First time mounting a neck.... help...

[HBamps]

I just received the final piece of my first Tele build, the neck. It’s a brand new, nitro finished, maple Musikraft neck. I will be mounting it to a Highway One body. The body already has mounting holes in it but the neck does not. (It only has the holes for the tuner bushings)

I just want to run this by all you as I am pretty nervous about attaching the neck with fear of really screwing it up. My plan;

Mounting the neck
1) Hold the neck and body together with clamps making sure the neck is bottomed out as best as possible.
2) Using the neck plate as a template, push the neck screws through (one at a time) and tap marks on to the neck.
3) With the appropriate drill bit, drill pilot holes in neck making sure not to drill through.
4) Secure it the neck with screws hand tight.

Tuners (Gotoh Kluson)
1) Press bushings in holes.
2) Install tuning machines by hand and finger tight the nuts on top side of head.
3) When all tuners are in position (in line) mark hole centers.
4) Drill pilot holes
5) Assemble.

I also realize I probably want to use a drill bushing when doing the pilot holes so that I can be sure that they are straight into the wood and not at an angle.

Am I missing anything? All the rest of the build is pretty easy, this seems to be the most important part of it that can either make it a great guitar or not so great. Would appreciate any help.

Thanks!

[ronnes]

i think youve got the right idea. you can measure if the scale is about right, 25,5 inches from where the strings leave the nut to where they touch the saddles. remember to set the saddles at the center of their adjustment.

[gayler]

Might be a good idea to do the tuners first so you can run a string from the E string tuners to the bridge so you can make sure the strings will not run off the edges of the fretboard.

[ZTinman]

I install necks a bit differently than what you have listed. Here is the way I would suggest, and I invite anyone to chime in with feedback.

The reason I think that you should do it a different way is that you have not allowed for the alignment of the neck. You need to make sure that the strings aren't falling off one side of the neck. The best way to do that is to have the E strings installed while you have the neck clamped to the body.

Put the tuners on before you install the neck. Is there a nut on this neck? If not, get that started at least by fitting it in the slot and making shallow notches where the strings will go. If this is beyond your expertise, see if your local tech has an old nut you can use, or have him "rough in" your nut. Put a piece of pine on the fingerboard to protect it from the clamp, and maybe put a piece on the neck mounting plate as well. The pine block on the fingerboard needs to be narrow enough to allow you to install the two e strings and the block on the back needs to be thin enough to allow you to drill deep enough. Be carefull with that clamp! The handle side of the clamp needs to be on the front side of the guitar. Use a good old screw clamp, not a squeeze clamp. You'll need to apply a pretty good amount of pressure on the clamp because your two E strings are going to be under tension. Once you have everything clamped, check the string alignment. If its off, tap it into place with the heel of your hand or a rubber mallet. Once its in place then do your drilling.

[ZTinman]

Hey Gayler! Great minds think alike and apparently type at the same time.

[gayler]

Thanks! I think you worded it better than I did.

[Old Cane]

I think RK has the photos of running a thread for the 2 Es. It may have been another builder though. This way you don't have string tension to deal with.

If you have Klusons.....my memory of Klusons anyway.....the bushing push in. They don't have a nut and screw down like a grover or schaller. You might have a different sort of MH from what I use as Klusons.

[HBamps]

Thanks for all the responses! And thanks for reminding me to check the alignment of the strings first. Will do.

I have a Graphtech nut that has "beginner slots" started. I guess I can just lay it in there to set up the neck. I am going to have a tech do the nut.

Thanks again.

[Vizcaster]

Good advice on putting tuners on so you can have the two E strings on there for aligning the neck. Then you can clamp it while you mark the holes. The neck bolts turn out to be good enough (a machinist's alignment/center punch, matching the hole size with a little dimple in the center, would be perfect but that's overkill). As for the depth for drilling into the neck, it's better to mark than to measure or calculate. Simply put a neck "bolt" (screw) through the plate and the body, and hold the drill bit up against the part that protrudes - mark the depth with a piece of masking tape (or if you want to get fancy, set a drill stop on the drill bit).

As for the tuners, the Gotoh Klusons do not have bolt bushings so in your step (2) you won't be able to finger tighten them. If the press-fit bushings seem too tight, then you can lightly dress the lacquer out of the hole using a tapered reamer. When you line them up on the headstock, place a small ruler/straightedge against the tuners before you mark the holes with a scratch awl. Then remove the tuners and predrill. You're drilling such a tiny, shallow hole that a guide bushing would be more trouble than it's worth. And make sure you have a screwdriver that fits the little screws perfectly - a worn out phillips or cheap screwdriver will strip the head. I like to use some candle wax to lube the screws because I'm afraid soap will attract moisture.

[Stylemaster]

Need to bookmark this for a full read another time.

[lonewolf]

These guys are right on! That's the way it's done. By the way check the length of the mounting screws carefully. If they go too deep you can push out a fret! Also mark the length of the screw on your drill bit with a bit of masking tape, or use a "drill stop", so you don't drill too deep. When you have finished drilling, check the seat of the neck and remove any burrs that the drill bit may have lifted up, or it will not seat well when you try to mount it.
Gene Warner
repairman

[Ricky D.]

Originally Posted by Vizcaster

Good advice on putting tuners on so you can have the two E strings on there for aligning the neck. Then you can clamp it while you mark the holes. The neck bolts turn out to be good enough (a machinist's alignment/center punch, matching the hole size with a little dimple in the center, would be perfect but that's overkill). As for the depth for drilling into the neck, it's better to mark than to measure or calculate. Simply put a neck "bolt" (screw) through the plate and the body, and hold the drill bit up against the part that protrudes - mark the depth with a piece of masking tape (or if you want to get fancy, set a drill stop on the drill bit).

As for the tuners, the Gotoh Klusons do not have bolt bushings so in your step (2) you won't be able to finger tighten them. If the press-fit bushings seem too tight, then you can lightly dress the lacquer out of the hole using a tapered reamer. When you line them up on the headstock, place a small ruler/straightedge against the tuners before you mark the holes with a scratch awl. Then remove the tuners and predrill. You're drilling such a tiny, shallow hole that a guide bushing would be more trouble than it's worth. And make sure you have a screwdriver that fits the little screws perfectly - a worn out phillips or cheap screwdriver will strip the head. I like to use some candle wax to lube the screws because I'm afraid soap will attract moisture.

All good advice. A few more bits...

Those little screws that secure the tuners to the headstock are easy to break off in the hole. The right size and depth pilot hole (sorry, I forget what size) is critical. Too small or shallow and the screw will snap off.

Check the fit of your neck mounting screws through the holes in the body. That should be a clearance fit so that the neck will pull down tight. If there is any interference, run a drill bit through. I think 11/64" is the size.

[930vet]

One other thing to watch out for: unfortunately, not all neck pockets have holes that are drilled perfectly perpendicular to the neck heel, and if you mark the heel through the neck, and then drill a hole that is perfectly perpendicular, it will be a big problem- when you actually try to screw down the neck, the screws will push the heel away from the pocket. With the quality of the body you are using hopefully it will not be a problem, but you should probably run the screw up through the pocket first without the neck and see that they at least look perpendicular to the pocket. If they are not, your best bet may be to drill the neck though the existing holes so that they will guide the drill, but this is tricky because the shaft of the bit will not be snug inside the holes. I think the most precise way to do it might be to get some tubing that would fit snuggly inside the already drilled holes, and then use a drill bit that would fit pretty snuggly inside the tubing. You might also be able to figure out a way to do it precisely with a drill press.

The guitar I'm working on now, an SX mini Tele, and the only other one I built, from a kit, both had a problem with the angle of the neck screws. In both cases, the necks had already been drilled- for the SX I moving the neck about 1/16" forward; for the kit, the neck would not screw down close to flat. In the SX I was plugging the neck holes anyway and when I drilled the new ones, I used the pocket holes as a drill guide, and by drilling out the neck pocket screw holes for a clearance fit, I had just enough free play to make up for lack of precision when I drilled the holes in the neck. For the kit I plugged both the neck and the pocket and drilled the new holes in both as a single operation with the neck clamped to the body.

[strat800]

Originally Posted by Ricky D.

Those little screws that secure the tuners to the headstock are easy to break off in the hole. The right size and depth pilot hole (sorry, I forget what size) is critical. Too small or shallow and the screw will snap off.

The screws won't break as long as you don't use powertools/apply too much
sudden pressure to the screws.
The key of not breaking the screws is to tighten them slowly.
This way even without using any soap or wax the screws will almost never break.

[Ricky D.]

Originally Posted by strat800

The screws won't break as long as you don't use powertools/apply too much
sudden pressure to the screws.
The key of not breaking the screws is to tighten them slowly.
This way even without using any soap or wax the screws will almost never break.

Here's a thread from a guy with a different experience:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home...-out-plug.html

[Stylemaster]

Well I finally broke off the head of a tuner screw. Good thing I tagged this thread. Right now I'm digging around the embedded screw post with a very sharp and long metal pushpin hoping to get deep enough to extract the screw stump with a needle nose pliers, then dowel the hole. It won't show under the tuners.