Poor neck pocket design on Fender MIM Guitars.

Hello

I have a Deluxe Players body that I am giving serious thoughts about unloading. It is stunning visually and that is why I purchased it but I cannot stand the squared off neck pocket Fender puts on these guitars.

On this particular body, I cannot get the neck heel to actually make contact with the bottom of the pocket. I have heard that this is a key contact area of the neck joint.

What are your thoughts? Should I redrill the neck and risk changing the scale? Should I put a popsicle stick in there or just leave it alone? Do you think this even matters as long as the neck feels like it is tightly mounted?

Thanks

Open the holes in the body out to 11/64ths inches.

There's likely paint accumulated in the holes as the holes are drilled before the finish goes on and often they don't re-open the holes. 19 times out of 20, this will be the crux.

The title of your post threw me off a bit. You mean it's not working on your project. I put a Mighty Mite neck on a MIM body and it fit perfectly. This problem you are having might be unique to the parts you happen to have.

Open the holes in the body out to 11/64ths inches.

There's likely paint accumulated in the holes as the holes are drilled before the finish goes on and often they don't re-open the holes. 19 times out of 20, this will be the crux.

Hello Boris

I will disassemble it and take a look but I am nearly positive that the holes are free of paint. 3 of the 4 neck pocket holes have already been stripped out to where screws freely slide in and out of them.

The bottom of the pocket is not completely level either, the "shelf" that the heel sits on seems to be somewhat slanted (ascending towards 1st string) as well. It is a shame, this is one of the most beautiful bodies I own.

If the holes cannot be enlarged; do you think gluing a popsicle stick or redrilling the neck would be a good option?

Atroy,
You know that I am referring to a stratocaster body, right? The design just seems inferior to me as it does not follow the contour of the neck heel, I never could understand fender's reasoning for it. Perhaps it works better with the neck tilt on the MIAs but these guitars do not even have that option.

Hello Boris

I will disassemble it and take a look but I am nearly positive that the holes are free of paint. 3 of the 4 neck pocket holes have already been stripped out to where screws freely slide in and out of them.

The bottom of the pocket is not completely level either, the "shelf" that the heel sits on seems to be somewhat slanted (ascending towards 1st string) as well. It is a shame, this is one of the most beautiful bodies I own.

If the holes cannot be enlarged; do you think gluing a popsicle stick or redrilling the neck would be a good option?

Atroy,
You know that I am referring to a stratocaster body, right? The design just seems inferior to me as it does not follow the contour of the neck heel, I never could understand fender's reasoning for it. Perhaps it works better with the neck tilt on the MIAs but these guitars do not even have that option.

Yes, I know, Stratocaster. That's what I built. Mine is a Standard MIM Strat body.

Hopefully you'll get fixed up. What's the body look like?

Boris, your suggestion gave me the courage to go in with some files and enlarge the neck holes. I believe that my neck pocket was already slightly flawed. Now I can get the neck to sit a little lower in the pocket and I sanded down a pickguard a little for a nice fit.
I know you like CS 69 pickups. Have you tried them in an Ash body/Maple neck strat? While I have your attention, what do you think of CS 54 pickups? I really like what I've heard.


Anyone else who has a similar problem should rest assured that some minor surgery can get everything working well.

Atroy, it is the deluxe player ash sunburst. I am sure it is there but I've yet to find a seam. I will load a pic once I get the guitar assembled again. I'm glad that I can hold onto this body and not take a loss on it because of a slight flaw.

Thanks