Aligning Bolt-on Necks

[StuntDouble]

Man, I just got burned bad on my last ebay purchase; fortunately it wasn't for a whole lotta dough, but damn! I've been thinking about piecing together a cheap strat style guitar to have something to play over here, and I saw a mahogany strat with a warmoth neck and what was supposedly a Warmoth body.

Well, when I finally got it over here I took it out of the case and I relized that the neck didn't quite line up right and seemed to be canted slightly off to the right...leaning slightly towards the lower horn. I took a close look at the neck pocket and realized that the bottom of the neck was more curved than the pocket of the body, so it wouldn't seat all of the way in.

I guess my question is, with the neck already being drilled for the neck screws, if I get a new body that is already pre-drilled as well, am I most likey going to run into problems with them lining up as long as the neck pocket has the same dimensions as the heel of the neck? The neck was obviously something the previous owner bought and tried to stick on the body and realized it didn't work right...and pawned it off on some sucker.

[philmanatee]

On the strat I just put together the pocket was a little loose and the holes didn't line up with a standard plate. I had my repair guy shim the pocket and plug and redrill the holes. The pocket can also be routed to fit the neck, but if it isn't your dream neck I'd do any alterations on the neck, so you can change to something else later. Phil

[StuntDouble]

The neck is a Warmoth vintage w/ a compund radius maple/braz Rosewood fingerbaord w/ 6100s and an SRV profile, which is pretty close to my ideal neck. I don't feel too ripped-off b/c it came with good locking tuners, a vintage Floyd Rose in good shape and a decent EMG pup. I think I'm just gonna sell the pup and body and get a new body. My only concern is that most bodies come pre-drilled for the neck screws, so I'm not sure that it'll line up quite right, since the holes in the neck were positioned based on...most likely the pre-existing holes in the first body that it was installed on.

I'd rather buy a USA Custom body, but the neck being a Warmoth was more likely installed on a Warmoth body originally, so if I have to guess what it will mate up to best, then I guess it'd be a Warmoth body. Do you think it would make any difference?

[philmanatee]

Getting the holes in the neck filled and redrilled is no big deal if they don't line up. You could probably do it yourself with hand tools. Phil

[StuntDouble]

Cool, I went ahead and ordered a new body; I'll do some research on how to plug the holes and re-drill the neck if it doesn't line up.

Thanks, Ben

[lcampz]

I'd rather buy a USA Custom body, but the neck being a Warmoth was more likely installed on a Warmoth body originally, so if I have to guess what it will mate up to best, then I guess it'd be a Warmoth body. Do you think it would make any difference?

Warmoth does allow purchasers the option of "Omit Predrilled Neck Mounting Holes" for an upcharge. If the person who originally purchased the neck or body drilled off kilter, it probably doesn't matter. Luckily, like philmanatee said, it is correctable, and hopefully there won't be "tone sucking gaps" between the neck and the neck pocket, once it's all said and done.

[StuntDouble]

ok, it looks like the neck is fine and the body holes are slightly at angle. the neck so obviously doesn't fit the neck pocket it's laughable...no wonder it was an ebay sale. I got impatient and went ahead and ordered a body like the one I wanted from their on-line store, cause I don't wanna wait to have one built and...well, just cause I'm impatient I guess. If it doesn't line up quite right, I'll take it to Jack Pimentell or Mike Lull when I get back. Hopefully it'll be straight enough to play, cause my crappy acoustic isn't cutting it anymore and I need a guitar now.

[yngwie308]

You might look into the brass inserts in the neck and then the use of machine screws to hold the neck to the body. This is an excellent method of securing the neck and it remaining relatively stable, with each neck removal. This is a technique used by Yngwie Malmsteen (who?) for many years, and has been stage tested by throwing the guitar into the air and throwing it over your shoulder constantly, with little tuning consequences!





This was used by the Swedish guitarist to help with the stability of converting a three-bolt Strat tilt neck, to conventional 4-bolt mounting:

The Japanese YJM signature guitars have had this method for years and only post 2007 and up have the US Malmsteen guitars had the machine screw/ brass insert mounting method. I think it is a superior method of mounting.
yngwie308

[StuntDouble]

Thanks Y308, that's certainly an option if it doesn't line up right, but I'd have to leave that somone a lot more skilled in wood-working than myself.