Can I drill mounting holes in the neck myself?

Got an allparts neck today and the holes arent drilled to mount it to the body. I guess I'll drill them myself. Have access to a drill press. Havent done this before. Wasnt planning on having to drill anything major.

I guess I just line it up w/ the body, mark it w/ the holes already in the body, & drill the holes?? seems like alot could go wrong if its not PERFECT! Am I right?

How do I ensure its all lined up. Am looking thru build threads (thanks Bucko!)- but still need some help.

You could lay out the holes with the neck pocket dimensions.

......8776

The holes should be 1/8 in. dia.......0.875 deep.

If you print the following picture 3 inches wide and maintain the aspect ratio, it will print actual size and could be used to mark the hole centers.

...... 8777

Please refer to John's post, #24. That's approximately what I have been doing lately.

You might want to peruse Fretech .com our own Rob DiStephano's web site.

Make absolutely sure it is aligned right.

Any trick to this? or does the neck pocket take care of most of it? I dont wanna mount it crooked.

You would do this with a HAND drill?!?!

Thx for the help
Easy

If you were buying a neck and body from USACG do you think they would drill the neck mounting holes for you? I'm not the best with a hand drill and lack access to a drill press. Granted I don't have any necks that need this at the moment, pure curiosity. Although I see a neck purchase in the near future.

I do it with a hand-held drill all the time. Align the neck by using two pieces of thin wire , I always keep the thin e-strings when changing. Because of this , I always mount the bridge first on a new build , just before/same time as fitting the neck. I finish the neck with nut and tuners first because of this as well.
No reason to be afraid of this , its not exactly rocket-science !! Just do it nice and slow , and dont discuss the budget , or holiday plans with your wife at the same time LOL !

The bit size and depth I stated above are from a Fender neck drawing.

Warmoth charges you extra to not drill the neck holes.

Any trick to this? or does the neck pocket take care of most of it? I dont wanna mount it crooked.

You would do this with a HAND drill?!?!

Thx for the help
Easy

If the bridge and tuners are installed you could clamp the neck in and put both E strings on (or just run a piece of regular string). Then just make sure the strings run straight down the neck and don't go off the edges. Mark the holes and drill.

If someone has a new body with virgin neck holes (never had a screw), could you measure those holes. You'd do this by inserting the proper sized drill bit .

On the Telecaster body drawing in the Duchossoir book, the hole dimension is not readable. Therefore, when Terry Downs created the body drawing, this dimension was not included.

As stated, clamp the neck in place (use a padded clamp), string up the outside E strings with JUST ENOUGH tension to make them straight, and line up the neck so you like where those strings lie. Ensure your clamp is secure, then use the screw through the body hole to mark the neck. Remove the strings, remove the clamp, then screw PERPENDICULAR to the neck flat where the screw made its marks. Make sure you measure how far the screws protrude through the body (and neck plate), and only drill that deep, maybe just a LITTLE bit deeper. Wax up your screws and mount the neck.

If someone has a new body with virgin neck holes (never had a screw), could you measure those holes. You'd do this by inserting the proper sized drill bit .

On the Telecaster body drawing in the Duchossoir book, the hole dimension is not readable. Therefore, when Terry Downs created the body drawing, this dimension was not included.

Jack...nothing Virgin here....but measured 4 Genuine bodies I have...and would put the Body hole spec at 5/32".....thats a little snug for my tastes, as I like the neck screws to slip easily thru the body holes.

Here's how I've done it a thousand times (If I've told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!) OK, maybe 15-16 times. Just 7 steps.

1. I put the neck and body together, making sure I have a tight pocket fit.

2. Next, make certain of your alignment by pulling a new 008 (no kinks) from the nut slots of the e's to their respective bridge cross positions, checking for string to neck-edge distance low and high.

3. Next I clamp one of those rubber padded squeeze clamps from the body back neckplate surface to the fingerboard, thus holding the neck tightly in place. Give it a good squeeze. You can position it so you have access to one or two of the body neck holes. Re-check your alignment to be sure.

4. Regarding bit size, it takes 2 minutes to choose your bit and check it by drilling into a scrap piece. Test your chosen neck bolt in the scrap hole, making sure the hole size gives good grab without binding. I've seen too many slightly varying bolt/thread sizes to trust a template.

5. Now you're aligned, you're tight, and you can access two of the body holes. You can use a good hand drill or a press (I've used both. A quality cordless hand drill is actually easier for me, but keep control so it doesn't grab grain and pull through the fingerboard. Bummer!). Mark the desired depth on the bit with tape. Now drill straight into the neck (make sure bit never touches the body hole side), through the body hole to prescribed depth and install a bolt. Repeat for the next hole. Now you can remove the clamp, as two bolts are holding the neck in perfect position. Check alignment again and adjust slightly if needed.

6. Drill the remaining two holes, remove first two bolts, and take it all apart. Slightly countersink the 4 holes you just drilled with a countersink bit. Don't use a large drilling bit to countersink. It can grab the grain and tear, or pull itself in and hog out too much wood before you can stop it. Then you really have to cuss up a storm.

7. Now install neck with the plate and all 4 bolts. It should be right on, because you did all the work with the neck actually installed in the correct alignment and held tight by either clamps or neck bolts.

disclaimer: Of course, proceed at your own risk. And keep saying to yourself, "This ain't a 50's blackguard."

I do it with a hand-held drill all the time.

+1. I'll use a drill press for other things but have never thought twice about doing these holes this way. I just tape the bit so it doesn't poke out the other side.

sounds simple enough. Thanks tboy for the step by step.

Proceed at your own risk. And keep saying to yourself, "This ain't a 50's blackguard."

These are fine words and true!!!!

If you find the neck isn't quite aligned right when you're done, remember that the important thing is the neck plate, and in fact you can enlarge any or all of the holes in the body in order to get some play in the neck before you tighten it down. In fact, I'm going to have to do this with my '97 American Standard Strat since it bugs me that the strings are a little closer to the edge of the neck (on the bass side) at the 12th fret than they are at the nut.

the strings are a little closer to the edge of the neck (on the bass side) at the 12th fret than they are at the nut.

I agree, visually, very unpleasant to look at even a small bit of misalignment. But, having a little extra room to work with on the high E side well up the fingerboard towards the bridge is a nice thing to have, too. And so I have left some with a slight bit of that problem alone, for now.

I guess we could all play G + Ls and never have to worry about strings being so close to the edge on a vintage bridge array.

........On the Telecaster body drawing in the Duchossoir book, the hole dimension is not readable. Therefore, when Terry Downs created the body drawing, this dimension was not included.

I'll "Get er dun" on the next revision. Thanks Jack.

OK, got the body yesterday (heavy). TIGHT neck pocket. Im gonna have to do just a little bit of sanding to the edges inside the neck pocket to get the neck to fit in there. Id rather have it too small than too big. Will be a perfect fit. Waiting for the other parts to arrive in the mail for final assembly and drilling. Yay!

Hello
I'm about to do this very thing. Is wax really necessary? If so, what kind?
Also, do I really need to countersink?

Thanks

The wax serves to lubricate the screws as they enter the wood. I only recently started doing this and, my god, what a difference. I personally use beeswax, but only because I bought a pound of it for potting pickups. I've also heard of people using soap.

I remembered I had a screw that I left only most of the way driven in for a tuning machine on a squier I dealt with several years ago...I was afraid the damn thing was going to break. I pulled it out, waxed it up, and it went in MUCH easier.

I think countersinking is to give the neck a little play, but I'm not 100% sure. Maybe someone else can chime in on that regard.

Since every Warmoth pre-drilled neck I ever installed, mounted perfectly, I traced a template from one of my Warmoth necks - on paper, and laminated
it. It's worked well for all the projects I had to mark & drill. Done a few basses
by measuring, aligning, clamping, then drilling, and that works well, too.

I'd rather drill the neck holes myself. After countless neck replacements, this is my down-and-dirty can't fail procedure.

- Test-fit the neck into the pocket and clean up as necessary if it's too tight.

- Chuck a drill bit into the cordless hand-drill that is the EXACT size of the screw holes in the body.

- Place the neck into the pocket and hold it in with hand pressure sitting the guitar vertically on the bench. Then take the drill and, using the neck pocket holes as one-time drill guide bushings, run the bit into the holes and just touch the neck to create a drill mark.

- Take the neck off and drill 3/32" holes 5/8" deep using your choice of a hand drill or drill press. My hand drill has a bubble bullseye level on the end facing me for good visual alignment.

- I widen the neck pocket holes SLIGHTLY for some alignment latitude later on. Never fails!