1974 Fender Stratocaster

Problem with the neck shifting. The bottom string will almost go off the neck.
It is a 3 bolt neck. Anyone have a solution how to get this fixed?

Originally Posted by: LeshelleyProblem with the neck shifting. The bottom string will almost go off the neck.
It is a 3 bolt neck. Anyone have a solution how to get this fixed?

The less radical solution is to shim the body pocket on the side of the neck so that it can't shift out of position.

This is usually done with a thin piece of hard wood cut so that it will fit exactly between the bass string side of the neck & the body in a way that will keep it from shifting around.

The more radical solution is to convert it to a 4 bolt neck. I have two of these (my red '79 & a black '72) & that is exactly what I did. Huge caveat: this is a permanent, non-reverseable modification. But I've never had any trouble with either of them afterward.

This is done by buying a 4 bolt neck plate & 2 neck plate screws (the 3 bolt micro tilt neck system only uses 2 wood screws, the 3rd is a machined screw that precisely fits the metal disc). Remove the metal disc in the neck, drill 2 holes through the body (careful with that paint finish!), & into the neck.

I strongly encourage you to consult a professional before you do any of this. Take it to your local music store & explain the problem. Ask if they have a tech that has done this kind of work before, or who they would recommend in the area. If you decide to go for the 4 bolt neck mod, please consider a pro as your first option to do the work.

Hope this helps. Best of success!

thanks! I took my strat 5 months ago to Guitar Center and the tech told me he could fix it by filling the holes and re-drilling. Never worked but of course they still charged me.

I was going to suggest exactly what you said the GC tech did.

The 3 bolt necks on the CBS-era strats were flawed by design. There was a reason that Leo Fender designed them with 4 bolts...

Commonly what happens with these necks is the holes drilled through the neck get wollered out from the movement of the neck because there isn't a proper amount of anchor to stop the neck from moving slightly as you do heavy vibrato and bends and such. Many of these guitars, like CSchlegels have been converted to a 4 bolt guitar to fix the issue... HOWEVER, being a Fender purist... I don't recommend doing this unless you're ABSOLUTELY set on destroying the historical integrity of the guitar.

If drilling out the holes and filling them with dowel rod, and redrilling them did not work... You're only other option may be to look into installing some threaded inserts. This will keep the wood from stripping out around the screws and may give you a more solid joint between the neck and body... might even increase resonance. That's the importance of a tight neck pocket anyway!