cameltoe Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Hi, Picked up a J body, in basswood. It's actually fairly decent, but they've completely lashed up drilling the neck holes in the body, to the point where it won't even accept a neck plate with all 4 screws (without trying to fit neck, just trying to get all 4 screws through the body!) Needless to say, it doesn't line up with the neck I'm planning to use. In fact none of the holes individually line up with any of the holes in the neck. Now, if the holes in the body had been fairly square, but they just didn't line up with the neck holes, I'd have filled the neck holes and re drilled the neck, but in this instance I'm going to have to redrill the body holes. I'm planning to dowel, glue and fill the holes before redrilling but my question is- will I need to also redrill the neck holes, or is there a way I can measure where the body holes need to be, so I can avoid this? The neck is genuine fender and all 4 holes are straight and true, but I can't figure out how to work out where the new holes in the body would need to be positioned to line up with them. Am I just going to have to do the neck as well? Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Plugging the body holes & re-drilling is obviously the way to go - if they are done right then they should line up with the neck holes assuming those are standard - but it's a suck it & see really! Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 [quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1444460798' post='2883362'] Hi, Picked up a J body, in basswood. It's actually fairly decent, but they've completely lashed up drilling the neck holes in the body, to the point where it won't even accept a neck plate with all 4 screws (without trying to fit neck, just trying to get all 4 screws through the body!) Needless to say, it doesn't line up with the neck I'm planning to use. In fact none of the holes individually line up with any of the holes in the neck. Now, if the holes in the body had been fairly square, but they just didn't line up with the neck holes, I'd have filled the neck holes and re drilled the neck, but in this instance I'm going to have to redrill the body holes. I'm planning to dowel, glue and fill the holes before redrilling but my question is- will I need to also redrill the neck holes, or is there a way I can measure where the body holes need to be, so I can avoid this? The neck is genuine fender and all 4 holes are straight and true, but I can't figure out how to work out where the new holes in the body would need to be positioned to line up with them. Am I just going to have to do the neck as well? Thanks in advance [/quote] Do you have a real Fender body that you can get the exact measurements from? You only need to know how far, in mm, the neck plate should be from the sides of the neck pocket. The back plate will act as template for the holes. On my Jazz bass the neck plate is situated 5mm in from the bottom side of the neck plate (the lower horn side) and 7mm from the neck side (the side the neck joins the body from). Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verb Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Can you make some metal pins, possibly screws with the head cut off and a point filed in its place, to screw into the neck holes, then lower the neck into position to mark the neck pocket. Then drill a pilot hole through from the pocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essexbasscat Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 As you have already identified one error in the neck pocket construction; - You could fit the neck in the pocket and check for correct alignment with strings fitted (but not tight !). - Also, you may wish to check the scale length is correct with the neck fully home in the pocket - just to ensure all will go as expected, you could also check that the screws enter the neck vertically. Any error here will have implications for holes in the body Then, Once neck is at the desired position in the neck pocket, mark the end of the body on the rear of the neck (a piece of tape carefully applied will give a nice line). Note if there's any discrepancy between the side of the neck and the side of the body, you will have to allow for this later if there is a difference Using tracing paper (or greaseproof paper does just as well), trace the back of the neck using your tape mark as a reference point. Ensure you mark all sides of the neck as well as the screw holes Apply decorator's masking tape to the rear side of the body over the neck pocket area. Place the paper to account for any discrepancy found between the side of the neck and body. Then use light pressure to transfer your tracing marks to the masking tape (make sure you don't turn it over !) Double check everything. Think twice, cut once Good luck with the project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 I did this once. Sounds daft but I couldn't work out how to do it so I snipped the tips of some cheap felt tip pens, put them in the holes in the neck and set the neck on the body. The marks left were where I drilled. There must be a more scientific way mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazBeen Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Thin pins in neck, stick neck onto body, pins make dents in dowled body, small drill from inside cavity, then larger from outside body to cavity. Job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameltoe Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 All great advice, thanks! Think I'll try for the pins/felt tip approach. I will have a look at measuring against a genuine F body with neck plate location, but if the neck pocket in my replica body is slightly deeper then presumably this will cock that all up! Re: scale length, the bridge holes aren't drilled. That's another job I'll have to do once I've mounted the neck. Expect to see a separate thread on that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 (edited) Template for standard Fender neck pocket with hole positions in attached pic in case that's of any use as a reference (taken from Warmoth site). Edited October 11, 2015 by ikay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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