First Warmoth neck - slack fit?!?

[paulbeaney]

Hi,
Just taken delivery of my first ever Warmoth order - a 3-hole mount neck for my 72 Thinline body.  The finish on the neck is lovely, but having just put it into the neck pocket there is tonnes of slack all round. Ok, "tonnes" maybe means about 1 to 1.5 millimetres.  I thought these things were supposed to be a firm fit, or is it just a lack of precision in Fender's manufacturing process??  I've checked the dimensions of the neck and it looks to be exactly the 2-3/16" as advertised.  Won't the sustain be compromised if the neck isn't firmly touching the pocket all round?

Now I've never had an original neck for this body, nor for that matter ever had any other guitar than my cheapo LP Special II (which currently has a better fitting neck than this Tele!) so I've not got much to compare too, so I'd value some opinions.  Should I cut my losses on the Fender body and get a Warmoth one made (that at least ought to be a good fit), or is this sort of gap normal on a Fender Thinline and I ought to live with it?

So many questions and so little experience...

Regards,

- Paul

 

[jackthehack]

Are you sure it's a Fender OEM body? As long as the neck plate holes line up and it's firmly screwed in, it shouldn't really affect sustain.

Tolerances on either the neck or body side can vary a little bit, but it's more usual for a finished neck to fit too tight rather than loose.

 

[Soloshchenko]

I had an unfinished tele Warmoth neck that just wouldn't go into a warmoth tele neck pocket. I just did a gentle bit of adjustment to the body neck pocket and it was fine.

Once you've put a finish on both it should be fine and a very slight gap won't effect tone. Perhaps W should have a look at its dimensions tho. I did order both body and neck seperately but they should fit like a glove in my opinion.

 

[-CB-]

W does not need to examine the dimensions.

Typically, wood can take on or get rid of moisture.  You simply have zero control once it leaves the production environment. 

I good friend of mine once did some cabinets for an arm of IBM called "SEDAB" (special engineering design and build).  The SEDAB guys were great (I later worked there) but had their heads up their rectums when it came to working with wood.  They wanted a set of cabinets with doors, of their own design, that had an individual tolerance of about 1/128 inch, or seven one-thousandths of an inch.  Impossible to hold.  My friend had the smarts do build the fixturing for them, and bid the job at 8 times his normal shop rate, then doubled it for good measure, figuring he'd not get the job.  He was the sole bidder.  He got them to loosen up the spec to .010, but still.. wanted THEM to gauge each door on arrival and sign off on it, and had that clause put in the contract.  His shop was AC cooled, so fairly dry, and so was SEDAB, but he packed each door in double layers of lawn/yard size garbage bags, and had them open and gauge the doors only when they were at the ready with their calipers.  And considering SEDAB had 24 inch dial calipers.... it wasn't a problem.  Later in the next bid they told him to "just make it work" and forget the spec, as long as the price was more reasonable.  He also did the wooden mockup of the first IBM PC and monitor, out of mahogany, all painted with crinkle paint.  Why?  To hide the grain.  They liked it.  The rest is history.

Back to the subject at hand, yes, wood will vary, and Fender's specs... crap man... they're all over the place.  Get a finish on the neck, and it will fit better, but a real real tight fit is not really needed, or even wanted.  Consider this - bodies like the Warmoth V dont even have "side support", and they do just fine once everything is tight.

 

[CD]

Yeah, Fender's specifications have varied over the years. I have faith in Warmoth keeping their specs right.  There are some people that are tone-superstitious to think that the tight fitting pocket will give better tone. I'm not saying they're wrong, but I bet your neck is fine. At least you don't have to modify the neck pocket to fit it in there. :icon_thumright:

 

[-CB-]

The Fender USA spec has not changed at all.  The implementation of it may have.

The "far east" and "south of the border" spec may be slightly different - based on a metric measurement. 

Either way, it works fine.

 

[paulbeaney]

Thanks for all the replies guys.  I am re-assured!  Still a bit miffed about the visual side of things as I have poured so much thought and preparation int this project - I wanted it to be A1 perfect!

Just got the tuners fitted and now just need the neck micro-tilt disc to arrive and I can get the whole thing bolted together and strung.

BTW, anyone recommend the best product to get the glue off the fretboard where Warmoth stick that little disclaimer notice??  Don't know why the can't use a lower tack adhesive - I've got a fair amount of gunge left behind from it.

Regards,

- Paul

 

[jackthehack]

Oh, good Lord, don't start that thread again....

Previous posts have indicated everything from benzene to thermite, but naptha/lighter fluid probably got more votes than many other solvents, and are least likely to cause brain cancer or explode your abode.

 

[simple]

BTW, anyone recommend the best product to get the glue off the fretboard where Warmoth stick that little disclaimer notice??  Don't know why the can't use a lower tack adhesive - I've got a fair amount of gunge left behind from it.

Regards,

- Paul

Yes, we've just noticed that our sticker's adhesive properties may have changed with our last ordered batch. We're looking into it and meanwhile tearing off a smaller area of sticker backing to lessen the sticky area potential. I'll ask the neck department what solvent they use and get back to you. Sorry for the grunge, that certainly is no Nirvana.

 

[paulbeaney]

Oh, good Lord, don't start that thread again....

Ah, I take it I am not the first to mention this then!  I'll see what I can find under the kitchen sink in the way of dangerous substances...  :icon_tongue:

One other thing.  According to the little yellow "before you play" leaflet, the neck should have an underbow on it (which means concave to me).  Mine actually seems to be slightly bowed back (not touched the truss rod) - sighting down the side of the neck there is a pronounced hump in the middle.  Will it correct itself once under fully strung and under proper tension or should I be concerned??

Regards,

- Paul

 

[jackthehack]

In regards to underbow question, in my experience it varies greatly from a slight underbow to the opposite to a couple of necks that needed no adjustment what so ever.

You can do a preliminary check with a straight edge prior to mounting the neck, try a slight adjustment as requisite and then mount the neck with a set of strings; don't cut the excess string length at the tuners as you may need to pull it and readjust/tweak it again.

 

[Soloshchenko]

BTW, anyone recommend the best product to get the glue off the fretboard where Warmoth stick that little disclaimer notice??  Don't know why the can't use a lower tack adhesive - I've got a fair amount of gunge left behind from it.

Regards,

- Paul

Yes, we've just noticed that our sticker's adhesive properties may have changed with our last ordered batch. We're looking into it and meanwhile tearing off a smaller area of sticker backing to lessen the sticky area potential. I'll ask the neck department what solvent they use and get back to you. Sorry for the grunge, that certainly is no Nirvana.

Why stick anything on there anyway? Could you not just tie the notice to one of the machine head holes with a bit of string? Or even just leave the notice in the box? Whats the benefit of having a sticker on the neck?

 

[simple]

It's mandatory within the license agreement with Fender. We can't mess with what or how we do this at all.

 

[Soloshchenko]

It's mandatory within the license agreement with Fender. We can't mess with what or how we do this at all.

Ah right, no worries then.

 

[-CB-]

It's mandatory within the license agreement with Fender. We can't mess with what or how we do this at all.

I'm not a lawyer, (praise Allah), but I can read english.  Section (6), subsection (h) specifically states you can hang the text Fender mandates (as you have on the sticker) on a tag.

 

[Phrygian]

Oh, good Lord, don't start that thread again....

LOL... was it really that bad? 

 

[simple]

It's mandatory within the license agreement with Fender. We can't mess with what or how we do this at all.

I'm not a lawyer, (praise Allah), but I can read english.  Section (6), subsection (h) specifically states you can hang the text Fender mandates (as you have on the sticker) on a tag.

OMG CB, you're hired.  :laughing7:  The Fender lawyers have been offereing us "suggestions"  for years so we follow their advise as it comes if you know what I mean.