TLA-1 "Plus" (First Build, FINISHED)

[wokkaboy]

damn did you drill the neck holes with a drill bit too small and then driving in the screws caused the neck heel to split ?
Think its a 3.5mm drill I use.
I'd drill a 3.5mm hole for the neck screws and put as much thin superglue down the crack as you can, clamp the sides of the neck, then try and screw the neck screws in. I'd even get a screwdriver to pry apart the crack a little so the superglue seeps in as much as possible.
I did a similar thing to a flying V neck I split the neck heel and superglue saved it !
Be careful to wipe off any excess glue from the crack as you don't want the neck heel to stick to the neck pocket !
Might be better to only screw in the 2 screws on the opposite side of the crack to hold the neck in the pocket while it dries, and clamp across the heel to hold it all together

[ihasmario]

/<\\/p>[/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/]<\\/p>/Quote from wokkaboy on May 15, 2014, 14:55
damn did you drill the neck holes with a drill bit too small and then driving in the screws caused the neck heel to split ?
Think its a 3.5mm drill I use.
I'd drill a 3.5mm hole for the neck screws and put as much thin superglue down the crack as you can, clamp the sides of the neck, then try and screw the neck screws in. I'd even get a screwdriver to pry apart the crack a little so the superglue seeps in as much as possible.
I did a similar thing to a flying V neck I split the neck heel and superglue saved it !

Is it worth taking out all the screws and doing this, or do it as it is and then finish repilot for the rest of them? Also, what kind of clamp is best? I don't have one

[wokkaboy]

actually on second thoughts Ihasmario get two of the Irwin quick grip clamps, I recently got 4 of these (300mm long) for about $30 from the big green shed
http://www.irwin.com.au/tools/clamps...ini-bar-clamps
I'd superglue them with no screws in them and clamp across the heel to keep it all together
I'd let it dry overnight to be sure.
Then drill your pilot holes 3.5mm and try again. Can put some soap on the neck screws to lessen chance of the heel splitting again

[jarrod]

3.5mm is the correct drill for the other three holes but I would drill that one out to 4mm and not tighten it as much as the others once glued.There a corse thread so you wont strip it in maple

[ihasmario]

I'm super gluing the cracks now and clamping them with a gclamp. There are a few cracks that were invisible, the worst is right at the base of the heel and runs up the back.

It's a bit hard to get the superglue to slip into the cracks so I am lining around the cracks with it and then pushing what I can down with some spare guitar string.

I also grabbed some new screws as I stripped the heads of the screws while removing them..

Not a fan of hard wood because I very clearly suck at it! haha

[wokkaboy]

Ihasmario you need to use thin superglue. Normal run of the mill superglue will be too thick to penetrate the cracks. I'd try and pry open the crack ever so slightly with a screwdriver and get as much glue in as you can before you clamp it.
G clamps are great, very strong !

[ihasmario]

On first attempt to repair, all but one (the crack in the picture) of the cracks remained sealed with the new screws completely in (the pilot drilled with a broken bit, which I managed to snap in the last 10 minutes of owning it).

My mistake this time was to slightly over tighten it.

The reopened crack is being blow dried and resealed now. It's not sealing as flush as it did before by the looks, but I think once it's dry again and back on the body I think it won't be noticeable. I will post some pictures when it is done.

[ihasmario]

So here's how it's staying overnight, the neck is bolted on now. I personally can't see where the crack is in the photo, which is a pretty good result. For how pissed I was earlier, I am pretty calm now. The glue is already dry (at least I know how to glue haha). If it sticks at all to the wood I'm not that worried because it's all bare wood there.

You can also see a slight crack in the body, probably the shallowest of the cracks. Is there any clamp around that will be able to clamp that area that isn't huge?

It's a smallish crack, only really visible because of the difference in the stain.

Thanks guys and thanks for the good advice.




Edit: Clamp is off now. Here's a mockup of the stuff. Bridge and pups are in place. Only one screw for the bridge so it's still got some give when I get the strings on and line them up, but it measures good so far. I need to solder the ground wire back to the pup as it fell of (!?). Probably going to swap to black tuners...

What are the names of the screw/bolt things that go on the top of the tuning pegs?

[stan]

looks like the repair should go well
Black tuners would be just the thing for this
Just take your time mate, we all are eager for results, but it's not a race and go carefully - this will end up a really nice axe

[gavinturner]

Looking great. She's going to be a beautiful tele!

cheers,
Gav.