Guest Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 My long awaited neck from Warmoth is ready, should be here in about two weeks Should be nice rosewood with Ziricote fingerboard and gold frets. Do you builders out there have any tips when it comes to fitting necks to the body, my plan is to check the fit, drill an extra hole and fit it with one central screw ( which will be hidden by the neck plate) my thinking behind this is that i will be able to lightly string it up and check the alignment before committing to drilling for the neck screws proper. Is my plan of attack right or am i being too cautious or missing something important? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyonbass Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 [quote name='steve-norris' post='7950' date='May 28 2007, 08:43 AM']My long awaited neck from Warmoth is ready, should be here in about two weeks Should be nice rosewood with Ziricote fingerboard and gold frets. Do you builders out there have any tips when it comes to fitting necks to the body, my plan is to check the fit, drill an extra hole and fit it with one central screw ( which will be hidden by the neck plate) my thinking behind this is that i will be able to lightly string it up and check the alignment before committing to drilling for the neck screws proper. Is my plan of attack right or am i being too cautious or missing something important?[/quote] Steve, I would suggest if you're not entirely sure about it, its best to get a pro to fit it - after the long wait and expense, you'd kick yourself if you f*cked it up. Thats what I'd do but of course your ability/experience is likely to be superior to mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewart Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 I wouldn't go for the additional-hole idea... Here's how I did it (MightyMite maple precision neck into WD Music precision alder body). Once you can get the neck into the pocket (might require some sanding), just seat it well down and as far in (towards the bridge) as it will go. If there's a little side-side movement, try and hold it in the centre of the swing (a clamp can be handy here, or another pair of hands) and mark through the body for the four holes (a nail is fine). If you mess-up (or want to double-check), just use some crayon or something to cover the previous marks, and do it again. Drill the holes smaller than you need, and a little less deep, then use some smaller screws to bolt the neck on with the plate. Use some wax on the screws, and back out if you think they might break! Ensure that the screws are seated in the plate well, but not fully tight. Then you just need to loosely string on an E and G string to check the side-side alignment (actually I used some fishing line, rather than strings, as I hadn't fitted the machine heads at the time). If you need more movement, you can get some when you enlarge the holes to fit the real screws (just 'steer' the drill in the direction required) but I doubt you'll need to - the neck/pocket fit should be near-enough perfect anyway. The real big no-no is overtightening and breaking a screw (don't ask me how I know...) Other than screw-breaking (damn!) that approach worked perfectly for me, but get some more opinions! Cheers, Stewart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 I also don't think that idea is a very good one. Remember the centre of the neck is where the truss-rod should be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 (edited) [quote name='BigRedX' post='8098' date='May 28 2007, 02:21 PM']I also don't think that idea is a very good one. Remember the centre of the neck is where the truss-rod should be![/quote] errr very good point , i feel a bit dumb now, (shuffles off whistling hoping no one will notice) Thanks for the good advise. I have fitted an undrilled neck before but not one that cost ne this much, procede with caution i think Edited May 28, 2007 by steve-norris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dub Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 A pro should have jigs, bench drills and other equipment that means that they can fit a neck with much more accuracy that you could at home. Practice is a great thing when it comes to fitting a neck, so it's well worth the money to pay someone with years of experience to do a good job. [quote name='steve-norris' post='8133' date='May 28 2007, 04:00 PM'] errr very good point , i feel a bit dumb now, (shuffles off whistling hoping no one will notice) Thanks for the good advise. I have fitted an undrilled neck before but not one that cost ne this much, procede with caution i think [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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