Neck doesn't 100% fit, what to do?

[JamesB606]

Hey all,
just got the kit and opened it up.
Wanted to do a mock build and realised the neck is very tight. This kit is the TL-1TB kit but I asked Pitbull guitars to swap the standard neck for a 27" to make a baritone guitar.
I think with some force it will go in, but i'm hesitant to try this incase i damage the neck/socket.

Should the neck slide in easily or should there be some resistance?
If I need to adjust the heel/socket how do I go about this?

I'm a complete novice so the more detail/advice the better!

P.S. I asked for a 27" scale length as I want to make this guitar a baritone (again I'm a complete novice so no idea either way) but the neck seemed smaller than I expected so I measured it and the length from the nut to the end was about 19" or 490mm. Is this right? Figured I should ask now and check before commencing anything.

Added some pics.

[Dedman]

Scale is measured from the nut to the 12th fret,the distance from the 12 th fret to the bridge should be the same.
Neck fit should be snug but don't force it. You may need to sand slightly. I haven't had any experience with the baritone necks yet so I'm unsure if this is typical.

[JamesB606]

thankyou for letting me know, now i know!

Whats the best way to sand it? any resources I should look at?
I read the instruction book but I found it hard to understand because of the lack of pictures/videos.
Reading it is one thing but it would be good to see someone do it so I can have a visual reference.

[chrissyinbkk]

might want to leave it a few days to settle in.... difference in humidity etc....

[Dedman]

thankyou for letting me know, now i know!

Whats the best way to sand it? any resources I should look at?
I read the instruction book but I found it hard to understand because of the lack of pictures/videos.
Reading it is one thing but it would be good to see someone do it so I can have a visual reference.

I don't own a video camera sorry

[Brendan]

might want to leave it a few days to settle in.... difference in humidity etc....

Worth doing... Neck should be tight, but you don't want to break things getting it in...

Can you give us a measurement from the nut to the centre of the 12th fret (metal fret), that will give the best representation of the full scale length.

[Brendan]

Check out the PitBullGuitars Youtube channel - plenty of videos here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/PitBullGuitars/videos

[JamesB606]

I don't own a video camera sorry

Haha all good mate! Wouldn't expect you to whip out the camera for me. I meant more along the lines of something already up on youtube that would be a good source for me to see how someone would shave the socket back.

[JamesB606]

Worth doing... Neck should be tight, but you don't want to break things getting it in...

Can you give us a measurement from the nut to the centre of the 12th fret (metal fret), that will give the best representation of the full scale length.

Yeah its almost 13.5"
Checked out some web pages after a good search - Scale length is just that measurement x2 yeah?

Also thanks for the youtube link. I'll have a look through and see what I find!

[wazkelly]

Suggest wrapping some masking tape around the bridge posts so that they sit firm in the pre drilled holes then you can place the bridge on top..... 27" scale length should be from mid point of high E bridge saddle to inner side of nut on treble side. Once you have this lined up suggest marking around neck heel with a pencil where it overlaps on the body so that you know where to enlarge neck pocket to make things fit.

Doesn't look like any fret board overhang and wondering if you will be using a scratch plate or going naked with just a pickup ring around neck pickup? If the latter then level of precision with enlarging neck pocket becomes extremely important. Either way, slow and steady with frequent checking is best way to tackle this. Hope you have a sharp chisel. Understand you may be tempted to use power tools as that will be quicker but doing things by hand may prevent digging in a bit too far beyond the finish line so to speak.