Disaster strikes my tele build!

Everything had gone really well until today. I had finished both the neck and body and both have finally cured after about a month. So today, I take off the paint sticks and go to see how well everything fits together:

:shock:

The neck won't fit in the neck pocket:!:

The neck is Allparts and the body is Musikraft and based on my calipers, the neck pocket is correct, but the neck is about 3 64ths too wide.

Advice?

You could do a little sanding of the neck pocket.

Did they fit before the paint? I'm thinking 3/64ths is alot of paint.

Time to take out the sandpaper......

I'd sooner sand down the neck a bit than make a pocket too wide for all other necks. If you sand carefully you won't be able to notice anything with the pickguard and all.

1st, if you think that is a disaster, you should have been here a few times. I made one neck pocket so big somehow I had to make a neck for that body. ;O

If it wuz me, I'd Use small blocks and sand the neck pocket out. and also, wet sand the the sides of the heel some. Unless it was real tight before paint, you should get it together with sanding. I'd use a little 120 first, then 220 on the neck pocket, nothing heavier than 220 on the neck sides, you are going to see that when done.

Before sanding, I'd check alignment with the bridge on. You may want to sand one side of things a more than the other rather than to go the wrong way unless negligible.

Good luck!

Tell us more about the test fitting of the neck to the neck pocket, back before the painting got started.

Not the pocket...if you have to sand, sand the neck! Much easier!

Did they fit before the paint? I'm thinking 3/64ths is alot of paint.

Time to take out the sandpaper......

Tell us more about the test fitting of the neck to the neck pocket, back before the painting got started.

I didn't get the neck until I had already finished the body, but before it cured; so no test fit. I had hoped that buying reputable products would be safe. Wrong. Lesson learned as far as that goes.

I guess I will sand the neck a tiny bit (at least get the finish off of the contact points) and then take it from there, but I'm sure that taking off the finish wont make up the difference. I guess I was hoping there was a "magic" answer - though I knew deep down, there isn't.

Another vote for neck sanding. It's easier and less chance of screwing up. In fact it's probably a 10 - 15 miniute job at most using the sand and try ....... sand and try method.

This is not much of a disaster if you ask me.

Not a shot at no one.....but,its alot more than just screwing them together.

This type of thing happens......it'll only be up to OP if its a "disaster".

You can buy em pre-drilled,pre-filled,plek'd and painted..Pre-slotted too...but if you can't make certain adjustments and get the parts to fit together properly.......your not gonna enjoy your guitar very much.

Seems more a "mild annoyance" than a "disaster"... but then who would read a thread titled "Mild annoyance strikes my tele build!"

My vote would be: sand the one which is the wrong size!

Jim

Not the pocket...if you have to sand, sand the neck! Much easier!

Agreed... sand the neck first. It's hard the sand the neck pocket wider by hand (even with a block) and not have it come out looking screwy (been there). You got curves and depth there that's near impossible to sand out consistently.

If anything simply sand out the paint/finish in the neck pocket, but stop when you get to the wood. That may help to meet the neck part way. Then sand the neck as others have described. 3/64" is a lot, but you can make it work.

My last build was a strat. The neck was very tight before paint - I knew it would be a problem later. I sanded the neck a bit before the finish. After the finish, it was a nice tight fit.

Seems more a "mild annoyance" than a "disaster"... but then who would read a thread titled "Mild annoyance strikes my tele build!"


Hard to say. If I totally screw up the neck trying to get it to fit right, then it will be a disaster, but I'm hoping that when all is said and done, this falls into the minor annoyance category.

Thanks to all of you for the advice. I will spend a little time today with some sandpaper. I will start by sanding a little of the neck and I'll take it from there.

Seems more a "mild annoyance" than a "disaster"... Jim

+1

Most of us have recovered from a lot worse than that. :wink:

Well guys, I know a lot of you think this isnt a big problem, but you guys are all way more talented than I am. I sanded the neck back, just to bare wood, and I still can;t get a fit. It is pretty close at this point, and I could probably force it, but I don't want to hurt anything. I am not comfortable sanding any wood off the neck, just the finish, so I don't want to go any farther with that. I think I may abort my project entirely and just try to recoup a portion of my outlays by selling my parts off. I have learned a valuable, but very expensive, lesson: putting together a guitar is not paint-by-numbers. It is an art and skill, and I'm not good at it. I'll leave it to the professionals and the talented hobbyists. Not just anyone can do it apparently. Jeesh, I hope I can recoup at least a fraction.
Thanks for the advice guys; I've tried your suggestions to the extent I am comfortable and am just plain over my head.

Well guys, I know a lot of you think this isnt a big problem, but you guys are all way more talented than I am.

More likely we just did that a long time ago. Experience, not talent necessarily I guess.


I sanded the neck back, just to bare wood, and I still can;t get a fit. It is pretty close at this point, and I could probably force it, but I don't want to hurt anything. I am not comfortable sanding any wood off the neck, just the finish, so I don't want to go any farther with that.


If the side of the neck pocket have a lot of finish you have room there I said and say. You could even get into the wood on the side of the pocket and wax he wood before fitting the neck. Having said that, if yo sand the neck down into the wood and wax that, the wax may help he fit.

I have to ask a possibly NOT SO Obvious question. Are you trying to slide the neck into place by starting away from the heel part of the pocket? Or are you bringing the neck down from above with the body laying flat on the bench/table ?

Well guys, I know a lot of you think this isnt a big problem, but you guys are all way more talented than I am. I sanded the neck back, just to bare wood, and I still can;t get a fit. It is pretty close at this point, and I could probably force it, but I don't want to hurt anything. I am not comfortable sanding any wood off the neck, just the finish, so I don't want to go any farther with that. I think I may abort my project entirely and just try to recoup a portion of my outlays by selling my parts off. I have learned a valuable, but very expensive, lesson: putting together a guitar is not paint-by-numbers. It is an art and skill, and I'm not good at it. I'll leave it to the professionals and the talented hobbyists. Not just anyone can do it apparently. Jeesh, I hope I can recoup at least a fraction.
Thanks for the advice guys; I've tried your suggestions to the extent I am comfortable and am just plain over my head.

WHAT! Don't give up!! PLEASE!!! If you sand into the neck abit what does it matter? Did you ever see the pictures of Tadeo sanding on a horizontal drum sander? You cant hurt the neck, so keep going till it fits. Just take it evenly from both sides as best as possible!
Cheers
ED

YOW! Grit your teeth and sand it a little more. It was only off 3/64". Take 1/32" off each side and you are ready to move on. Measure it, mark it, sand half way, and check it with a square, check the fit. If you take it slow, you aren't going to mess it up.

Remember, that girl standing in front of the stage staring up at you is not checking out your neck pocket, she's checking out how your pants fit.

http://www.classic-car-magazine.co.uk/articles/images/nuts/wd_40.jpg


Either this or Crisco.

Try measuring twice the width of the rear most of the pocket and corresponding heel of neck. Because of the taper of the neck (wide at the heel) you cannot slide the neck into the pocket horizontally unless it's really loose. Really tight fitting joint would require insertion from above, (like Hackguitarist's GREEN ARROW) and pressing it to seat. If it's so tight, sand more off the neck, if you believe the pocket is standard and correct. That way later on other necks should still fit suitably.

It might not be a disaster, but it would sure feel like it when you're getting ready to fit everything together. Especially when the skills needed to fix the problem are new territory.

I also say don't give up. Keep at it!

More likely we just did that a long time ago. Experience, not talent necessarily I guess.




If the side of the neck pocket have a lot of finish you have room there I said and say. You could even get into the wood on the side of the pocket and wax he wood before fitting the neck. Having said that, if yo sand the neck down into the wood and wax that, the wax may help he fit.

I have to ask a possibly NOT SO Obvious question. Are you trying to slide the neck into place by starting away from the heel part of the pocket? Or are you bringing the neck down from above with the body laying flat on the bench/table ?

I have tried both. I am assuming that the green arrow denotes the correct way and the red arrow denotes the incorrect way?

I have tried both. I am assuming that the green arrow denotes the correct way and the red arrow denotes the incorrect way?

Green= yes

Also, no pickguard on the guitar when you fit the neck is probably better IMO

I have tried both. I am assuming that the green arrow denotes the correct way and the red arrow denotes the incorrect way?

The red arrow denotes the impossible way.

I certainly didn't mean for my comments to disparage you! I'm definitely not that experienced at this nor do I posses any great talent! In fact, I'll be posting my first Tele build (a Partscaster) pretty soon...

It is kinda like paint-by-numbers... but sometimes they don't give you all the colors of paint and sometimes the numbers are wrong!

So... take a deep breath... take sanding block in hand... and best wishes!

Jim

Well thanks to everyone for encouraging me to soldier on with this build. I did some additional sanding on the neck and have a fit now. It is a very tight fit, but I'm gonna try to move on now.
I did some finish sanding yesterday and should finish wet sanding today. So soon I will have her stringed up for the moment of truth. I sure hope it doesn't sound like crap.

Well thanks to everyone for encouraging me to soldier on with this build. I did some additional sanding on the neck and have a fit now. It is a very tight fit, but I'm gonna try to move on now.
I did some finish sanding yesterday and should finish wet sanding today. So soon I will have her stringed up for the moment of truth. I sure hope it doesn't sound like crap.


I think we deserve some pics after all that, don't you ?? :lol:

Well thanks to everyone for encouraging me to soldier on with this build. I did some additional sanding on the neck and have a fit now. It is a very tight fit, but I'm gonna try to move on now.
I did some finish sanding yesterday and should finish wet sanding today. So soon I will have her stringed up for the moment of truth. I sure hope it doesn't sound like crap.

A tight fit is a good thing actually, Go with it and I think you'll be pretty happy with the guitar.

Remember, that girl standing in front of the stage staring up at you is not checking out your neck pocket, she's checking out how your pants fit.[/QUOTE]

What a great line :razz:

Sand the neck back son....you'll be glad you did.

who would read a thread titled "Mild annoyance strikes my tele build!"


Hah that kills me.

Never be afraid to sand, cut, scrape, drill or glue... anything.

I really need to thank you all for pushing me on. Over the weekend, I had time to work on the project and actually finished it all up. I couldn't be happier. It sounds amazing; considerably better than my 2008 American Standard. The neck isn't quite as smooth, but it may break in better after a while since it's nitro.
About a week ago, I was ready to sell off all the parts because I had written the project off as a failure. All your encouragement persuaded me to keep on working on it, and I am REALLY glad. What a happy ending!
Thanks guys!

Oh, and I will post some pics and specs tonight or tomorrow for those who are interested.

Way to stick with it, manbearpig. Looking forward to the pics!

Hey Man - just caught up to this thread. I'm glad to hear that you hung in there and toughed it out. It's rewarding to recover from disaster ain't it!

Looking forward to the pictures.

Photos, as promised:
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9409/img1017m.jpg

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1606/img1018a.jpg

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3797/img1025oi.jpg

And some more:
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/8892/img1026l.jpg

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/8199/img1030u.jpg

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/2088/img1032gw.jpg

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4793/img1012m.jpg

I can't believe you were going to give up on that one! Nice finish.

Looks like the Tele turned out OK. BTW, you did tape off the neck pocket prior to painting right?

Imagine Robert The Bruce of Scotland staring at the spider..reworking it's web over and over after The Bruce had broken it up....try,try again...and thy shalt succeed...he didn't squish it......neither did you...and you've got a braamma of a Tele.

Looks awesome. Altho I think I can see something wrong with the neck pocket......................


Kidding!!

What a great finish!, I tell you the only 'disaster' here would be if you had given up!!

There are no air holes in the neck pocket to let the tone out....

Nice job! That is a sweet looking Tele. Great finish. Looks like now you can call this a learning experience instead of a disaster.

(If I had a little smiley icon with two thumbs up I'd insert it here.)

From the look of things maybe you should rename this thread to "My Tele build". Nice job!!!

Congrats manbearpig!

Awsome guitar man! It looks really VERY nice indeed!

Would you mind telling us more details about this project, such as pickups, tuners, finishes, etc...? I can see that you replaced the stock Fender saddles with some Wilkinsons.

Enjoy your guitar man, and if possible please post a video or sound samples of this beauty.

looks awesome! good to see that you stuck it out. i'm building one now, i hope it turns out as nice as this one.

Very cool!:!:

I find it sometimes takes weeks for me to get back to a project and finish things with a newly thought out plan. Particularly when it comes to Cheap Squier necks acclimating. :oops:

I wonder if that neck was so new it was still conditioning.:?:

Here are the specs:

Body: 2pc Swamp Ash (Musikraft)
Neck: Maple w/ Rosewood fretboard (All Parts TRO-c)
Fretboard Radius: 10"
Tuners: Kluson style vintage staggered
Pickups: Fender Custom Shop '51 Nocaster
Wiring: Standard modern 3-way switch
Bridge plate: Fender vintage
Saddles: Callaham brass compensated
Pickguard: 3-ply parchment
Finish: Nitrocelulose Lacquer and Acrylic Lacquer
Color: Burnt Copper Sparkle (Duplicolor Metal Specks)

Nice job! It came out great!

Jim

Sharp as a razor! Good job! Nice color too, btw...

was the color and clear from cans ? it really looks great

Looks like the Tele turned out OK. BTW, you did tape off the neck pocket prior to painting right?

No, I didn't tape off the neck pocket, but I had a paint stick/handle screwed into the neck pocket so it was masked to a large extent.

Very cool!:!:

I find it sometimes takes weeks for me to get back to a project and finish things with a newly thought out plan. Particularly when it comes to Cheap Squier necks acclimating. :oops:

I wonder if that neck was so new it was still conditioning.:?:

I had the neck for about a month before trying to assemble. Maybe it was still acclimating. I'm not really sure how long it takes for the wood to settle, or how long it had to settle at the allparts factory, or the suppliers/distributors. Who knows.

was the color and clear from cans ? it really looks great

Yeah, I used aerosol cans for it all. I used Duplicolor primer and Duplicolor Metal Specks burnt copper (which I learned about through JWells who has used it on projects) for the color coat, then Deft for the clear. I am pretty happy with the finish, but if I were to do it again I think I would use Duplicolor acrylic clear and keep the entire finish system acrylic lacquer. I think that would be an easier finish to apply and dry/cure time would be dramatically reduced.

That is a very good looking guitar. If it plays half as good as it looks, you are a lucky man! It makes me want to try to build one myself!

It's really a lot like dating was in the 1980s

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-7E2URQxaAw/SK8IuYQ3piI/AAAAAAAAAJA/KU9czBOsv_E/s400/vaseline.jpg

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http://ladiestoolsonline.com/images/tools/small/jd-rubberhammer-orange.jpg

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http://mrhiggins.net/algebra2/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/smile.jpg