Fitting a Strat Neck

[aussietim]

I am about to assemble  a Strat with warmoth neck and tonebombs body the neck fits in the pocket with a bit of effort. What I want to know is how tight  a fit should it be? my background is in metalwork so I am a  little hesitant to force the  wood together neck is maple body alder

 

[vetteman]

Do not force the neck into the pocket.  It should fit snugly, with very little movement, but if forced it will cause bad things to happen to the body finish and thin woods at the neck joint.  Carefully sand the excess finish (usually at least part of the problem) from the inside edge of the neck pocket.  I use 3M stikit paper on a metal guitar slide to avoid sanding at an angle and opening up the visible edges of the pocket.  How close the products from 2 different manufacturers will be is anybody's guess, and could require opening up that pocket with more drastic measures (ie: router).  Good luck and work slowly!

 

[Cagey]

Also, there's a slight angle to sides of the neck, and if the pocket is cut accurately, it'll be cut to match. That means the neck won't want to slide in laterally, it wants to sink down in from the top, sorta like a dovetail. It will be snug, almost a press-fit, so as vetteman pointed out you want to make sure any finish is at least flush to the edge of the pocket, if not slightly angled away from it, otherwise it'll chip easily.

 

[ghotiphry]

Agreed.  I made the mistake of fitting a too-tight neck into a body.  I needed to take it out, then.  When I did that it pulled a little chip of paint off of the body at the neck pocket edge.  Not noticeable, but I kicked myself.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Carefully sand the excess finish (usually at least part of the problem) from the inside edge of the neck pocket.

This. I use the 3M self adhesive sandpaper vetteman mentions, on a machinists rule for flat surfaces and a dowel rod for the shoulders. Make sure to use only inward strokes while sanding, as outward strokes may pull the finish up. Also look for finish accumulated on the front of the neck pocket; it won't affect the fit so much, but it will play havoc with the geometry.