FBM-1 Build, Name TBD, First PB Build!

[stewartm]

Took the back of the neck down roughly 1/16" and the pocket down about the same. Adjusted the angle in the pocket a bit. Tried boring out the original broken screws again, managed to get most of the shrapnel out. I thought I might have to re-drill in different locations to save it. The neck lined up reasonably well, and some alternate screws went in.

Some fretting out happening at teh first fret, and between the 12th and 15 frets, so leaving the action high for now, then I'll do a better crown and polish. (I was warned about this in the documentation. :-) There's a bit of a twist in the neck, so it could use some leveling for that reason alone. For the fingerboard, couldn't find 'Tru-Oil' around, and can't bring it in to Canada from the US, so I ended up with some Tung Oil.

Tuning isn't all that stable at the moment. Went with the Grover mini locking tuner set. I suspect the neck is flatsawn, and the grain seems to back that up a bit. I reckon the neck flexes a fair bit being such light wood. I think it'll settle in, and when I can get the action down a bit it may be fine. Hard to believe I played a gig on it the other way. Some finer bits to work out.

The finish is relatively thin - wanted to allow the tone to come through (snake oil?) I may fine sand the back of the neck and see how the tung oil does there as well.

[Trevor Davies]

Good save with the neck, body and the screws! A few forum members suggest replacing the screws with better quality ones! I have not had any problems yet - but also have not had to remove any necks! Out of interest - did you use bees-wax (or other lubricant) on the screw threads?

[stewartm]

Alas, no beeswax... never tried such a thing. OCD about things grabbing I suppose, which is why I used school grade white glue on the pocket last try. Not sure if it would chemically alter the metal, but chalk it up to cheap hardware that they snapped. I've had necks off guitars, so word to the wise, maybe just some better screws and more attention to measuring the fit would have avoided all this. Looking forward to a better run at the frets.

[Simon Barden]

I’ve never heard of kit neck screws snapping before. Small screws for tuners, yes, but not the neck screws. Though the only bolt-on kit I’ve made I replaced all the kit screws and used stainless steel screws for the neck.

I expect the holes drilled in the neck were too small for the supplied screws. If the neck is really hard maple (it varies), then the hole needs to be the same diameter as the central core of the screw. You can get away with a smaller hole in softer woods but even with goid screws, you don’t want the hole too small.

Did you drill out the neck screw holes in the body so they were the sane size as the neck screw? This allows the screw to properly do its job of pulling the neck down into the pocket. Having the screw screw itself through the body serves no useful purpose in fixing the neck on and can stop the neck being fully pulled down into the pocket if the screwhead hits the neckplate and stops turning whilst there’s still a gap between the neck and the pocket.

If you’ve no beeswax, then use candle wax or a bar of soap to lubricate the thread. It does make initial screwing into the wood easier. If it’s hard, then I tend to screw for a turn of the driver, then back half a turn, then forwards a turn. Not the sort of job for an electric screwdriver.

[fender3x]

Car wax also works.

I think it's wise to just pitch all the screws the come with the kit and replace with stainless steel. I haven't had a neck screw break, but I have had them strip. I have had bridge screws break in ash. You can break/strip a good screw too in very hard wood, and neck bolt hole in a body I have gotten has had holes that were too small. The body holes should be just big enough so that you can slide the screw in and out of the hole without it binding. The culprit is likely to be holes in the neck that are too slightly too small, and, as Simon suggests...lack of lube. Be aware that none of this conjures up pornographic images in the pure of heart.