Rastus' First Build - JMA-1

hello everyone,

I've been lurking a while and checking out this great community. First build for me, if you exclude the cigar box guitar i made a few years ago, and first post for me. Ive chosen the JMA-1 kit, mainly because its a style of guitar I don't have. I've had the kit for about two months but circumstances have prevented me starting , so here I am now.

Im keeping everything stock, although Ill probably de-solder the existing wired pickguard. Not sure what Ill do yet, but bridge pickup wired to tone control is a must for me regardless.

Ive done a fair amount of sanding to get the neck to fit the pocket, and I'm finally happy with it now, but i do have an issue with the pre-drilled neck cavity. Somebody who drinks more than me had their way on this one in the factory. The holes do not line up with the neck plate. And even if they did, they are too far off centre for my comfort. On the bass side I only have 5-6mm from the edge of the neck to the centre of the screw, which i fear may lead to the wood splitting etc.

So Im going to have to plug the holes and re-drill. Given I have next to no wood working experience, and almost no tools, can some one wise please suggest my path forward? i.e. where can I source 4mm dowels? is PVA wood glue sufficient, or should I use titebond? Any other tips and tricks I should be aware of?

Thank in advance,

Cheers

Great to see another JMA build. The holes for the neck mount on mine were slightly off compared to the back plate. But doing up the screws from corner to corner and a bit at a time it centered up ok. If yours are a long way out plugging and re drilling is an option. I would work out which one or two are the worst and just do those. Can we see a pic with the plate over the holes? A bit of dowl and pva should do the trick, I realigned my tuner holes using that method. If you are in Australia there is a big green shed that will stock what you need.

There does seem to be a bit of an issue with the pre wired control plates, so confirming that is all correct is a good idea. As Colin said one tone pot should operate neck and middle and one does the humbucker ( once its wired correctly)

Keep us updated and most importantly have fun.

thanks to both of you for comments on the wiring; i haven't traced the factory wiring since I received it, so its good to know the tone control is wired for the bridge, but ill re-assess when i get there. either way, its less of a concern at this point in time.

re neck pocket holes - i need to plug all of them i feel. I could use two and plug two as you suggest but its not just the alignment of the four holes relative to each other. More concerning is the the fact that they are out of alignment to the neck. When you look at the pic of the neck heel where I've market the screw positions you can see 2 spots are far too close to the edge. 2.5mm to edge of screw for one and 4mm for the other

I'm in Brisbane, so a trip to the hardware is in store,Attachment 22760Attachment 22761
Cheers

Bummer.....definitely too close on the top side.

Hmm yeah, agree. That's a shame but not unfixable.

I usully plug mine with a bit of oak dowel from Bunnings and timbermate and redrill.