Separate headstock & neck of Rock Band Fender Stratocaster

Introduction

Remember when you got your Rock Band guitar, how you had to clip its headstock in place? Me neither, but I quickly discovered something was up when I tried to put the instrument back in its original packaging, which was suddently too short...

It's probably damaging to just try to pull off the headstock using strength, but thankfully, it's not too hard to just dismantle the head to remove it cleanly.

You will need 2 Phillips screwdriver (one good for the external screws, and a smaller sized one for an inner screw), a small flat screwdriver (to remove some metal bits) and less than 20 minutes to carry this out.

What you need

Step 1 Forewarning

Separate headstock & neck of Rock Band Fender Stratocaster, Forewarning: step 1, image 1 of 1

This is the version of the guitare I have based this guide on. Your mileage may vary depending on your country, the batch of your guitar, etc.

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Step 2 First look

Separate headstock & neck of Rock Band Fender Stratocaster, First look: step 2, image 1 of 1

Take your guitar.
Turn it around in a glorious rock'n'roll motion.
Take a look at the screws at the back, and fetch a Phillips screwdriver with the appropriate size.

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Step 3 Open the headstock

Separate headstock & neck of Rock Band Fender Stratocaster, Open the headstock: step 3, image 1 of 1

Unscrew the 4 screws at the back of the headstock.
You can also unscrew the screw at the top of the neck.
You don't have to do this last step, but it might give you a bit more wiggle room later on.

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Step 4 Remove the metal plate

Separate headstock & neck of Rock Band Fender Stratocaster, Remove the metal plate: step 4, image 1 of 1

A metal plate hides the insertion of the neck into the headstock.
Unscrew the tiny tiny Phillips screw with the appropriate Phillips screwdriver.
It's the only things that holds the metal plate in place at this stage.
Without the screw, the metal plate can be pulled out without any resistance.

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Step 5 Preparing separation

Separate headstock & neck of Rock Band Fender Stratocaster, Preparing separation: step 5, image 1 of 1

Now you can see why this headstock is pretty impossible to pull back : there are 2 metal bits preventing it from sliding off.
Unswcrew the 2 shiny screws at the top of the neck.
Without them, we will have more wiggle room to separate the headstock from the neck.

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Step 6 Separation

Separate headstock & neck of Rock Band Fender Stratocaster, Separation: step 6, image 1 of 1

With the neck screw removed, you should be able to slightly separate the 2 half of the neck at its top.
But one half of the neck probably stays stuck under the 2 metal bits.
That's OK: using your nails or a flat head screwdriver, just pull up the 2 metal bits, they shouldn't resist too much.
You can now be able to separate the headstock from the neck pretty easily.

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Step 7 Putting the neck back together

Separate headstock & neck of Rock Band Fender Stratocaster, Putting the neck back together: step 7, image 1 of 1

If you have removed it, but back the external screw at the top of the neck.
Put back the 2 shiny screws at the very top of the neck.

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Step 8 Putting the headstock back together

Separate headstock & neck of Rock Band Fender Stratocaster, Putting the headstock back together: step 8, image 1 of 1

Put back the 2 metal bits, making sure you keep the proper orientation.
If you don't put them back in position, you will be able to engage and separate the headstock and the neck without having to dismantle everything again.
Put back the metal plate, and screw back the little screw that holds it.
Close the headstock.
Screw back the four headstock screws.
You're done! :)