Thanks Axis29

[boris bubbanov]

I had a Warmoth 2 piece light Tele body with a neck pocket quite a bit too shallow. That is, the wood between the neck plate and the pocket was quite a bit too thick.
I contemplated buying a guide bearing'd router bit that'd apply the existing pocket as its guide, but I knew that wouldn't work. But if a template around the neck pocket was to be the guide, I knew I'd need a long shanked bit, and I was afraid the runout in my old router would make a mess of everything.

What did I use? Cabinet scrapers, and also a sharp knife to incise around the interface of the pocket floor and the body. On the first pass, the Warmoth 'brand' was scraped away, with the wood around it. A magic marker was used to color the floor, then I scraped the color away, did that twice, measuring with the calipers as I went. Also a piece of 150 paper wrapped around a 1 +1/2 inch wide and tall tool handle. Worked great, and now the neck is sitting down into the body right, and it plays pretty well. Right about USACG specs now. I'll take her apart and remove just a smidge more on the high E side of the pocket where the ash was very dense. The walls of the pocket are still fine, nice tight fit with no gaps.

It should be ready for solid color ( mahogany tint was marred by little 'quarks' down on the surface of the wood, and it wasn't real pretty as ash can sometimes be ). Mohawk, Newberry II nitro rattle can gloss semi-trans.

My Dad was and still is a sandpaper guy; I never fooled with good scrapers. Thanks, John, they are very useful indeed.

Bubbanov

[Brick]

you can make a very useful scraper with a single edge razor blade. Take a round file and run the razor blade across the file at about a 45 degree angle. You create a fine burr along the edge. Scrape with the burr edge forward. works great.

[boris bubbanov]

I'm closer, still got a little more to go. Gotta take some relief out, getting a little fret out above the 15th frets. These chromed, slotted 3 barrel 50's Classic type saddles have to go as well, distracting not to have brass on there. I may have to dig out the wood chisels to get the last uncooperative strands out of the back of the pocket, the front 90 percent is right on. Hope this body isn't a dud, the USACG bodies so far just kill it on tone,as they did when I assembled this body with the pocket as it came from Warmoth.

But meanwhile, this Warmoth Strat neck on this Highway One Strat, what an animal, I am very impressed. But I think I bought every webpage Warmoth in the specs I was looking for, so I'll be made to wait for more. Guitar needs another trem spring and some better mid-volume pickups. Keystones, I think.


Bubbanov

[Axis29]

Sweeeeeeeeet!

Boris, I'm glad you gave them a try! I love converting guys to new tools that work well for them!