I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

[BluesGuyJ]

Hey all,

So I may have had a blind guy moment.

I got a roasted maple neck from guitar mill with a traditional Tele heel and no neck mounting holes have been drilled yet. I just got my 2015 American Deluxe body in and can feel on the neck plate that the neck mounting screws are off set. Will I still be able to use the neck I got from guitar mill and can just have my tech obviously do the proper routing? Do I need to have the neck heel contoured to match the contour of the body or will it be just fine? Ugh....

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

Pics please.

 

[Demanic]

Re: I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

Well, if no mounting holes have been drilled yet, as long as the neck is a reasonable fit in the pocket, I don't see any reason that you can't have the screw holes properly set in the neck, even if they are in a non standard pattern.

 

[AlexR]

Re: I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

Routing.....why would you do any routing??? Thats going to make things incompatible and is going the wrong way. As long as the body is a Tele too (and you said the heel was traditional tele which means a fender neck pocket size/spec) then you simply drill and screw in.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

Pics please.

Yup

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

I believe he is referring to a contoured heel, and how the 4th screw is in a different location than the standard 4 screw plate.

Do the body and neck plate match? If so, simply drilling the neck to fit the body and plate is the correct thing to do. There is not a "contoured heel" neck to match the body, it's the same neck as would be used on a standard body.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

I think he is talking about this:

View attachment 69645

If so, then all the tech has to do is just drill the holes to pattern of the Deluxe Body (offset as opposed to the traditional square pattern.)

 

[ant_riv]

Re: I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

Yes to what has been said.

However, if your body is a strat body, then yes you would want your tech to route the pocket of the body to accept the Tele neck. As you would be able to see, a strat neck is rounded, where as a Tele neck is more squared, at the end that goes into the neck pocket.

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

yeah, the neck and body fit fine, just a newbie misunderstanding on my part. The neck is a hair narrow and has some slight, slight play from sid to side... is this alright? Should I try and find a neck that is much more snug or is the myth of a tight neck pocket and heel fit not something to worry about so much?

 

[ant_riv]

Re: I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

Depends!

Don't you just hate that answer?

If it was me, it would depend on how much room there is. Once I had the neck positioned in the pocket (aligning it to the bridge) I'd verify the distance of the edges of the neck to the strings. Once that is correct, I'd evaluate the gap in the neck pocket between the body and neck, on each side.

The play you notice with the neck unattached likely isn't a concern, as you mentioned it being slight. Even a snug fit could be manipulated to move a little when it is not screwed in.

I would probably make shims for either or both sides, if there is noticeable space.
However, if I could align the top of the neck with the body's edge, I probably wouldn't shim it.

And of course, all of this depends.

The good news is your tech can evaluate and take care of this for little to no additional cost to you. If the body had needed to be routed, that would have been more work, which equals more cost to you.

And don't worry about being a newbie! I've been doing this for 40+ years and I'm still learning. (Darn it, how'd I get so old?)

Please remember to post pics when it is done!

Here's my latest Partscaster, finished about a month ago.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: I think I got a body and neck that do not match up....?

No routing, the contour is on the body, the neck is a regular neck just with the deluxe offset mounting holes.

You'll just need to drill the 4 mounting holes to match the plate... that neck will pretty much always be for a Deluxe unless you plug the holes and drill new ones for a regular ol' four bolt. I've plugges deluxe mounting holes before... it's was actually sort of fun.

The only problem would be some side adjusting mechanisms can run where one of the bolts goes... there's a pretty rare chance of that though.