Guitar neck issue.

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Danzy22

New member
Hello.
I have started to custm build a guitar from parts i have bought and i have encountered a problem.

I installed the neck today to the body as you can see in the picture but i have realised, the neck isnt 100% in line to the bridge, well in other words i place the 'low e' string on the guitar just to see and the strings are not Parallel to the neck. This has really annoyed me as i had to drill the holes in the neck, i measured everything but i think it went out of place when placing the screws (they were hard to get in).

Any advice to cure the matter ?
 
Re: Guitar neck issue.

I think there is a matterial used to fill wood holes. Once it dries out you can drill again. But I'll leave it to the experts. That was just a thought.

Also when you draw the hole spots for drilling it's better to have the two E strings on. Not very tight, just keeping them straight. That way you can make them be in line. Just in case you weren't aware. ;)
 
Re: Guitar neck issue.

Ahh i can get a picture tomorrow but i cant get one at the minute.

Yeah i have looked into filling the holes but i would prefer a more safe method if im honest.

i shall get back with the picture.
 
Re: Guitar neck issue.

When I have holes in the wrong places on a neck, I always just drill the hole out to a larger size (that happens to be the same size as a hardwood dowel in my wood drawer). And then put some wood glue in the hole, drill holes in the right places, and then re-mount the neck.
 
Re: Guitar neck issue.

Not much advice here but wanted to say nice looking axe. Dig them inlays.
 
Re: Guitar neck issue.

lex666 said:
Not much advice here but wanted to say nice looking axe. Dig them inlays.
Click to expand...


Cheeers. I saw the neck online and i just had to buy it for the guitar.
:)




Here is a picture with the string in approximate place.
 
Re: Guitar neck issue.

Did you drill the holes yourself?

Here's the professional way.

Get some hard walnut dowel approximately the size of the holes in the neck. Put a piece in a cordless drill and spin it carefully in the hole to compress it and make it a good fit, then hammer it in with some glue and trim the excess off. Use a good aliphatic resin glue, NOT epoxy.

Leave it a day or two for the glue to harden.

Mount the neck in the neck pocket and fit two lines of thread from the E saddles to the E tuning machines and tighten them gently so that they act as reference lines. Don't use the top and bottom E strings as they can put too much tension on the neck and make it difficult to manipulate. It's going to be difficult enough anyway.

Once you've got the neck lined up, clamp it with a g-clamp (the thread and handle of the clamp needs to be on the fingerboard side or the next bit will be difficult) spot it with a drill bit tapped through the holes in the body, then use a bit of the appropriate size to drill pilot holes. The drill bit needs to be smaller than the outside diameter of the threads but larger than the core.

Put one screw through the neck plate and body and into the neck; the top left or right screws are the best as the neck pocket will support the heel. Tighten it gently but leave it a little loose as the neck plate needs to be rotated into place; it should currently be rotated to one side and held in place by one screw. Once you have the clamp off you can rotate it into place and start putting other screws in. Start with the one diagonally opposite the first one, then the the other top screw and finish with the remaining bottom screw.

You may still need to shim the heel of the neck to get the neck pitch right. That's another story...
 
Re: Guitar neck issue.

No the nut is fine. The bridge just needs to be moved over maybe a 1/16". If this makes you feel better, some of the greatest guitar albums ever were recorded with this piece of junk... look at the high E string.

images
 
Re: Guitar neck issue.

IanBallard said:
No the nut is fine. The bridge just needs to be moved over maybe a 1/16". If this makes you feel better, some of the greatest guitar albums ever were recorded with this piece of junk... look at the high E string.

images
Click to expand...

Edit: OK... for some odd reason the high resolution version of this pic is missing from the internet. I've searched high and low. Anyway, the high E is basically falling off the neck and the low E is pretty far over. Somehow the player managed to make it work. ;)
 
Re: Guitar neck issue.

octavedoctor said:
Did you drill the holes yourself?
Click to expand...


The holes were already in place on the body but i had to drill the holes on the neck.

I appreciate all the help.
I think to start off , i will install a shim and move the bridge over slightly and see how that goes. If that doesnt work, i will fill the holes and re-drill as explained.

:)
 
Re: Guitar neck issue.

I have fixed the problem , a few shims and its in the correct position.
Just want to say thanks for all the advice.

I will post a few pics when i have completed the build.
:)
 
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