Help! Advice please on an older Warmoth body

[AprioriMark]

So, I've had this guitar body (double cutaway Les Paul special, I think) for 15 years or more, and it used to be a guitar that I played when going on the road that I... abused with love.  It's on neck #3 (don't ask), and I think that it may finally be dead. 

Here's the problem: because of the lack of support of any surrounding wood on either side of the neck pocket, the screw holes have reamed themselves out a bit, and any neck that I put on it will *pop* and, well, move slightly.  It makes it difficult to use, since it knocks it slightly out of tune.

Does anyone have any advice as to how to salvage this body?  I can post pictures later if it's helpful, but essentially, the screw holes are just oversized now, and they're not worn symmetrically.  I would hate to lose this perfectly weighted, well-loved body.

Thanks for any insight you might have!

-Mark

 

[GoDrex]

is it too far gone to be able to use some dowels and some wood glue - and then re-drill?

 

[AprioriMark]

That's what I've wondered, but I have zero experience with this and wonder about stability.  Is the doweling thing a common repair job?  I'm hesitant to bring it to a repair tech as I don't know one I'd trust in the Puyallup/Tacoma WA area.  I've always had luthiers do my fretwork, and I think the guy I've used would be offended at my asking him to do this repair, lol.

-Mark

 

[GoDrex]

I don't know why he'd be offended. :icon_scratch:

 

[Mor Paul]

Money=It's all good.

If you don't trust your woodworking skills, take it to a tech.

 

[AprioriMark]

He prefers to build new instruments, and well, the body is beat to death otherwise.  I generally just ask him to do fretwork and repairs to instruments that I keep looking pristine.  I'm also hoping that this repair is something that I might be able to pull off myself.

-Mark

 

[Xplorervoodoo]

If he's offended by such work, he probably shouldn't be in the business, in my opinion.

Besides, dowelling and redrilling should be a simple job for someone with the experience he has.

 

[Soylent]

again today, I link http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=6807.0

Seems fairly easy to do.. go for it.  :headbang1:

 

[mayfly]

I'd try inserts on the neck as well.  I had a problem with neck shifting in the pocket with my B-bender tele, and with regular screws I could not get them tight enough so that the neck would not shift.  Threaded inserts allowed me to torque the bajeasus out of the screws.  No more neck shift.

On that guitar I used the ones from www.onyxforgeguitars.com  They worked out quite well, but they are not stainless.

 

[stubhead]

Buy Dan Erlewine's "Guitar Player Repair Guide" and you'll be better equipped to assess your own skill level vis-a-vis* the work. I can think of a bunch of stuff like wrapping duck tape just around the parts of the screws that need to be snuggier, OR dripping thick superglue down the sides of the holes till they're smaller, AND putting a piece of window screen between the neck and body to "bite" into the wood,  OR larger screws... but that's me. No beater-techs in Puyallup?!? Of course your guy would be happy to do it, everybody knows how important "old-friend" guitars are.


*(ooh la la) :headbang:

 

[GoDrex]

I'm a Warmoth nutjob and have 16 guitars/basses with Warmoth parts.  

  :laughing7: