My first build. JMA-1L from Montreal.

looks good, like sea-weathered board.

Hi everyone,

I just finished putting 4 coats of water based finish on the body. I used a wipe on poly for the neck.

Was I supposed to pre-drill the holes for the pick guard, strap holder and tuning machines BEFORE I applied the finish?

I'm also getting ready to bolt the neck onto the body. Do i need to pre-drill holes on the neck before screwing in the bolts?

Thanks

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Originally Posted by Marc T

Hi everyone,

Was I supposed to pre-drill the holes for the pick guard, strap holder and tuning machines BEFORE I applied the finish?

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Drilling these holes first isn’t necessary, but the following is advisable.
- make sure you drill the holes the correct diameter and depth, and wax the screws before screwing them in (I push them into an old bar of soap)
- unless you got a tuning machine upgrade, throw the cheap, kit supplied machine head screws out and get some decent screws instead. The are made of “mystery” metal and have a habit of snapping under pressure.....which will make you snap under pressure. Screws that come with upgrade machine heads will be ok.

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I'm also getting ready to bolt the neck onto the body. Do i need to pre-drill holes on the neck before screwing in the bolts?

Thanks

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Yes, pre-drill the holes. Use a drill press if you have access to one, because you want them to be vertical. Again, make sure to drill the correct diameter and depth hold and wax the screws.

Follow Fretworn's advice, it is spot on.
The guitar looks really good. Should be great when finished.

Thank you so much for the information.

I will do as you suggest. I do not however have access to a drill press. Is using a hand held drill out of the question?

I'm planning on upgrading the tuners to some black Gotoh tuners.

Cheers

Thanks Colin. Did you use a drill press? I'm out of luck in that department.

All I have is a hand held one.

Hand held should be fine if you go slow and steady, keeping it nice and vertical.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

Yes, as said previously, pre-drill the holes for the neck screws. Work out how far the screws protrude from the body and then mark the drill with tape so that you don't over-drill and come through the fretboard. You may want to slightly widen the screw holes in the body as you really don't want the screws to bite into the body wood as this can stop them pulling the neck down hard onto the body. If the screws are free-moving in the body they can really pull the neck down firmly. If the screws are also screwing into the body, then once the screws are tight against the body, you can't turn them any more and the neck may not be pulled as tight as it could be.

That's not to say the neck won't be firmly held in place without doing this, but you want maximum neck to body contact for best sustain. Consider a really loose neck joint. It's not going to sound good is it? So tighter is better and really tight gets as close to a one-piece body & neck as you can get with a bolt-on construction.

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Originally Posted by Marc T

Thanks Colin. Did you use a drill press? I'm out of luck in that department.

All I have is a hand held one.

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Hi Marc
I don't have a drill press.
I hand drilled but took it slowly and kept it straight.

Thanks Simon,

I appreciate the Feedback and I did notice that the holes in the body were very tight. I will do as you suggest and slightly widen the holes in the body first.