Strat that's never quite right.

dmn23

Duller than cardboard
I've got a Strat that always just seems to need a quarter turn of the truss rod or maybe a tiny saddle height adjustment. It will play okay for a month, then it's gradually thrown out of whack again.

What's more likely?

1. It's an incorrigible neck that will always require attention. Cut my losses, sell the guitar, and move on.

2. These "finish" cracks are actually deeper and are contributing to the issues. Try a replacement body and see if it helps at all.

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I don't know anything about anything about guitars, but those "finish cracks" are quite a bit longer than most finish cracks are..
 
Don’t you have a couple of Strats? If so, swap the neck with one of the others. Then you’ll know if it’s the neck or the cracks.
 
You'll also be able to see if they're just in the finish. By the looks, I think they're deeper than that.
 
I don’t think it’s the cracks. That neck pocket it terrible. Looks like CNC machine was broken that day and they used a chisel and a sledgehammer.

Loose neck pocket would be more of a concern than the cracks.
 
I hate to be a downer, but...

Those cracks would concern me. I think the fix involves wood glue, a syringe, clamps, and patience.

Agree with reverend1 on the neck pocket. That gap is pretty bad.

It looks like the pickguard actually contacts the neck more than the pocket does. If the pickguard is putting pressure on the neck, that might contribute to the stress that would cause the cracks. Unless it's some sort of rare vintage pickguard, I would take a dremel to it ASAP. Get some wood-to-wood contact going.

In my experience, truss rods just don't "drift" a whole lot. If I'm twisting one, it's usually because I've changed string gauge.
 
1) Is there a lot of weather changes in your area?
If so, that is why you have the changes in your neck.

2) If it is unbearable, flip the instrument.

3) If you like the neck, find a replacement body and see if that is more satisfactory.
 
I have a Squire that had that problem. Those cracks are into the wood that holds the neck in place.The neck is not solidly connected to the body. New body is the ultimate solution. Since mine was a Squire, I injected low viscosity epoxy into the cracks, put medium viscosity into the pocket and bolted the neck in with cellophane on the neck.. I was careful to line up the neck so the nut and bridge were perfectly inline. The neck now fits like a rifle bolt and tunings are stable.
It's also ugly as sin.
 
here's what i think you oughta do. now this doesn't work every time but i know i have seen this work for a few people over the years and maybe this will work for you too. the first thing you're gonna need is a small to medium size can of turpentine and a medium horsehair painter's brush, you can pick both of these up at your local hardware or hobby store no problem. you will also need an artist's smock and two medium drop cloths, as well as a stepstool between two and three feet maximum height. you will probably not need the entire height but it's always best to err on the side of caution here. remove the guitar's strings and then remove two of the neck bolts, but leave the other two bolted in. it doesn't matter which two but i usually leave the two closest to the bridge. now loosen these two until they are about a quarter to a third of an inch backed out. the joint between the neck and the guitar should be moving pretty freely now. i forgot to mention earlier that by this point you should be wearing the smock and also you should have one of the two drop cloths down, but don't take the other one out of the package yet. so anyways you've now got the neck attached to the body by two bolts, and these are pretty loose as well. now what you want to do is hold the guitar by the neck, face-up (so the pickguard is pointing to the sky) and start jostling it up and down, shaking it until you start to hear some cracking and splintering from the pocket. you might also see little slivers of wood falling out. (this is why you have the drop cloth down.) now you're gonna take the turpentine and dip the brush into it so that the brush absorbs a really healthy amount of turpentine, and you're going to put the sopping brush bristles in between the neck and the body. the dropcloth should catch any overspill. without removing the brush now you're going to tighten those two screws down as hard and as tight as you possibly can. it's a good idea here to booger up the screw heads real bad with your screwdriver. now set the ladder up, climb up on top of it holding the guitar by the headstock, and what you're gonna do now is jump off the ladder and drive the body of the guitar straight down into the concrete. oh i forgot to mention you should be doing all of this outside over concrete. make sure when the butt of the guitar lands hard on the concrete that you are putting your full weight through the neck lengthwise down to the body. this helps to loosen the truss rod which can be stubborn. repeat this move several times until the neck breaks off of the body. then take the leftover pieces and smash them into the ground until the guitar is mostly pulverized. wrap the pieces up with the second drop cloth and pour some turpentine on the whole blessed mess and light it on fire. now drink the rest of the turpentine.
 
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