OH NO. Say it isn't so.

[jnew]

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Where are the woodwork specialists here? I had this super cool looking Zebra wood neck made. And in the 20 + years of bolting necks to bodies, I've never had this happen. I've always just run the screws up without drilling holes first. Always worked and got a nice solid bite, making a solid connection. Maybe I should have seen the potential here with the unique wood grain but as you can see, the S.O.B split on me. So it was told to me that Gorilla wood glue would make sure that it never separates again. Any thoughts?

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$380 mistake here hurts. DOOOOH!

[jnew]

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And this will sit for 24 hours in hopes that a solid repair will be made.

Fingers crossed.

[Scumback Speakers]

You needed to drill the holes for the screws first, buddy. I only know this because I was going to do this until my luthier told me what could happen if I didn't.

And it looks like you proved him right. Sorry...but if you glue it, clamp it and then drill it you should be good afterwards. My luthier claims it will actually be stronger than before.

But I wouldn't purposely do this again to test out the theory.

[jnew]

Yeah, I'm thinking I'll never make this mistake again. Probably 95% of necks I've done this with in the past have been maple and not one has ever done this. Harder wood? tighter grain pattern? Don't really know but this one hurt. Cannot wait to hear what this sounds like. It's slightly on the heavy side and hard as hell so I'm thinking some bright snap to it but we'll have to wait and see. I was told the same though. Gorilla wood glue, let it set for 24 hours and it should be stronger than original.

[SteadyEddie]

Never seen a neck like that before. That grain pattern is incredible.

[Tone Slinger]

I did it with a Tele neck one time .Same thing happened to me. It was glued and turned out, 'good as new'. It is best to pre drill everything (strap bolts, tuning key holes, etc), with regards to wood (guitar neck,body).
By the way,that is a sweet looking neck.The closer you get to it, the more interesting it looks with all the grain figuring.

[fillmore nyc]

Lessons to yourself:

And in the 20 + years of bolting necks to bodies, I've never had this happen.

A- You MAY have been lucky for 20 years. (see below)

I've never had this happen.

B- Yes you have... it just did.

I've always just run the screws up without drilling holes first.

C- Never break "Supreme Rule #1": ALWAYS pre-drill holes in the neck... ALWAYS.

(Multiple negatives in a sentence alert!!)--"DONT NEVER NOT PRE-DRILL NECK SCREW HOLES AGAIN, MY FRIEND... NOT NEVER, NOT NO HOW!!"

I'd bet if you were able to check all of those guitars you've built over the last 20 years, you'd find that by now, with string stress, weather changes, knocks from playing, etc, this ISNT the first time thats happened... its just the first time it happened immediately after running those screws up in there without pre-drilling.



PS- Its certainly not the end of that neck. Glue it up good, check that the flatness of the pad (where the neck sits on the body) is still flat, make sure the width of the heel is still correct, and it'll be fine.

Not only is pre-drilling mandatory, but I also give the screw threads a quick rub across a plumbers candle so the screw turns in with no binding or stress. That wax wont moisten or degrade the wood, and acts like a lubricant so the screw threads in really nicely.

Go forth in the world and always pre-drill, my man.

[demonufo]

Yup. I follow Ralph's thoughts completely. Except I use a stick of beeswax rather than a plumbers candle.
Pilot drilling is absolutely mandatory. Especially when you consider the size of those screws you are using (many neck screws are narrower).

What is more, I detest finding that manufacturers/builders haven't drilled the body sufficiently, and the neck screws are also threaded into the body. I know there are different schools of thought here, but to me I just don't see how you can possibly achieve a good contact by doing so, unless the neck is clamped hard into the body before those screws ever enter the neck for the first time (and every subsequent time, for that matter)

[jnew]

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GOOD NEWS. Glued it up about 21 hours ago. Woke up this morning, removed the clamps and excess glue and it's like it never happened. Cannot even see a single indication there was ever an issue. I didn't even have to sand it to be smooth and level.Only a touch of sanding to remove some of the excess glue. That's how well it went back together. Oh yeah, and, I PRE DRILLED THE SHIT OUT OF IT this time.

Kind of wanted something special looking for my VERY old Shcecter, one piece Swamp Ash strat. Truly an old beater POS (but we're married) and the look of this Zebra wood just caught my eye. Can't wait to hear it through the amp but acoustically speaking, this wood has brought noticeable mass and sustain in both sound and feel. A little heavier than all the maple necks this guitar has seen. Just hoping than it's not too dark sounding. unplugged, it does still seem to have some snap and bite but just more body behind it. We'll see in a little while when I plug her up.

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[Scumback Speakers]

jnew, email me, check your PM's or call me, would ya? Time for some golf if you can make it on 3/13.

[demonufo]

Truly an old beater POS (but we're married)

Ain't no such thing. Good wood with a decent neck pocket is always top notch, no matter how "ugly" some may think it is. All in the eye of the beholder, and if you think it adds something to your playing, it don't matter zip what it looks like to others.

Whereas, if you were playing a shiny guitar and you weren't "feeling it", us miserable guitarists in the audience would be dissin' you, as opposed to your guitar.

I think it looks great as is.

Did a gig a couple of years back, with the bunch of odd kids supporting. Most people in the room were pretty down on them because they were obvious beginners, and the guitarist/singer was obviously not very well off. He bought this real beater of a pawn shop guitar, several different coats of various colour paint worn through, and all beat up to heck. It looked to me like some kind of bastardized 70's/80's Epiphone type thing. It was truly ugly, but it sounded great, and when I asked to look at it afterwards, was solid and nicely put together, with some nice wood on the neck and set-up well. I absolutely LOVED it because of it's uglyness, and that I couldn't really tell quite what it was. He didn't know what it was as it turned out, it was just all he could afford, but he loved it. He said the rest of the band were trying to talk him into painting it and prettying it up, I had to urge him not to, since he loved it as it was.
As a band they totally had their own thing going (although he clearly had the majority of the talent, the rest of the band had the "supportive parents". They weren't showy, or flashy, and didn't try to do anything that was beyond them, but they had a real nice vibe, and was something really different from the usual whiny student crap you get around here. Oxford can be a real harsh place if you don't fit in. We certainly don't.

[jnew]

I hear ya. That's what I mean by a beater POS. Strictly the way it looks. As you can see, I never even bothered with a good paint job for it. Just a can of flat black about 18 years ago for some attempt at a sunburst type finish. But it is a good piece of wood. And the neck pocket must be on the $ because no matter what neck this thing has seen, intonation has always been a breeze and hardly off at all from one neck to the next. Even when changing or cutting new nuts. Like I'm doing now with this new neck.

OK so I've cranked it up now and it definitely has the sustain thing working more in the direction of a LP type because it's a little heavier and pretty solid. Still has a very nice bright snap although maybe not quite as bright as a maple. I've always used pretty cheap maple necks but I talked myself into buying a quality neck piece after buying my friends custom tele from Warmoth. He built it out of all swamp ash with a AAAAA, flame maple top. The neck is also AAAAA flame maple with what looks like Macassar Ebony finger board. Not to sure of the finger board but when he finished it and I was plucking around with it unplugged, I had to buy it from him as I've never heard anything so damn resonant and lively. I've never been a tele type guy but this thing is just nuts to play. Very enjoyable and inspiring. Looks good too. The first time I've ever actually bought a quality made guitar. I've always just built my stuff.

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