Can’t insert the neck pickup!

[Zeddsded]

I’m building an SG-1, but suspect that I’ve glued the neck in place too soon... 😢

I stained the body and the neck separately and then glued the neck in place. I’ve now decided to fit all of the hardware and discovered that the neck Humbucker won’t fit into its designated hole... have I bug#ered up my build?

[Fretworn]

Sorry to hear that. First question, what glue did you use?

Also, is the neck in the right position for proper scale length?

Can you post pictures so we can see the situation better.

[Zeddsded]

22715
Sorry to hear that. First question, what glue did you use?

Also, is the neck in the right position for proper scale length?

Can you post pictures so we can see the situation better.

1. I used the glue that came with the kit.

2. Err... I just pushed it all the way home and clamped it. I assumed that the little chrome adjuster things would allow me to adjust the length.

3. The photo file upload keeps failing (sorry)

[Sonic Mountain]

To get pics in your post the best way is to host on imgur.com

You sign up with an email address - very easy. Imgur is a community so you can actually make your stuff public and interact with people on there - but I use it purely for hosting and keep my profile private.

Anyway, this is what your library looks like - you can also break it up into albums, but this works for me.

https://i.imgur.com/FffDh2Sl.jpg

You can drag and drop directly onto this page from your desktop or a folder on your computer. You can do it with multiple images at the same time. or you can click 'add images' and hunt for them in the traditional way to upload.

https://i.imgur.com/RvTpvPIl.jpg

When you click on an image in your library, this box pops up. I usually choose 'large thumbnail' (in the bottom right hand corner) for forums like this. Then click on the 'direct link' code in the boxes on the right hand side. This automatically copies the code to your clipboard.

https://i.imgur.com/eyCnRl9l.jpg

Then come back to your Pitbul forum post and paste (Ctrl V) into your comment.

Then either side of that code you need to type (img) in front of it and (/img) behind it, but use the square brackets --> [.

(If you reply with quote to this comment, you will see what I mean re the brackets)

Then it will hotlink back to imgur and appear in your post. This also helps you get around the 5 photo limit on here. You can also post any size pic if you hot link, so you are not limited to the 1500px width or 1mb file size of the forum uploader.

[pablopepper]

22715

1. I used the glue that came with the kit.

2. Err... I just pushed it all the way home and clamped it. I assumed that the little chrome adjuster things would allow me to adjust the length.

3. The photo file upload keeps failing (sorry)


Sorry to say, but it looks like you are about to learn how to steam a guitar neck off. :(

The bridge has adjustment range, but not enough to correct that far. You are gonna need to measure from the nut to the 12th fret and then take that measurement and use it to work out the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge. The neck won't necessarily just slot in and work out at that length. As you can see, the fretboard clearly hangs into the pickup rout and there is no room for the pickup let alone the ring that needs to go around it.

It's all a learning process, don't worry about it too much. You don't learn anything from getting it right all the time.

There's an old workshop saying, "measure twice, cut once". Applicable here, but at least you can try again with a little extra effort.

[Sonic Mountain]

Yep, that will have to come off - but don't panic, it is doable without ruining your work, so its not a write off or anything. You will need to steam it until the glue loosens and carefully prise it apart. I'd then let it really dry out well before measuring as per Pablos instructions re setting.

[Zeddsded]

Many thanks everyone. I’ll start and boil the kettle!

Cheers, Jon

[wokkaboy]

Hey Jon, I'd put as much painters tape over the areas adjacent the neck pocket to try not damage the finish with the steam. Easy mistake to do. If the tongue of the neck heel was longer this probably wouldn't have happened.
Good luck removing the neck

[Zeddsded]

22719

Thanks again for the advice guys. 10 minutes of kettle boiling and I now have a 2 piece guitar again! 😄👍

[Simon Barden]

Someone on here recently just put the neck join above a pan of boiling water and steamed it apart that way (though I think he'd glued it before applying any finish). I'm not sure how much damage to the finish you are likely to get this way (and it will depend on the finish you've applied).

The 'correct' way to steam a neck is with a steam needle and drilling holes to get the end of the needle to the joints. You get minimal damage to the finish this way. There are lots of videos on YouTube about this. You just need a source of steam the (steam frothing outlet on coffee makers are often used), some flexible hose, a hollow needle, a rubber bung and some clips to get everything tight.

The other way you can try is to get a thin metal spatula, heat it up and try and insert it into the joins (steam is only a means of getting heat to the glue). If the join was a very tight fit, this may not work well unless the spatula is very thin. It's a case of a small bit at a time as the spatula won't retain too much heat, so it's multiple small insertions, warming up the spatula each time. Not too hot as you don't want to burn or scorch the wood, so the face of an electric iron is often used. Again, this method is shown on YouTube videos.

[Andy40]

Great work Zed.

If you want to set the scale length but you are not ready to bash in the bridge post bushings, you can use some rubber tubing to hold the posts in place, put the saddle on and then measure the neck placement from the saddles. :cool:

[Simon Barden]

Glad you got it apart. I'd wait a day or so to allow the moisture in the wood to evaporate before trying to re-glue the neck. Also you'll want to scrape off then sand any remains of the old glue off the mating surfaces.

[FrankenWashie]

Glad you got it apart. I'd wait a day or so to allow the moisture in the wood to evaporate before trying to re-glue the neck. Also you'll want to scrape off then sand any remains of the old glue off the mating surfaces.

Plus 1 to Simon's post above. once its all dry, clean off some of the glue calls from both sides and re-check your fit. Also spend some time inspecting the neck heel, as this is multiple piece you want to check to make sure your steaming hasn't opened up any of the factory heel joins.

Then mount your bridge per Andy's suggestion, clamp your neck in and check scale length, then check your PUP and PUP ring fit. ON the EX kits correct scale gets really tight on the pup ring. You may need to consider direct mounting if it's too tight at the fretboard end.

Great work getting it apart with no tears! I'd imagine that was some sweaty, clenchy work!

[wazkelly]

Lucky save and hope it goes back together again ok.

[Zeddsded]

Thanks everybody.

So far so good. Neck fitted (at the correct length). All electronics soldered and installed. Tuners and strings going on tomorrow... at which point I’ll discover whether or not I’d followed the soldering video correctly 😉👍

No matter what the outcome it’s been great fun and educational.

[Zeddsded]

22757

All done. In tune at the open string and 12th frets (with very little tweaking required at the bridge). Although I suspect the I’ve got the neck pickup installed the wrong way round... 🤔

Thanks everyone for your help and support. A couple of days ago it was probably going in the bin 😄

[FrankenWashie]

Yep, normally the polescrews are at the other side, next to the fretboard end. Looks sweet though Zed, and a great save on the neck reset, not an easy thing to do. Great job man!😄👏🏾

[Sonic Mountain]

Nice work, pick up fip is easy enough so not a major drama. Guitar looks great.....starting to think I need an SG...

[FrankenWashie]

Nice work, pick up fip is easy enough so not a major drama. Guitar looks great.....starting to think I need an SG...

Oh good, it’s not just me then?

[wokkaboy]

great work Zed, glad you got the neck sorted and the build looks tops !

[wazkelly]

That has come up really nice Zed. Colour and dark contrasting bits look great. Flip neck PUP and all done by the look of that shot.

[Simon Barden]

Great it's all working. The neck pickup with the screws that side won't make any difference to the sound, just the looks, so unless you've cut the pickup lead too short to turn it around, it's easy enough to turn it around at the next string change. And if you can't turn it around, then just say it was an intentional Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac) tribute.

[Simmo84]

Hi Forum members

I’ve just started my first build and have a similar issue to this post. Wasn’t sure if I should create a new post or add to this, I couldn’t find anything in the FAQ section so I thought I’d just add to this post, if I should create a new post instead please let me know.

Anyway I’ve just glued my set neck in place for my Explorer EXA-1 kit. I couldn’t find anything written down that told me the scale length of this kit but when I positioned the kit for a 648mm scale length the fretboard sat 20mm away from the neck PUP cavity. With the 628mm scale the neck sat with the fretboard perfectly flush with the PUP cavity. So I assumed it’s a 628mm scale length and glued her in.

And then after the glue dried I attempted a dry fit of the pickups and realised that because the fretboard is perfectly flush with the PUP cavity, there isn’t enough room for the PUP ring. The overlap is about 4-5mm.

Not sure what do to here, since the scale length seems to be correct.

My first thought is to just rout out the opposing side of the PUP cavity an additional 5mm so the whole PUP can slide back enough to fit the ring flush against the fretboard.

Or should I steam and pull the neck, and set it again with a custom scale length of around 634mm?

The guitar hasn’t been finished yet, the plan was to glue the neck, grain fill and sand the body and make a seamless join to the neck, then paint the body and neck white.

I’d appreciate any recommendations before I do anything permanent.

Thanks in advance for your inputs!

Simon

[FrankenWashie]

The issue here is that the scale length is correct, but that the Front PUP Rout is not in the right spot.

I would not attempt to pull the neck. Not on your first build. If you try and extend the scale scale length to adjust for the pup ring, then your intonation is going to be out, as the fretboard will be set out for the standard G company 24 3/4"/628mm scale.

There are three fixes as I see it:
1. Trim the end of the fretboard and neck to allow the PUP ring to fit, or,
2. Trim the PUP ring to fit either side of the neck, or,
3. Do away with the PUP rings, and direct mount the pickups to the body (Screws through the pickup ears directly into the body)

Steaming the neck off can be done, but it is a major op, you need to be able to direct the steam down into the joint on both sides and underneath.
Subject to whatever glue you've used this may or may not work.
The issue will be trying to get steam or heat all the way down the tenon/tongue of the neck. IF you don't get the glue to release you could really do some damage getting it out.

[Simon Barden]

You should only have needed to move the neck away from the bridge slightly, just enough to get the edge of the pickup ring resting on it so there wasn't a visible gap with the cavity not showing. If you do that, then you can happily intonate the guitar - at least my EX-1 did.

Sometimes the cut-outs for the pickup mounting 'ears' aren't big enough to allow the pickup to move much. I've often had to enlarge these a bit. I find a Dremel with a sanding drum bit works well for this. As long as you remove within the outline of the pickup ring and leave enough wood for the ring mounting screws to bite into, you can remove what you need to.

As you haven't got any finish on, then steaming could be an option, especially as the neck join area isn't particularly large. But this is only possible if you've used PVA or Titebond original (which is also the stuff Pitt Bull sell) or hide glue. Anything that's waterproof or has a higher melting point and it won't work.

The standard method is to inject steam into the joins using hollow needles, but this is generally used to preserve the finish as much as possible. So steaming the whole neck area can work, using a kettle or saucepan (but wear suitable gloves to avoid scalding yourself, preferably rubber over something more insulating). You'll need to take the lid off most kettles top stop the pressure switch from cutting off the power once it boils. Or you can try inserting a thin heated pallet knife into the joints (or a combination of both). Light pressure only when trying to prise the neck away from the body. When the glue's lose or melted enough, it will come away easily. Otherwise the glue joint is stronger than the wood, so too much force with intact glue and you'll tear out bits of wood. Once things start to move, the steam will penetrate the joins more easily.

But if you do this, then let the wood dry out thoroughly before re-gluing. It will swell up considerably, so it needs to be dry before everything fits. And check with the pickup in-situ that the chosen neck position allows the pickup to sit freely in the pickup rout.

Otherwise you can pick one of FrankenWashie's suggestions.

As you are doing a solid colour, then any marks you make can be easily filled in.

[Simmo84]

Thank you very much for your input!

I went with your first suggestion and trimmed down the end of the fretboard and neck very carefully using my fine tooth pull saw, chisel and some sanding.

The pup ring now fits perfectly. Crisis averted! Now to start grain filling and prepping for paint.

Cheers!

[Simmo84]

Thanks Simon for your reply, it looks like it came through after I had already gone ahead with FrankenWashie’s suggestion. And thankfully that seems to have worked out quite well.
I did add some photos to my post to show the finished result but they don’t seem to be showing now 🤷*♂️
But in any case, thank you both for your inputs, it’s good to know if I run into any other issues that there are helpful forum members around to share wisdom and experience.

Cheers!

[FrankenWashie]

Thank you very much for your input!

I went with your first suggestion and trimmed down the end of the fretboard and neck very carefully using my fine tooth pull saw, chisel and some sanding.

The pup ring now fits perfectly. Crisis averted! Now to start grain filling and prepping for paint.

Cheers!

That’s some nice work mate, well done!