Greetings all

Hi All,

Just got my first ever guitar kit for Christmas and keen to get started!

I had a quick question about the neck. I have the TLA-1 Ash body and a 22 Fret Maple Neck for TL kits.

I understood I would need to do a little sanding or shimming to make it fit but as you can see (images attached) it is more than a few mm larger than the hole in the body.

While I have a little bit of experience on the electronics side, working with wood is all new for me. Should this neck and body go together? Should the adjustment be made on the neck or the body?

Thanks in advance!

Attachment 45914

Hi and welcome RCP. The TLA-1 is a nice start and a very nice present!

The neck should fit, but it has to be pushed onto the body, from above the neck route on the body - it will not slide from the position the picture shows as the neck heel is slightly tapered (i.e. fatter at the end). It may be the picture, but it does look like the end of the neck heel will need a bit of sanding to match the curve in the bodies neck route!

FYI, I would normally sand the neck heel, rather than try to adjust the bodies neck pocket. I feel it is easier sanding the neck heel rather than sanding in the neck pocket of the body!

I hope this helps! It will also be worth starting a build diary to ask any specific questions along the way. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply Trevor.

Yeah even when trying to push from above it still overhangs a fair bit at the tapered end.

No worries, sounds like a bit of elbow grease will get it sorted!

Attachment 45915

On my current build, I had to sand the corners of the neck heel quite a bit to make it fit.

Check out the third image at https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...l=1#post229254.

I usually do it the way that TD does, although there is a logic to doing it either way...some of which goes back to the reason that Leo Fender started making bolt on necks in the first place. His logic was that it would save on re-frets, resets and other sorts of expensive neck repairs, since instead of doing that, you could just replace the neck, which would be far cheaper...and I suspect that way Leo could sell you the neck rather than have that money go to a luthier ;-)

I don't think Leo anticipated how valuable old Fender necks would become, but the logic still holds for most after market guitars. "All things being equal" (as the economists say) you'd want to sand the neck if it's bigger than standard spec, or sand the pocket if smaller than standard spec so that if you need a replacement neck at some point it will drop-in. Standard for both Teles and Strats s 2 3/16" or 55.56 mm. I have a Warmoth neck. I just measured it and it is pretty much exactly Fender-standard. I also have a TLA neck and it is just slightly under 58mm (57.96).

I can't prove this, but I think with unfinished kits bodies tend to have pockets just under Fender-spec, and necks just over Fender spec. The logic would be that it's easier to sand wood off than it is to add wood.

I usually do it the same way TD does because it's typically easier to sand the neck than to sand the body "all things being equal," and it's actually pretty rare to need to replace a bolt on neck. Hard wood on both the neck and body: sanding the neck is easier. Ash and Maple are both very hard.

I made an exception with my TLA neck because I am lazy. The neck is going on a paulownia body. Paulownia is very soft and easy to sand, I decided it would be quicker to sand the pocket than to sand the neck.

Bottom line though, is that needing to do a little sanding is a bit of a pain, but good in the sense that it helps you get a nice, tight fit.

Here is the way I do all of my bolt in necks and how I have modified some of my store bought guitars.
When I make a guitar I always shape the end so it is as close as possible to the pocket which includes the radiuses in the corners as well as make sure the pocket base is as flat as possible which may include taking a very fine skim over it with a router. The closer you make the neck to the pocket the greater the contact will be between the neck and the body which helps with sustain. I sometimes even sand a very small chamfer around the neck base that is hidden inside the pocket which will make sure the neck sits tight against the base or even take a Stanley blade and remove any corner where the base and the side walls intersect in the neck pocket.

After that I take the neck plate and redrill the holes as the supplied ones are a bit wonky. I take the plate and turn it over so the countersinks are now against the body. I clamp the plate where I want it and then using a drill that is just under the holes in the plate I drill through. The holes in the body do not need to locate the neck as that it what the close fitting neck will do. Then drill the holes into the neck and then assemble making sure everything is tight.

Once I tune the strings I then loosen the screws holding the neck in place as they are only there to stop the neck head hitting you in the face. With the over sized holes it allows the neck to pull back and make a very positive join between the body and the neck which will increase the sustain. You can loosen the ones closest to the bridge more than the ones closer to the head as all the force is pulling the neck up. The ones closest to the head only need to be slightly loosened and you may feel the neck move backwards.

I had guitars that the sustain was terrible with the note only lasting maybe 10-15 seconds but after doing this to a cheap Strat the sustain would last almost 40-45 seconds.