First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

[Soap]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

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I guess this calls for a sticky on neck screw lube! Which is best and why? What about some of those flavored sex lubes? If you get it on your fingers you can just lick it off and it tastes good!......ok....too many beers tonight.....

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Nah, don't be so hard on yourself and no need to blame it on the beer. If were talking lubes wonder how well KY Jelly would work? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Thanks for all the feed back.
I'm looking at other sites for bodies and necks too.
Warmoth can be darn expensive with their stuff.
I'm sure its very high quality wood and parts, but dang, $688.00 - $700.00 just for the maple body and neck alone.
Thats not including the SD humbucker pickup, OFR, tuners, pots and other essential parts and hardware to make the build complete.

[Jester700]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

Carvin is high quality, but the neck is slightly wider than the standard pocket. I dunno WHY they do that. Plus, far fewer choices. BUT if you want a high quality kit, they are da bomb and they're $50 off and free shipping right now. You can get any option on a kit that you can get on their bolt or bolt plus guitars. ...just a thought...

[~K~]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

FYI.. if there are no holes in the neck predrill them with a 1/16 drill

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

hehehe, Sully said lubricating screws [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Zerberus]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

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Bees wax for what?

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lubricating screws.

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Yep, I´ve seen people use normal paraffin as well, doesn´t seem to cause problems.... Soap I´ve heard of here the first time, there I personally would be wary until I´m sure it doesn´t cause problems (chemical breakdown of the soap causing drying or other problems in the wood is my concern, but it may be unfounded)...

[hunter1970]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

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Just screw it in. I don't have any ritual when screwing in necks. I just screw the dang thing on! And all my axes play and sound fine.

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+1 I just put a fender strat neck on a copy strat body and luckily it was no problem at all.I don't have a clamp or anything like that,but this is a cheap guitar and I just did an upgrade with the addition of this neck.If it were a new body I would have been more careful but it worked out fine being the first time I tried it.Same neck size and no problems.It was more of an experiment,my next one will involve a soldering iron and pick-ups,but that calls for a different thread.

[Budman68]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

<font color="aqua">Parrafin is what I use for lubricating screws as well. It's also known a canning wax and it's cheap... [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]. Bees wax is mostly made for "finishing" and is kind of an overkill if you ask me.... </font>

[Learn Guitars]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

For anyone venturing into building or mods. Check out www.mimf.com

It is a great resource for information for us who like to whittle on fire wood.

Mike

[Bengal65]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

Be prepared to "fit" the neck. Is the body coming finished? What finish, if at all will be on the neck? Not all Warmoth neck body combinations drop right in. This is due to the type of wood and humidity content, temperature, etc. Test fit the neck per the included instructions. Look to see if any finish has crept over the edge into the neck pocket. If there is any finish there you can remove it by wrapping a piece of 320-400 sandpaper around a AA cell battery. Work the sand paper back and forth across the neck pocket and inside the corners while keeping the battery bottomed in the pocket (this will help keep everything square). (Do not sand with an upward/downward motion, as this can lift the finish) Once the finish is off do a test fit pressing the neck into the pocket. It should be snug, but not binding. If the neck is still too snug you can remove some of the wood or finish (if finished) from the neck heel sides by using the 320-400 grit. If you have a finish already on the neck you can use the 320-400 and move up to 600, 1000, 1200 and buff it out. When you get a nice snug fit run the screws in per the above recommendations. Beeswax is the best, but you can even use bar soap. OK Soap! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[Soap]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

Body - won't have any paint or clear finishes.
Just coming unfinished maple body. Rear routed cavity, single bridge rear humbucker route, single volume/tone knob predrilled hole, non-recessed OFR route, locking nut installed.

Neck - ebony fretboard clear satin finish on back of neck.
22 frets 6105 and 25-1/2.

[Bengal65]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

Great, that sounds good. Fit the neck into the body before you do anything to the body. Maple is very stable and more resistant to ambient humidity than say an ash body. If it presses in without "squeeking" your good. If it is a struggle or you get a squeeky, binding fit, you can use the battery or similar round solid object with sandpaper wrapped around it in the neck pocket. You smooth the sides lightly, then try the fit again. I would suspect Warmoth fit the neck to the body especially when they are ordered together. I would say with my experience with Warmoth, 2 out of 10 neck/bodies would need some fitting manuvers. Sanding lightly in the neck pocket will eliminate the more laborous sanding and polishing of the neck heel.
Down the road, if you start building/modifying more guitars, I can't recommend enough, Dan Erlewine's books and videos on building and repairing guitars. His work with guest Luthiers is amazing and the information is great for those wanting to learn through experienced luthiers. Check them out at www.stewmac.com. I have to say I have no affliation with StewMac. I just buy a lot of supplies there, tools, paint, hardware, etc..

[Niccolai]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

Not that it's necessary, but I always screw necks on like you would change a tire or drum head.

Screw the bolts in so they are finger tight, than using half trn incriments of a screw driver, tighten each bolt in a cris-cross patturn (IE turn the top right bolt half a turn, than the bottom left, than top left, than bottom right) and repeat till they are all tight.

[Oogadee Boogadee]

Re: First build...Best way to attach neck to body?

If you have to do the drilling of the neck mounting holes in the neck, you might want to measure the max depth of the hole you want. I've got a performer neck laying around - the maple part under the board is exactly .75" deep.

Assuming your's is also .75 deep, take masking tape and measure a drill bit .75" (or slightly less) from the tip. Wrap the tape around the bit several times until it snowballs into a decent sized ring of tape, leaving .75" of drill bit exposed. this is going to act as your stopper so that you don't end up drilling through the finger board.

KMaynard mentioned using a 1/16th drill bit for the Warmoth job. Should that be what I use for my Jackson?

The holes on my performer neck (from eBay) are 1/8th in diameter - but as Newc noted in his more neck swapping info sticky, older models had larger diameter holes/screws. Thankfully, these big holes are in the wrong spot, so I get to redrill the neck with smaller holes in fresh wood.

Anyway, with a 1997/8 KV3 body, do I also predrill with the 1/16" bit. I have yet to remove the stock neck and examine the diameter of the KV3 bolts.

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