Based on your recommendation I just ordered one of those necks. In reading reviews on most of these inexpensive PRS Style necks with bird inlays there seems to be a lot of inconsistency in the quality. I'm hoping the latest batch is a good quality so I just ordered one.
I did this with a rosewood fingerboard neck from China through Amazon to replace a maple fingerboard neck on my Squier Telecaster Custom. It worked great after setting up and adjusting the truss rod. Drilling the holes was scary as you only get one go to get it right. No problem with putting the tuners on. A good project.
I think it's a positive that it's slightly wider. That allows you get a super tight neck joint and also gives a little wiggle room for any potential variations.
I don’t comment often but just wanted to let you know you’re appreciated. Original ideas without being overly talky and self indulgent, great production while getting to the point. Salute. I’ve enjoyed your vids for a long time much thanks
I just put one of these on my homebuilt Strat and after some sanding and oiling, a black Tusq nut and black locking tuners it's really nice and look good.
I love telling this story. I have a 1975 (Lawsuit era) Ibanez Deluxe '59er. The truss rod broke on the original neck so I went to Amazon and found a Chinese manufacturer that made me a mahogany neck from pictures I sent them of the Ibanez neck. They even cut the head stock with the Les Paul "mustache" cut. $68.78 to my door. Plays like butta!
Would have enjoyed evaluation of the frets. Are they some weird Chinese soft alloy or are they true Nickle silver? How were quality of fret ends? Did it need a level and polish to set action low or was it ready to play after bolting on? Did you need to shim for action or was it good. You're normal attention to evaluating was a bit lacking on this one
One thing he never mentioned was the string spacing and if it was actually centered with the bridge. He isn’t lying about this being an “at your own discretion” thing but he left out a few bits of info that would’ve been helpful.
If these necks are made by the same company that made other very similar necks with bird inlays they are supposed to be using a cupro nickel frets which are supposed to be harder than silver nickel but not quite as hard as stainless steel.
Anything that isn't stainless steel or something more durable is trash, trust me. If you play a lot you'll chew through your frets in a matter of months, with stainless it took me years to give them some actual wear apart from the usual strip of polish. For example, affordable Fenders and Jacksons seem like they have frets and bridges made out of copper, total garbage. I used to have a Jackson KE3 (which isn't really that affordable, but still) and the frets had massive grooves in them in like 2 months (I used to play for roughly 5 hours a day). Long story short, get stainless steel.
I have experience the cheap Chinese neck and it was terrible, the 2nd fret and 17 fret are not 180° straight horizontal there are skewed and make the intonation not perfect. And I sold it on Facebook, thank god I can get my money back from that
I have to imagine its CNC'd and generally machine built. When I talk to young kids who play and love vintage stuff, they really don't know about the days when your intonation went sideways at the 14th fret or tuss rods that didn't work or didn't exist. LOL! Glad quality gear is more accessible!
I’ve put some builds together using necks like these. Some I’ve gotten the paddle headstock and cut my own shape and others I kept as is. Generally they need some fret work and fiddling to fit in the pocket but by and large, perfect for a project guitar.
On the neck fitting, better that they made the heel slightly over-sized than ending up with it not fitting in many bodies as it is always a lot easier to sand down than to mess about with shims. I actually would prefer buying a neck and / or body for a project without hardware because it allows me to select what I want without having a load of extra junk lying around which is what happens with a lot of the DIY kit guitars. If I was doing this project in Darrell's shoes I would have used the body that is sitting in his apple crates (in the background) but I would also be tempted to meme on the design by putting something on the headstock like 'SRP Budget Skyline'.
You can trademark body shapes. Gibson and PRS have quite a few, and enforce them. Fender dropped the ball by tolerating clones for decades and then trying to argue it was a distinctive shape only associated with them. By that time it was too late, the judge ruled it was public domain and nobody owned it. Ron Bienstock has done a few TH-cam interviews on the history and myths. He was the intellectual property lawyer on most of the famous guitar lawsuits. And a guitar player himself.
@@halcooper3070 Gibson were awarded 4k. They won the case. They have design trademarks on those body shapes. Though the judge was less than amused at the amount of time they'd taken to bring the action. It's also a long way from being their first attempt at suing - it's the latest, sure, but in a fairly long line for them. That Gibson have body design trademarks is indisputable. The page of shapes and registered trademark numbers are publicly displayed on their website.
@@PaulCooksStuff And this situation is another reason why you can't buy new Tokai or Edwards guitars in the US, you have to buy them used or import them
@@halcooper3070 Actually Gibson has tried before; this is just the first time they have won. Also guaranteed that I'll never buy another Gibson instrument - or Epiphone, or Kramer etc. I don't support trademark trollery.
Same thing here. Ordered a cheap ass strat neck with an arguably rosewood fretboard. Deliciously chunky and nicely finished frets, without a trace of sprout. My current favourite
Couple of things Darrell re: a "real" PRS. The Silver Sky seems to have a "reversed" headstock compared to most PRS guitars. i.e. it is the upper bout side headstock tip that is taller rather than the lower side on stock PRS guitars. I recall vaguely that John Mayer asked for it to be that way. Same thing with the tuners, most PRS that I have seen they are 3x3 in line. Staggered seems to be a Silver Sky thing only. For neck fitment, you'll almost always have to do some fettling. People get tripped up with putting official Fender strat necks on Teles as the pocket is different. Even between years and production runs you'll see difference. Even a blunter/worn router bit will change the radius of the bottom of the neck pocket. Let alone going aftermarket from companies like Warmoth and others. I'll take too tight fitment over loose any day. I've used a cheap eBay neck on a project before - it arrived dead straight, frets did need a bit of a level and I rounded over the fret ends but it's been fine for years.
I started watching the video and was like whaaa? I had to pull out my se custom 22 semi-hollow and looked at my headstock, 3x3 in parallel. No wierd offset. Definitely a John Mayer thing.
Yeah John wanted the lower part of the headstock pushed to that offset because he likes to have the space on the treble side when doing an E chord, because the Strat has the same type of space.
I prefer replacement necks that need a little sanding, I would rather sand a little than shim. I don't want it to fit loose in my neck pocket. I think this brings a great new look to the already pretty nice budget Donner guitar
I bought about 8 MIC necks on Ebay over the years, never disappointed. Always the best to have no pocket holes at start. Got another 12-string neck that have pocket holes to replace my 1st 12-string neck of my double-neck body, had some high E strings course issue, but I finally corrected by reinstalling the bridge 3 mm to left, now the neck is very fine. Got 3 Strat 22-fret necks , 3 bass necks, a 7-string guitar neck. I really like them all, better than whole cheap guitars
I had a warped neck on my Squire. Binned it and got a cheap Amazon maple neck. Now it plays great. Amazing if you're in a budget. After all, it's only wood and metal....
The neck on the cheap Chinese knockoff has a tele squared off shaft. So it doesn't fit a Strat which comes with a rounded neck pocket. It doesn't take very long with a good rasp to round the shaft heel and then send it smooth. Much easier to do if you have a Strat neck that you can put back to back with the Chinese knockoff and just draw a pencil line as to where the wood needs to be removed. Should only take a couple of hours
Fun fact: You actually can trademark a guitar body shape... to a point. Generally, you can trademark a design of just about anything (in the US at least) provided that 1) you show that people associate the design with your company, and 2) it isn't functional (trademarks can't be used to prevent competitors from making a competing product that looks the way it does due to its function or nature). It's the first point that explains why you see Fender strat and tele copies, and Gibson Les Paul copies - basically, the two companies didn't bother to enforce and protect their trademark rights in their body shapes back in the 50's/60's, and so everyone started copying them. When everyone else is copying you, then people no longer associate your design with a single provider - it ceases being a trademark. It also didn't help Fender, for the strat, that its body design was highly functional - the tummy cut and top curve let the guitar fit a person more comfortably, and the double-cut design offers better upper fret access. Thus, Fender would have been limited in any event in what they could claim was theirs, even if they had enforced their rights from the start. For Gibson, it was that they didn't enforce for literally decades. Also, at some point for a given manufacturer, if you don't go after them, you lose the right, under either a statute of limitations or a similar court doctrine; it's not considered fair to sit by for years while someone builds a business that infringes your rights, and then later sue when they're successful. This later point is why Warmoth and Charvel are allowed to produce necks with headstocks that copy the Fender Strat, but everyone else can't. Warmoth and Charvel had been making necks with strat-shape headstocks for years before Fender decided to go against them, and a court said that they had effectively lost the right to pursue those two makers. If you look on the back of a Warmoth strat-shape headstock, it will say that it's produced under license from Fender. That license is a direct result of that litigation. Any newcomers that try to copy Fender's strat headstock, though, would find themselves on the receiving end of a cease and desist from Fender's lawyers. EDIT: Charvel is now owned by Fender, as has been pointed out. I don’t think they were at the time of the litigation, though.
Also, that neck is almost certainly a violation of PRS's rights. (The birds at least would have common law trademark protection; you don't need to register.) The manufacturer/importer probably thought that leaving off the PRS logo put them in the clear. It doesn't, but I'm not surprised - I see these sorts of knock-offs all the time. There are many imported manufacturers that try to push as close as they can to copying famous brands without incurring a lawsuit; some just blatantly copy and don't care. It's like whak-a-mole.
I would like it better if it just had dots for fret markers. A little too tight would be better than too loose. LOL Nothing wrong with doing a little sanding.
Hey Darrell! I love, LOve, LOVE a Maple neck with a Maple Fretboard! I think that it not only LOOKS CLEAN, it SOUNDS CLEAN... I think that it just sounds like "Hi-Def" compared to "Analog" when playing chords. Especially complex chords like diminished, etc... Anyway bud, I LOVE the channel! Don't change a thing! God bless and take care...
I have to say that the maple on the fretboard is a pretty close color match to the cream coil of the bridge pickup, making your eye tie the two together as a stylistic feature. I always prefer a maple fretboard for some reason as well, so I expect it will feel better besides. I'm with you on the green transparent finish as well.
Saw this video and picked up a neck a week later. And no lie, it feels fabulous! I won't know fully till I'm finished building the guitar it's getting attached to, so for now I wait.
The heal looks more like a tele neck, not a strat. The strat neck heal is slightly rounded while the tele heal is flatter, almost squared off with the exception to the edges. Strat necks will fit on teles but tele necks will not work on a strat. The reason is that heal. While a strat neck will touch the body at the heal, a tele wont touch on a strat which means you will have intonation problems.
wow..i wish that souped up donner was for sale..i would definetly buy it..it looks super hot with that prs clone neck..wow.!!! IM FLOORED..IT LOOKS AWESOME..GREAT JOB DARELL..URE THE BEST!!
I got a cheap neck for my Telecaster. I had a bit of fine tuning to do. Replaced the plastic nut, cleaned up the frets, and had to re shape the neck. But it's a great playing neck now
I'd like more info on how it feels and plays, however. Are frets as smooth as they look? Jagged fret ends? Were/are the frets level? Dead spots? Etc. That said, the neck looks great on the Donner, especially with that body finish.
Don't buy it cheap Chinese neck, I have experience from buying Chinese neck and it was terrible the 2nd and 17 fret are skewed a bit and not straight 180° fret, and it can make the intonation messe up, just don't buy cheap Chinese neck, you can always works on the body guitar but not always on the neck
There is no "sometimes" a budget neck will need some work. Budget necks will ALWAYS require some work which is why they are so cheap. The woods of the two I have bought and used are really nice woods. They both arrived straight as an arrow. One had a little damage to it but with nice calm interaction with the maker I was compensated and may have got them to do better inspection specially for the ones shipping over seas. Frets are always cheaper metals but are good enough to get thru a few years of playing. BUT they will ALWAYS require leveling no matter how shiny and pretty they come. You also have to be careful how you plan to finish them as that super smooth feel out of the box is pretty heavy coats of sanding sealer. If you are staining that ALL has to be sanded away. Just watch my builds for the past two Crimson Guitars Great Guitar Build Off Entries. Still over all worth getting these necks for entry level Luthiers or repair / replacements. Just expect to have to do a little work to make them just as nice or better then OG necks in some cases.
I think it's fairly expected that some cheap parts will need some additional work, that's what makes more expensive parts, well, more expensive. More work has been done, not generally the materials that contribute to the added cost.
I bought this same neck for a build. Needed fret work and the ttuss rod was a a bit "floppy" but it adjusted ok. Nut is total crap and glued in crooked. Worked out OK though!
It appears that the heel end of the neck is square like a tele not rounded like a strat. Seems like this could possibly cause some fitting challenges. I suppose the fretboard extension would cover up any gaps.
Hey, you left out all the important info on this neck. Is the intonation right on all the frets? Did you have to dress the frets? Was the neck straight? How close was the height of the strings compared to the old neck?
Every once in a while a blind squirrel gets a nut. 8) Couple years ago I found Mighty Mite necks on close out at StewMac. These were the nice ones, vintage tint w/ nicely figured rosewood FB's. I bought 8 at
9:39 “I can hardly recommend it.” Was that a Freudian slip? 😀 For the work involved and having to provide your own tuners and truss Rod cover, this thing isn’t worth $50 to me, but this was definitely a fun video!
I've bought 5 of these inexpensive necks from KMise and they've been quite good. Fret work was good with only minor polishing needed. The plastic nut wasn't so good on some so I replaced those.
Can I ask did you buy those directly from Kmise? Were there a recent purchase? I had been looking at their website and thinking of trying to get some of these necks in 24 3/4 scale that I find available on eBay with 25 1/2 scale but I lack confidence that they can actually produce them without major problems. I have read about some of their necks where the upper frets are in the wrong position. What's your experience with them? Thanks.
@@windsurfmaui8239 I bought them on EBay and Amazon. I prefer to buy via Amazon Prime since returns would be less of a hassle. But, so far, I haven't had one that needed to be returned.
Same. I love the 3x3 and I've had Mighty Mite necks that needed more fret work at triple the cost. My maple necks look great and the Rosewood versions look and feel good, too!
@@jfrankcarr as I spend more time with this neck I certainly like it but I'm noticing that the two lower tuner holes on the headstock of the PRS model are not lined up properly with the nut. I looked at Darrell's video again and see that it looks like the tuning machines barely clear the edge of the headstock. Have you had any problems like this? Do I have to fill these holes and drill new holes in order to get a proper string angle to the nut on the high and low E strings? Thanks
I've purchased a couple necks off of amazon. One an ibanez style and one fender style. No real issues except the plastic nuts and a few frets needing some work.
That would be perfect for an older guitar that has been thrashed and worn out from several fret jobs. A lot cheaper than replacing the frets. Of coarse I'm refering to a cheaper guitar, You wouldn't do that to a classic. However a good option for some. Well done
Need a bunch more info: Was the neck radius consistent w the body? What size are the frets? Were the frets / do the frets need to be dressed / crowned / polished? Were fret ends sharp? Does the truss rod work correctly? Does it seem dead flat if the rod is set that way (no weird bumps or twists?) Kinda surprised by the review being “yeah it looks cool and almost fits and the PRS one is nicer.”
Man i love watching your videos. I have yet to attempt doing anything on a guitar as far as customization but watching ur vids gets me so xcited to eventually try. Love ur vids and especially ur budget videos like this.
I think that neck would look better on a Tele body or even a Mosrite. Simple dot inlays or Gibson like trapezoids would be fine and much easier to install.
I might buy a neck like this to build a part's guitar but I wouldn't use it as a replacement for a better guitar. I think i would leave the original neck on the Donner.
Very nice-looking Donner body with a beautiful finish, but I think the fake PRS neck looks cheesy. Maybe if roasted maple would look decent. However, it sounds pretty good 😊
Does the neck fit into a carry-on luggage bag? If so, have u tried a bolt-on neck insert kit for safe repeated neck detachment? Can the inserts be accomplished with a mere drill as some manufacturers claim, or does it actually require a drill press to effectively do this? Do installed insert kits reduce sustain, or can they be properly installed?
For $135 I went with a licensed by Fender strat neck with bone nut, ebony fretboard, medium jumbo frets and roasted maple from Sam's Guitar ebay Store in Salt Lake City Utah. Fit like a glove. I have $50 necks too but there's a totally big jump in quality above $100.
I've priced out fender necks they range from 75.00 to 400.00 depending on the fretboard and frets . There frets are usually the same quality, maybe a little difference in edges but they're lot many more companies coming out with better , and cheaper than the big boys , just have to look around you'd be surprised
Darrell, I am wondering what is your opinion on a builder/beginner strat in between a Indio Cali DLX, EART SSS, Donner DST-400, or Bullet HSS HT Strat.
Fun little project. Did you drill pilot holes with the neck in place, mark the hole locations then drill? I’ve never done a neck that was pre drilled and would feel a little nervous about ending up with a misalignment.
Hey Darrell I would like to see a review of a duesenburg guitar ,yes they are very expensive 3600 bucks but the F body triple pickup black and gold version is gorgeous!!! THANX
My new PRS (Peter Ron Smythe) Sliver Sky 😂😂😂
Enjoy :)
You mean the “Pewter Lie”?
What about Blue Mountain?
Based on your recommendation I just ordered one of those necks. In reading reviews on most of these inexpensive PRS Style necks with bird inlays there seems to be a lot of inconsistency in the quality. I'm hoping the latest batch is a good quality so I just ordered one.
👌
The neck is already unavailable 😂👍
I did this with a rosewood fingerboard neck from China through Amazon to replace a maple fingerboard neck on my Squier Telecaster Custom. It worked great after setting up and adjusting the truss rod. Drilling the holes was scary as you only get one go to get it right. No problem with putting the tuners on. A good project.
I think it's a positive that it's slightly wider. That allows you get a super tight neck joint and also gives a little wiggle room for any potential variations.
I don’t comment often but just wanted to let you know you’re appreciated. Original ideas without being overly talky and self indulgent, great production while getting to the point. Salute. I’ve enjoyed your vids for a long time much thanks
I second that sentiment
I just put one of these on my homebuilt Strat and after some sanding and oiling, a black Tusq nut and black locking tuners it's really nice and look good.
I love telling this story. I have a 1975 (Lawsuit era) Ibanez Deluxe '59er. The truss rod broke on the original neck so I went to Amazon and found a Chinese manufacturer that made me a mahogany neck from pictures I sent them of the Ibanez neck. They even cut the head stock with the Les Paul "mustache" cut. $68.78 to my door. Plays like butta!
Can you give me the link please. I may want them make a neck for me. Thanks
Would have enjoyed evaluation of the frets. Are they some weird Chinese soft alloy or are they true Nickle silver? How were quality of fret ends? Did it need a level and polish to set action low or was it ready to play after bolting on? Did you need to shim for action or was it good. You're normal attention to evaluating was a bit lacking on this one
I'm thinking yes...
One thing he never mentioned was the string spacing and if it was actually centered with the bridge.
He isn’t lying about this being an “at your own discretion” thing but he left out a few bits of info that would’ve been helpful.
If these necks are made by the same company that made other very similar necks with bird inlays they are supposed to be using a cupro nickel frets which are supposed to be harder than silver nickel but not quite as hard as stainless steel.
Anything that isn't stainless steel or something more durable is trash, trust me. If you play a lot you'll chew through your frets in a matter of months, with stainless it took me years to give them some actual wear apart from the usual strip of polish. For example, affordable Fenders and Jacksons seem like they have frets and bridges made out of copper, total garbage. I used to have a Jackson KE3 (which isn't really that affordable, but still) and the frets had massive grooves in them in like 2 months (I used to play for roughly 5 hours a day). Long story short, get stainless steel.
I have experience the cheap Chinese neck and it was terrible, the 2nd fret and 17 fret are not 180° straight horizontal there are skewed and make the intonation not perfect. And I sold it on Facebook, thank god I can get my money back from that
I have to imagine its CNC'd and generally machine built. When I talk to young kids who play and love vintage stuff, they really don't know about the days when your intonation went sideways at the 14th fret or tuss rods that didn't work or didn't exist. LOL! Glad quality gear is more accessible!
I’ve put some builds together using necks like these. Some I’ve gotten the paddle headstock and cut my own shape and others I kept as is. Generally they need some fret work and fiddling to fit in the pocket but by and large, perfect for a project guitar.
These PRS necks are built thru the Pallet Return System🤫😆 Darrell that really does look great!!
On the neck fitting, better that they made the heel slightly over-sized than ending up with it not fitting in many bodies as it is always a lot easier to sand down than to mess about with shims. I actually would prefer buying a neck and / or body for a project without hardware because it allows me to select what I want without having a load of extra junk lying around which is what happens with a lot of the DIY kit guitars. If I was doing this project in Darrell's shoes I would have used the body that is sitting in his apple crates (in the background) but I would also be tempted to meme on the design by putting something on the headstock like 'SRP Budget Skyline'.
From the Amazon listing it suggests it’s an unfinished neck so I’m glad the “finish” feels smooth :D
You can trademark body shapes. Gibson and PRS have quite a few, and enforce them.
Fender dropped the ball by tolerating clones for decades and then trying to argue it was a distinctive shape only associated with them. By that time it was too late, the judge ruled it was public domain and nobody owned it.
Ron Bienstock has done a few TH-cam interviews on the history and myths. He was the intellectual property lawyer on most of the famous guitar lawsuits. And a guitar player himself.
Ummm, no. Gibson just made its first attempt at suing over a body shape, they were awarded 4k $.
@@halcooper3070 Gibson were awarded 4k. They won the case. They have design trademarks on those body shapes. Though the judge was less than amused at the amount of time they'd taken to bring the action. It's also a long way from being their first attempt at suing - it's the latest, sure, but in a fairly long line for them.
That Gibson have body design trademarks is indisputable. The page of shapes and registered trademark numbers are publicly displayed on their website.
@@PaulCooksStuff And this situation is another reason why you can't buy new Tokai or Edwards guitars in the US, you have to buy them used or import them
@@halcooper3070 Actually Gibson has tried before; this is just the first time they have won. Also guaranteed that I'll never buy another Gibson instrument - or Epiphone, or Kramer etc. I don't support trademark trollery.
Thanks for tip! Indeed searching for Ron Bienstock interviews can lead you down a fascinating rabbit hole.
Same thing here. Ordered a cheap ass strat neck with an arguably rosewood fretboard. Deliciously chunky and nicely finished frets, without a trace of sprout. My current favourite
Can you post a link to where you bought the neck you are refering to. Thanks.
Couple of things Darrell re: a "real" PRS.
The Silver Sky seems to have a "reversed" headstock compared to most PRS guitars. i.e. it is the upper bout side headstock tip that is taller rather than the lower side on stock PRS guitars.
I recall vaguely that John Mayer asked for it to be that way.
Same thing with the tuners, most PRS that I have seen they are 3x3 in line. Staggered seems to be a Silver Sky thing only.
For neck fitment, you'll almost always have to do some fettling. People get tripped up with putting official Fender strat necks on Teles as the pocket is different. Even between years and production runs you'll see difference. Even a blunter/worn router bit will change the radius of the bottom of the neck pocket. Let alone going aftermarket from companies like Warmoth and others. I'll take too tight fitment over loose any day.
I've used a cheap eBay neck on a project before - it arrived dead straight, frets did need a bit of a level and I rounded over the fret ends but it's been fine for years.
I started watching the video and was like whaaa? I had to pull out my se custom 22 semi-hollow and looked at my headstock, 3x3 in parallel. No wierd offset. Definitely a John Mayer thing.
Yeah John wanted the lower part of the headstock pushed to that offset because he likes to have the space on the treble side when doing an E chord, because the Strat has the same type of space.
That neck actually matches so good on that guitar. The cream color and black inlays looks so good with the zebra humbucker
Right!
I prefer replacement necks that need a little sanding, I would rather sand a little than shim. I don't want it to fit loose in my neck pocket. I think this brings a great new look to the already pretty nice budget Donner guitar
Machinist motto "better to take off too little than too much"
I bought about 8 MIC necks on Ebay over the years, never disappointed. Always the best to have no pocket holes at start. Got another 12-string neck that have pocket holes to replace my 1st 12-string neck of my double-neck body, had some high E strings course issue, but I finally corrected by reinstalling the bridge 3 mm to left, now the neck is very fine. Got 3 Strat 22-fret necks , 3 bass necks, a 7-string guitar neck. I really like them all, better than whole cheap guitars
Can't believe you don't have 1M subs yet. People need to share your videos more to help out!
I had a warped neck on my Squire. Binned it and got a cheap Amazon maple neck. Now it plays great. Amazing if you're in a budget. After all, it's only wood and metal....
I ordered one via AliExpress... Should be coming in a week or two. Can't wait to install it soon!
I've bought several cheap necks like that and I've been amazed at the quality!👍😎🎸🎶
Would have loved to see a walk through of the actual fitting of the neck.
The neck on the cheap Chinese knockoff has a tele squared off shaft. So it doesn't fit a Strat which comes with a rounded neck pocket. It doesn't take very long with a good rasp to round the shaft heel and then send it smooth. Much easier to do if you have a Strat neck that you can put back to back with the Chinese knockoff and just draw a pencil line as to where the wood needs to be removed. Should only take a couple of hours
Fun fact: You actually can trademark a guitar body shape... to a point.
Generally, you can trademark a design of just about anything (in the US at least) provided that 1) you show that people associate the design with your company, and 2) it isn't functional (trademarks can't be used to prevent competitors from making a competing product that looks the way it does due to its function or nature). It's the first point that explains why you see Fender strat and tele copies, and Gibson Les Paul copies - basically, the two companies didn't bother to enforce and protect their trademark rights in their body shapes back in the 50's/60's, and so everyone started copying them. When everyone else is copying you, then people no longer associate your design with a single provider - it ceases being a trademark. It also didn't help Fender, for the strat, that its body design was highly functional - the tummy cut and top curve let the guitar fit a person more comfortably, and the double-cut design offers better upper fret access. Thus, Fender would have been limited in any event in what they could claim was theirs, even if they had enforced their rights from the start. For Gibson, it was that they didn't enforce for literally decades.
Also, at some point for a given manufacturer, if you don't go after them, you lose the right, under either a statute of limitations or a similar court doctrine; it's not considered fair to sit by for years while someone builds a business that infringes your rights, and then later sue when they're successful. This later point is why Warmoth and Charvel are allowed to produce necks with headstocks that copy the Fender Strat, but everyone else can't. Warmoth and Charvel had been making necks with strat-shape headstocks for years before Fender decided to go against them, and a court said that they had effectively lost the right to pursue those two makers. If you look on the back of a Warmoth strat-shape headstock, it will say that it's produced under license from Fender. That license is a direct result of that litigation. Any newcomers that try to copy Fender's strat headstock, though, would find themselves on the receiving end of a cease and desist from Fender's lawyers. EDIT: Charvel is now owned by Fender, as has been pointed out. I don’t think they were at the time of the litigation, though.
Gibson just got Dean in court on some body styles.
Also, that neck is almost certainly a violation of PRS's rights. (The birds at least would have common law trademark protection; you don't need to register.) The manufacturer/importer probably thought that leaving off the PRS logo put them in the clear. It doesn't, but I'm not surprised - I see these sorts of knock-offs all the time. There are many imported manufacturers that try to push as close as they can to copying famous brands without incurring a lawsuit; some just blatantly copy and don't care. It's like whak-a-mole.
Charvel is allowed to use the Fender headstock shape because they're now owned by Fender.
@@DiscoScottie Ah, yes - I had forgotten that Fender bought them.
Is that you Paul Blart?🤔
That Donner guitar has a great colour and goes well with that neck with the birds. Great video as always.
I would like it better if it just had dots for fret markers. A little too tight would be better than too loose. LOL Nothing wrong with doing a little sanding.
Agree, it is worse to have it loose because you can always take some wood off.
They do have versions with dots rather than birds.
Hey Darrell! I love, LOve, LOVE a Maple neck with a Maple Fretboard! I think that it not only LOOKS CLEAN, it SOUNDS CLEAN... I think that it just sounds like "Hi-Def" compared to "Analog" when playing chords. Especially complex chords like diminished, etc...
Anyway bud, I LOVE the channel! Don't change a thing!
God bless and take care...
So Etsy sells really high quality decals. You could probably just slap a fancy DGB on the head! Just an idea.
It shows how easy it is to make a good neck if you have a big factory with modern CNC machines.
It makes you wonder how much " green " timber is being pushed onto the market , at that rate.
I've bought a few chinese guitar necks for part casters, I've never had a problem. Just needed to polish the frets a little . Great necks
When its cnc machined u cant really go wrong.
I have to say that the maple on the fretboard is a pretty close color match to the cream coil of the bridge pickup, making your eye tie the two together as a stylistic feature. I always prefer a maple fretboard for some reason as well, so I expect it will feel better besides. I'm with you on the green transparent finish as well.
I bought one with a rosewood board and dots. Put in on my Bullet Tele body. Works quite nicely.
Saw this video and picked up a neck a week later. And no lie, it feels fabulous! I won't know fully till I'm finished building the guitar it's getting attached to, so for now I wait.
I love how the blonde makes the humbucker cover look so much better. Now it pops rather than being kind of odd-ballish.
Well, it looks like the neck's finished quite well. No mention of needing to do any sort of fretwork, so that's a plus.
The heal looks more like a tele neck, not a strat. The strat neck heal is slightly rounded while the tele heal is flatter, almost squared off with the exception to the edges. Strat necks will fit on teles but tele necks will not work on a strat. The reason is that heal. While a strat neck will touch the body at the heal, a tele wont touch on a strat which means you will have intonation problems.
Yes, I am using the same neck together with a strat body, very good feeling. You can buy them even cheaper from Aliexpress.
wow..i wish that souped up donner was for sale..i would definetly buy it..it looks super hot with that prs clone neck..wow.!!! IM FLOORED..IT LOOKS AWESOME..GREAT JOB DARELL..URE THE BEST!!
I got a cheap neck for my Telecaster. I had a bit of fine tuning to do. Replaced the plastic nut, cleaned up the frets, and had to re shape the neck. But it's a great playing neck now
Guitar Kit World makes a cool PRS style kit.
Mine came out wicked 🤘
I'd like more info on how it feels and plays, however. Are frets as smooth as they look? Jagged fret ends? Were/are the frets level? Dead spots? Etc. That said, the neck looks great on the Donner, especially with that body finish.
Don't buy it cheap Chinese neck, I have experience from buying Chinese neck and it was terrible the 2nd and 17 fret are skewed a bit and not straight 180° fret, and it can make the intonation messe up, just don't buy cheap Chinese neck, you can always works on the body guitar but not always on the neck
@@elang7961 yep, most the research fund is spent on how to make this garbage look and feel decent.
@@jonthehermit8082yeah, I feel bad for the tree they watsed just to make this garbage
There is no "sometimes" a budget neck will need some work. Budget necks will ALWAYS require some work which is why they are so cheap. The woods of the two I have bought and used are really nice woods. They both arrived straight as an arrow. One had a little damage to it but with nice calm interaction with the maker I was compensated and may have got them to do better inspection specially for the ones shipping over seas. Frets are always cheaper metals but are good enough to get thru a few years of playing. BUT they will ALWAYS require leveling no matter how shiny and pretty they come.
You also have to be careful how you plan to finish them as that super smooth feel out of the box is pretty heavy coats of sanding sealer. If you are staining that ALL has to be sanded away. Just watch my builds for the past two Crimson Guitars Great Guitar Build Off Entries.
Still over all worth getting these necks for entry level Luthiers or repair / replacements. Just expect to have to do a little work to make them just as nice or better then OG necks in some cases.
A yes the new line of SRP guitar necks. Awesome video.
Ordered. I have an old strat-style kit body that’s been laying around my garage for years, just waiting for something different for a neck.
I think it's fairly expected that some cheap parts will need some additional work, that's what makes more expensive parts, well, more expensive. More work has been done, not generally the materials that contribute to the added cost.
I bought this same neck for a build. Needed fret work and the ttuss rod was a a bit "floppy" but it adjusted ok. Nut is total crap and glued in crooked. Worked out OK though!
Darryl..! I don’t need to hear “ it’s shiny “ I got to see you pilot mark drill and fit.. please do this again… what a cop out.
You used to do this…!
It appears that the heel end of the neck is square like a tele not rounded like a strat. Seems like this could possibly cause some fitting challenges. I suppose the fretboard extension would cover up any gaps.
Hey, you left out all the important info on this neck. Is the intonation right on all the frets? Did you have to dress the frets? Was the neck straight? How close was the height of the strings compared to the old neck?
The headstock on the knock off neck is more akin to a standard PRS headstock shape. The John Mayer has it's own unique headstock shape.
Black knobs and selector switch would be killer on that.
It would be great to see the drilling phase
Every once in a while a blind squirrel gets a nut. 8) Couple years ago I found Mighty Mite necks on close out at StewMac. These were the nice ones, vintage tint w/ nicely figured rosewood FB's. I bought 8 at
That was excellent! Got me thinking about a strat mini I was toying with putting a tele neck on it.
9:39 “I can hardly recommend it.” Was that a Freudian slip? 😀 For the work involved and having to provide your own tuners and truss Rod cover, this thing isn’t worth $50 to me, but this was definitely a fun video!
I'm pretty sure he said "heartily".
@@ashwitmoro Oh good! 😊
Heartily! He's Canadian😀
@@bouzoukiman5000 Heartidlidy 😄
That's what he said diddle he?
Like the old hot rod guys used to say, "that's why they call it custom, ya have to make it fit." Hey, looks great Darrell!
A black pickguard would make it look even cooler! 😎
i did this to the same donner with a dark roasted flamed maple and rosewood fb and it turned out fantastic.
Do you have a link to the neck you bought?
I have the same one I put on a tele,I was impressed, I'm also interested on how to finish it?
That neck is pretty cool, especially since you don't have to use string trees!
I've bought 5 of these inexpensive necks from KMise and they've been quite good. Fret work was good with only minor polishing needed. The plastic nut wasn't so good on some so I replaced those.
Can I ask did you buy those directly from Kmise? Were there a recent purchase? I had been looking at their website and thinking of trying to get some of these necks in 24 3/4 scale that I find available on eBay with 25 1/2 scale but I lack confidence that they can actually produce them without major problems. I have read about some of their necks where the upper frets are in the wrong position. What's your experience with them? Thanks.
@@windsurfmaui8239 I bought them on EBay and Amazon. I prefer to buy via Amazon Prime since returns would be less of a hassle. But, so far, I haven't had one that needed to be returned.
Same. I love the 3x3 and I've had Mighty Mite necks that needed more fret work at triple the cost. My maple necks look great and the Rosewood versions look and feel good, too!
@@jfrankcarr as I spend more time with this neck I certainly like it but I'm noticing that the two lower tuner holes on the headstock of the PRS model are not lined up properly with the nut. I looked at Darrell's video again and see that it looks like the tuning machines barely clear the edge of the headstock. Have you had any problems like this? Do I have to fill these holes and drill new holes in order to get a proper string angle to the nut on the high and low E strings? Thanks
Great call on choosing that body that Guitar is stunning
What a cool axe! Unique on a budget.
I am glad to hear it's too tight better than too loose.
I've purchased a couple necks off of amazon. One an ibanez style and one fender style. No real issues except the plastic nuts and a few frets needing some work.
Turned out nice! You forgot to do the fancy script DBG on the headstock! That needs to be another video... slide slip a logo on! :D
Pretty sure PRS has a trademark on the birds design.
That would be perfect for an older guitar that has been thrashed and worn out from several fret jobs. A lot cheaper than replacing the frets. Of coarse I'm refering to a cheaper guitar, You wouldn't do that to a classic. However a good option for some. Well done
lets hear it now!
Need a bunch more info:
Was the neck radius consistent w the body? What size are the frets? Were the frets / do the frets need to be dressed / crowned / polished? Were fret ends sharp? Does the truss rod work correctly? Does it seem dead flat if the rod is set that way (no weird bumps or twists?)
Kinda surprised by the review being “yeah it looks cool and almost fits and the PRS one is nicer.”
Cool looking Peter Ron Simmons guitar Darrell!
Man i love watching your videos. I have yet to attempt doing anything on a guitar as far as customization but watching ur vids gets me so xcited to eventually try. Love ur vids and especially ur budget videos like this.
I think that neck would look better on a Tele body or even a Mosrite. Simple dot inlays or Gibson like trapezoids would be fine and much easier to install.
One of the first things I do with a new-for-me guitar is remove the truss rod cover and rear tremolo plate - and they stay off and in the case.
Bro. Peter Ron Smyth is a legend and he’s gunna be pissed. He’s gunna be coming for you!
'You want some cheap fun?' That's what SHE said!
I might buy a neck like this to build a part's guitar but I wouldn't use it as a replacement for a better guitar. I think i would leave the original neck on the Donner.
Looks great! I trust it would even look great on a Lefty
I'd bet the birds are screen printed on. I've got a cheapo jazz bass neck with "black blocks" that are just printed on haha.
If you like the look on that body with that finish, ok. I don't see it as an improvement. But to each their own.
Just put one on my Slick SL57!! Killer!!
Very nice-looking Donner body with a beautiful finish, but I think the fake PRS neck looks cheesy. Maybe if roasted maple would look decent. However, it sounds pretty good 😊
The neck isn't affecting the tone
putting that on the wish list
Would've been nice to have a quick side to side tone comparison :D
Does the neck fit into a carry-on luggage bag? If so, have u tried a bolt-on neck insert kit for safe repeated neck detachment? Can the inserts be accomplished with a mere drill as some manufacturers claim, or does it actually require a drill press to effectively do this? Do installed insert kits reduce sustain, or can they be properly installed?
I'd say its time to dust off that ID44, Darrell! 😁
For $135 I went with a licensed by Fender strat neck with bone nut, ebony fretboard, medium jumbo frets and roasted maple from Sam's Guitar ebay Store in Salt Lake City Utah. Fit like a glove. I have $50 necks too but there's a totally big jump in quality above $100.
Cool, how were the frets on that neck? I saw that shop too and was wondering about quality.
I'd like to check out those necks. I can't find Sam's guitar on eBay can you post a link? Thanks
You can message him through eBay with any questions about a particular neck too. Very helpful.
Thank you i have been searching for a neck just like that!
I've priced out fender necks they range from 75.00 to 400.00 depending on the fretboard and frets . There frets are usually the same quality, maybe a little difference in edges but they're lot many more companies coming out with better , and cheaper than the big boys , just have to look around you'd be surprised
Bridge pickup white Color really match the neck.
Darrell, I am wondering what is your opinion on a builder/beginner strat in between a Indio Cali DLX, EART SSS, Donner DST-400, or Bullet HSS HT Strat.
Nice. I've seen that neck before on Amazon and wanted to buy one. Any problem with fret sprout??
That head stock is more than different enough to avoid any legal issues.
the DBG "Pewter Sky" custom!!
Donner Reed hehehe awesome 👌
I like maple fret boards vs the darker so im gonna have to check this out.
Fun little project. Did you drill pilot holes with the neck in place, mark the hole locations then drill? I’ve never done a neck that was pre drilled and would feel a little nervous about ending up with a misalignment.
Darrell. What we all want to know is how is the fret work? Fret ends? Are there super hi or low frets??
Hey Darrell I would like to see a review of a duesenburg guitar ,yes they are very expensive 3600 bucks but the F body triple pickup black and gold version is gorgeous!!! THANX
That looks good. I like maple fretboards.