My first Pitbull JR-1DC

[stan]

All else being correct, I'd leave it mate

[kells80aus]

Hi Simon.
mine had about 2mm gap above the deck, but I had issues with the rake on the neck and had to add material to the bottom of the heal.
Mine was a set neck so has to be right, as it is glued in place.
I opted to leave the scratchplate off, but one of the functions of the scratch plate is to hide the join.
If you are happy with the scratch plate under the fretboard overlap then that is perfectly fine.

[Dajavoodoo]

After what seemed like forever my Bare Knuckles PUP arrived from England and it didn't quite fit, but with a little bit of filling to the PUP cavity it now fits nicely.
I actually thought that a bolt-on neck would be easier than a set neck like the Les Paul we previously built but I was wrong.
When I first attempted to attach I made a hairline crack in the heel of the neck but with a little Titebond and a clamp managed to fix it.
Today when we were making the second attempt it was going great until I was tightening the screws and one of them broke. Now I have 3 screws in nicely and one screw snapped in half with one half in the neck and no chance of removing it! See image:


Any suggestions on what if anything I could do?
I have assembled the guitar with all its accessories, the wiring harness goes in next and then the strings, if I can overcome this problem with the neck screw.


thanks,
Simon

[WeirdBits]

Ouch... I've had that happen.

Did the screw break flush with the neck heel? Are you able to remove the neck once the other screws are out, or is the broken screw pinching the neck into the neck pocket? We need a bit more info before suggesting a course of action.

[Dajavoodoo]

I removed the neck and it came off cleanly. In the image you can see that the screw has snapped at the end of the thread and the remaining part is embedded in the neck.

[andrewdosborne]

Oh., tricky one. Screw looks wide - maybe wide enough for one of those screw extractor tools? Last time this happened to me (as a last resort) I had to cut around the screw then drill hole/plug with dowel but the screw was tiny -too small for said tool.


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[Dajavoodoo]

Thanks Andrew for the suggestion. Having never done anything like screw extraction before it freaks me out but if this is the only procedure that can be done I'll have a go.
I thought of this possible solution last night, it may be simple but it may work. What if I drill a countersunk screw of the same size as near as possible to the offending screw (leaving the offending screw where it is), and putting the plate over it all to hide it. It is not a perfect solution but it would hold the neck in place. Can anybody see a problem here?

thanks, Simon

[andrewdosborne]

Hello Simon, personally I would remove screw and dowel up the hole. Hard to tell from pictures but it looks like broken below the surface of the neck. Once dowelled/glued appropriately the repair would be invisible. I used a hardwood dowel with Titebond glue to make good my broken screw hole ready for a new screw. Maybe try least damaging techniques first before deciding to cut it out.

This link may give some ideas. The image with craft knife cutting around screw was just like my scenario....

http://www.lowes.com/projects/woodwo...-screw/project

Whatever way you go be very aware of the neck depth as it would be a disaster to go through out the other side.

[wokkaboy]

Hi Simon, I agree with Andrew, you really need to extract the broken screw thread, dowel/glue the hole and redrill a new screw.
The screw head needs to be held by the neck plate, so your idea of countersinking a screw through the thin neck pocket wood may tear the screw head through as there is a fair bit of tension on the neck screws.
Be careful of the depth of the neck as Andrew points out. I usually put some electrical tape around the drill bit to mark the lowest depth the drill bit can go without going through the fingerboard !
Good luck

[Dajavoodoo]

Thanks guys for your advice, I really didn't think of the wood tearing but now that I think about it that would not be a good scenario. I will try my hardest to extract the broken screw. A steep learning curve...I really thought a bolt-on neck would be easier than a set neck! Oh well here goes!

thanks, Simon