2200 semi, though.

Thanks for all the advice, brilliant as ever. I think I'll abandon that plan, then!

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" Charles Darwin.

ooooh a PAC102 Tele. I would like one of those. In time the earlier Pacifica's are gonna get collectable...the build quality is just too darn good to overlook. I bought a 2nd hand 112, three-piece alder body, totally stable build and tuning. Puts a couple of Fenders I have to shame.

If you haven't already, check out the 604w. It's their posher strat one with locking sperzel tuners, wilkinson tremelo/bridge, pearly scratchplate and generally the bargain of the century. As I say, I got one for my son, liked it so much I bought one for myself! Not made anymore of course, but they pop up on eBay from time to time.

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" Charles Darwin.

I have the 402 tele-ish Pacifica and it has been my main guitar for years. Put some Bareknuckles in it and it's a cracker.

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Wild Hope FB

Which Bareknuckles did you go for? I've got their Brown Sugar in the bridge of my 'real' Tele and was thinking of getting something a little more meaty for the Pacifica. Which did you go for?

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" Charles Darwin.

The memory is going ... I range up Tim and told him what I was after and he recommended a set. I went with that and an very happy. I'll see if I still have the receipt about. It was either the Country Boy set or the Brown Sugars.

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Wild Hope FB