Neck mounting holes
- Thread starter Roybot
- Start date
It appears that two of the new holes will overlap or be extremely near the old holes. (I'm referring to the holes in the neck - not in the body) For structural integrity I really should fill at least two of them. It's not a matter of cosmetics. Any ideas? Thanks for the replies.
travelin travis
New member
sounds like you need some plugs to fill the holes. you'll probably have to drill the wholes larger to fit some dowel rods or plugs made from your choice of wood and glue them in. i've filled holes like this but not in anything like a neck joint that could cause problems if not done correctly.
i would be a bit nervous doing this myself but i don't have much wood working experience. good luck.
i would be a bit nervous doing this myself but i don't have much wood working experience. good luck.
32-20-Blues
New member
faderbug said:
Yeah, I reckon they would need to be filled. I have done this a couple of times in the past - you need some matchsticks and wood glue - brush a couple of matchsticks (enough to tightly fill the hole) generously with the glue, fill the hole with them, and wait for them to set. Then get a razor sharp blade and trim them close to the neck. Finally, get some very fine sandpaper on a sanding block (that part is IMPORTANT), and go over the filled holes gently. You're done.
travelin travis
New member
you should probably try to find dowels made out of a wood with a similar hardness as the neck.
32-20-Blues
New member
TravisinFlorida said:
Prob'ly maple. Yeah, that sounds good, but the drilling can go very wrong unless you have a drill press, which most people don't. You really don't want to ruin the neck.
travelin travis
New member
32-20-Blues said:
good point. i think a drill press would almost be a must. i know i can't drill perfectly straight with a hand drill. just in case the original poster does'nt know, the reason for matching wood hardness would be to keep the drill bit from wondering and of course the structural thing.
32-20-Blues
New member
No problem, best of luck
Light
New member
Use maple dowels to fill the holes. If you can't get them to fit tightly, then drill them out for a slightly larger size. Glue them in with wood glue, and then wait overnight for the glue to dry (it will be mostly dry in about an hour, but they won't get to full strength until about 24 hours).
Remember that dowels are undersized, so you will have to find ones that are the right size (I carry a calipers when I go dowel shoping). Maple is better, which is NOT what you will get at the local hardwared store (there usually beech, or some similar such thing). Try a good specialty wood supplier, like Rockler or Woodcraft.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Remember that dowels are undersized, so you will have to find ones that are the right size (I carry a calipers when I go dowel shoping). Maple is better, which is NOT what you will get at the local hardwared store (there usually beech, or some similar such thing). Try a good specialty wood supplier, like Rockler or Woodcraft.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Light
New member
Roybot said:
Do NOT use wood putty. Get the dowels and hole to fit correctly (and remember, the wood will swell a bit with the glue). Wood putty is not structurally aceptable. It will just crumble and fall apart. Don't use match sticks either (GADS!)
Also, the drill press isn't actually much use, because the front side of the fingerboard doesn't give you a flat surface to rest on the table. More to the point, you want to drill the holes with the neck mounted in the guitar. Clamp it in there and make sure everything is lined up, and then use a hand drill with a good (and properly sized) brad point bit. For the clamp, I like one of those Qwik-Grip clamps. Make sure everything is lined up, including any shims which are needed, exactly the way it needs to be. Use a bit of tape on the drill to mark the right depth.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
32-20-Blues
New member
Light said:
That's cool, each to his own. Do you build / modify much stuff?
I put the necks in the central recess of a Black & Decker workbench before drilling so that they are held level. Works fine.
It's my understanding that this guy has holes in a neck and holes in a body that don't match. Therefore, drilling when the two are together won't help. First, he needs to fill the 'wrong' holes in the neck. Then he can clamp the 2 together and drill through to his repaired neck socket if necessary.
Light
New member
32-20-Blues said:
My dad and I own/operate the largest repair shop in the Midwest. He has built almost 500 acoustics since the 1970's, and I have built closing in on 100 acoustics and electrics. Our 3 full time employees (and one more who is on duty in Iraq right now) do over 2000 guitars a year, mostly repairs, but including MANY builds of guitars from parts. We do warranty service for every single American manufacturers who DOES warranty work (Gibson, Gold level Fender, Taylor, etc., and we are one of the top 5 Martin Warranty centers in the world). We have one of the best reputations in the business, hands down. My dad and I have written dozens of articles for major publications on guitar building, maintenance and repair, and I would happily put ANY of our repair people up against any one anywhere.
Yeah, I've done more than a few of these things.
Oh, and I've got two drill presses, so it's not that I don't like the drill press, it's just impossible to get the job done as precisely as it needs to be done if the neck isn't in the guitar. And I already covered filling the holes in the neck (dowels, preferable maple, that fit tight).
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Thanks, Light! That was very helpful. I was hoping you would chime in. I will look for maple and ditch the wood putty idea. It didn't occur to me about the neck radius causing instability on a drill press platform. When I installed a Warmoth neck on one of my strats I drilled it by hand with no problem so I'll use the same technique on this neck. When I installed that neck I strung a low and high "E" string pulled to enough tension to use as a guide on both sides of the fretboard for aligning the neck prior to drilling.
Come on guys, lets be realistic. Any kid who took junior high woodworking knows that when you fill a hole in wood, you use the same type of wood and a good quality wood glue. Wood filler is for filling set nail holes in door and window casings, not for filling holes where a lot of tension will be put. I do repair on guitars too, and I spend a lot of time redoing someone else's repair jobs. If a guitar is worth fixing, it is worth fixing right. When a repair is poorly done it will often simply come undone within a short period of time and often cause more damage. Even when it dosen't cause more damage, removing the old repair materal is a pain and makes a propper repair more time consuming and therefore more expensive.
Listen to what Light says, he knows what he is talking about. When he says "Don't use wood filler" there is a reason, it's not just a suggestion.
Listen to what Light says, he knows what he is talking about. When he says "Don't use wood filler" there is a reason, it's not just a suggestion.
Yes, I know. I'm taking Light's advice and using maple dowels. I considered for a moment to supplement a snug fitting dowel with putty and glue, never just putty on it's own. I'm 46 years old and have done all of my own guitar work for many years...musta had a brain cramp on the putty idea but that's why I solicited for ideas.