I have to say... I am disappointed

[Cagey]

The 720 mod lowers the neck pocket floor to .720" deep, while the normal pocket depth is .625". So, you're only talking about .095" difference (slightly less than a tenth of an inch). The fasteners don't need to be any different because of that. But, the contoured heel on the body does make a difference, as it bites off substantially more meat on the body. In that case, you move to 1 1/2" screws rather than the typical 1 3/4" ones, but only on the two farthest from the bridge.

As for drilling in square, it's not tough. Just keep an eye on it. Go slow. Look at how you're holding the drill motor from two angles 90 degrees apart, and it should be obvious if you're off at all. A couple degrees here and there aren't the end of the world. Just be sure to apply even pressure, and not much of it. Let the bit do the work, while you keep the drill motor aligned. It's just wood. Even hardwood is no match for a sharp bit.

 

[Last Triumph]

Oh, and don't drill through your headstock when installing tuners. That'll piss you off, big-time <grin>

I hope you remember that when you're installing the tuners on my $900 neck.....

:doh:

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

The 720 mod lowers the neck pocket floor to .720" deep, while the normal pocket depth is .625". So, you're only talking about .095" difference (slightly less than a tenth of an inch). The fasteners don't need to be any different because of that. But, the contoured heel on the body does make a difference, as it bites off substantially more meat on the body. In that case, you move to 1 1/2" screws rather than the typical 1 3/4" ones, but only on the two farthest from the bridge.

As for drilling in square, it's not tough. Just keep an eye on it. Go slow. Look at how you're holding the drill motor from two angles 90 degrees apart, and it should be obvious if you're off at all. A couple degrees here and there aren't the end of the world. Just be sure to apply even pressure, and not much of it. Let the bit do the work, while you keep the drill motor aligned. It's just wood. Even hardwood is no match for a sharp bit.

Okay, so I'll want to get two 1 1/2 inch screws for the front of the neck plate.  Good to know, because I was totally nervous about what size I would want to go with.

 

[Cagey]

Oh, and don't drill through your headstock when installing tuners. That'll piss you off, big-time <grin>

I hope you remember that when you're installing the tuners on my $900 neck.....

:doh:

Fear not. My drill motors are my bitches <grin>

 

[Last Triumph]

Oh, and don't drill through your headstock when installing tuners. That'll piss you off, big-time <grin>

I hope you remember that when you're installing the tuners on my $900 neck.....

:doh:

Fear not. My drill motors are my bitches <grin>

Awesome.

I'm drowning in a sea of 'hurry the f*ck up' through at the moment..... <taps fingers on desk>

 

[riverbluff]

I always measue my screw length and the mark my drill bit with a wrap of masking tape.  When the tape touches the wood I stop drilling.  Super simple and easy depth gage for drilling.

Bill

 

[Cagey]

I'm drowning in a sea of 'hurry the f*ck up' through at the moment..... <taps fingers on desk>

Ah, yes. The dreaded anticipation. It's rough.

 

[Cagey]

I always measue my screw length and the mark my drill bit with a wrap of masking tape.  When the tape touches the wood I stop drilling.  Super simple and easy depth gage for drilling.

That's really the best. I've used stop collars before, but I've found they tend to move. The bit itself is very hard, so you can't really get a good grip on it with a set screw, which means the collar isn't trustworthy. Masking tape can certainly move, but it's so mushy that it tends to more or less stay in place. If you reach the DNE point, it gets deformed and you know you're being a bad boy. Of course, then you have to keep an eye on it, but you should be doing that anyway.

 

[oldmanriver]

I still wish that Warmoth would almost mandate that people who buy their first body and neck would bundle this book with them as an irrefutable necessity:

Guitar Player Repair Guide 3rd Edition
- Dan Erlewine, available through any place, Amazon, Stew-Mac etc.

It's all in there, and unless the buyers have a fairly good proficiency in woodworking, studying the book will show you the gaps in knowledge - which has led to some people on this forum asking a lot of questions, and consequently reaching a successful result. I think it important that you find a "woody guy" right now. As long as there is some screw on the truss cover still above the wood, that broken one can be extracted with - a screw extractor! Plan B would be to to drill a hole around it with sharpened metal tubing - which I would try to avoid right at the headstock.

I might even be tempted to polish it up a bit and call it a "guide pin", if the other two screws are holding it on. I take you haven't yet drilled the holes for the tuning head screws? They need a pilot hole drilled with a 5/64" or #49 or #48 drill bit. Make a positive stop for the bit by slicing some tubing off the end of a ballpoint pen inner ink tube.

But now, I do agree with you about the quality of screws that are being shipped with... EVERYTHING. Millions of hobbyists have the same opinion - these little potmetal screws that some bean counter mandated are a disgrace, and they're everywhere. Find the funky old hardware store with rows and rows of screws, and get stainless screws- every part. It'd probably take about $7 or $9 to do the whole round. This part I don't understand:

the neck screws were going in VERY tight. I could hardly budge them by the end and the slots in the screw heads have already started stripping out. They are also protruding at a terrible angle out from the neck plate

Besides the fairly obvious need to cut the threads in the neck wood with a really waxed up screw... (?) the holes in the neck are absolutely straight up and down. Did you bend the neck screws? You're not trying to use a POWER TOOL to install any of these, right? 

Sorry, I guess I explained the neck screw protrusion issue inaccurately. With the combination of the contoured heel and neck screw holes drilled straight down (unavoidable, I know), the heads of the neck screws stick out a little high on one side. The screws are not bend at all, and I was not using a power drill or anything similar. Just a regular, old, correct size screwdriver. I think that maybe they weren't in all the way, just really close, because like I said, they were pretty tight as I was getting them farther in. I didn't keep them in, though. I just wanted to see what the body and neck paired together looked like. I took the neck off just a few minutes after.

 

[oldmanriver]

ALL OF THEM. Go ahead and have anxiety attacks about it. You need to do it, if for no other reason than to make assembly easier. It certainly doesn't hurt anything, and it always helps.

More importantly, though, is to make sure you drill the right sized holes. Sometimes, "pilot" holes are just there to encourage a screw's direction. But, when you're going into hardwood, it's a tad more than a pilot hole. It has to be right, because the wood isn't going to want to move or give. So, there's a fine line between "just right" and "clearance" holes.

Hold a screw up to the light with the drill bit in front of it. If you can see any part of the body of the screw other than the threads, the bit is too small and the hole will be too tight. If that's the case, your run a serious risk of twisting the head off the thing and cursing your ancestors for bequeathing you a sub-functional brain <grin>

Good to know...but not so good to know.  Now I'm super-nervous about putting everything back together. :tard:

Don't feel nervous on my account. I have a tendency to rush things like this and that is likely the number-one underlying reason I'm running into so many problems. If you take your time to do each step with love and care it will be a very rewarding process for you. I wish I wasn't just learning this now.  :-\

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

ALL OF THEM. Go ahead and have anxiety attacks about it. You need to do it, if for no other reason than to make assembly easier. It certainly doesn't hurt anything, and it always helps.

More importantly, though, is to make sure you drill the right sized holes. Sometimes, "pilot" holes are just there to encourage a screw's direction. But, when you're going into hardwood, it's a tad more than a pilot hole. It has to be right, because the wood isn't going to want to move or give. So, there's a fine line between "just right" and "clearance" holes.

Hold a screw up to the light with the drill bit in front of it. If you can see any part of the body of the screw other than the threads, the bit is too small and the hole will be too tight. If that's the case, your run a serious risk of twisting the head off the thing and cursing your ancestors for bequeathing you a sub-functional brain <grin>

Good to know...but not so good to know.  Now I'm super-nervous about putting everything back together. :tard:

Don't feel nervous on my account. I have a tendency to rush things like this and that is likely the number-one underlying reason I'm running into so many problems. If you take your time to do each step with love and care it will be a very rewarding process for you. I wish I wasn't just learning this now.  :-\

Good point, but as with anything, you always learn something.  Your first time you may learn something, then the second time you'll realize something else, etc.

 

[Cagey]

Sorry, I guess I explained the neck screw protrusion issue inaccurately. With the combination of the contoured heel and neck screw holes drilled straight down (unavoidable, I know), the heads of the neck screws stick out a little high on one side. The screws are not bend at all, and I was not using a power drill or anything similar. Just a regular, old, correct size screwdriver. I think that maybe they weren't in all the way, just really close, because like I said, they were pretty tight as I was getting them farther in. I didn't keep them in, though. I just wanted to see what the body and neck paired together looked like. I took the neck off just a few minutes after.

That's actually a Good Thing. That means the threads are already cut, so the next time you run the screws in you won't have to fight so hard. I'd still wax them, though, so you don't abrade the wood and open the hole up any more, loosening the joint.

This is one of the reasons some guys (like me) prefer threaded inserts in the neck heel. It allows you to use machine screws instead of wood screws, so there's substantially less wear and tear on the neck if you take it on and off more than a few times during its useful life. It also makes for a tighter joint, which almost has to be a Good Thing as well. Based on your experiences so far, that may be something you'd want somebody else who's done it before to do for you, if the idea appeals. It's a bitch to fix if it doesn't turn out right, assuming it's even fixable, so... word to the wise.

 

[stubhead]

I have a little box of "collars" that lives with my drill bits, it's sections of a few different sizes of plastic tubing of various lengths. You have a whole drawer full of these, called "pens." There are the big outer tubes and the smaller inner ink tubes. By placing one over the drill bit and fiddling with the length of bit in the chuck, you can make an absolute foolproof STOP for any hole so it can't get deeper. I like "foolproof", it lets you pay attention to other things like "straightness"...

And none of us yet mentioned the most important part - calmness.

IF YOU ARE MAD AT IT, STEP AWAY FROM THE GUITAR.
IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY, STEP AWAY FROM THE GUITAR.
IF YOU'RE NOT SURE BUT, "HEY, WHAT THE HELL" - STEP AWAY FROM THE GUITAR.

I dislike soldering, for some reason or another. I will actually cut off all the correct lengths of wire, get out the soldering irons (all 3) & tweezers & clamps, make sure I have a clear recopied drawing (if I'm combining drawings) and then - not solder. It's one of those things that works best for me if I do it first thing in the morning before my brain has a chance to get ensnared & bamboozled by the "real" world, so that's when I do it. Just roll out of bed, zip/bam/boom - brush teeth - admire handiwork.

There may be somebody who does their best work when they're half-crocked, sick 'n' tired of it and not gonna take it anymore - but I've never heard of them. It IS like brain surgery.

 

[pabloman]

For me working on guitars is what keeps me calm. I get off work crack open a beer and have at it. I love whipping through setups and electronics work. I don't mean compromising, just knockin it out gettin right so I can give it back to the owner. I enjoy people being pleased with my work. It gets my mind of off my job for a while, helps me not carry the kids baggage so much.

 

[hannaugh]

It is very common for hardware to not fit everything exactly right, not really Warmoth's fault.  I have a Dan Erlewine Strat and Tele assembly video where even he says that one of his favorite parts of putting a guitar together is when things don't quite fit and he has to find a way to fix it.  It's part of the job, and the challenge that makes it interesting. 

 

[mullyman]

Sorry, I guess I explained the neck screw protrusion issue inaccurately. With the combination of the contoured heel and neck screw holes drilled straight down (unavoidable, I know), the heads of the neck screws stick out a little high on one side.

I'm just wondering if you ordered your neck screws from Warmoth too. With the contoured heel you're going to need different screws because the usual length ones are too long. Warmoth has everything you need.
MULLY

 

[whitebison66]

"What we've got here is... failure to communicate." - Strother Martin

Not a personal failure, but a community one. Why don't we as a community create a sticky post that exhaustively details all the tips, tricks and requirements for assembling a guitar? We can hash out the content (and assembly order) beforehand, put it all together as a single post, and ask the moderators to sticky it?

If Warmoth chooses, they can STRONGLY suggest to customers (either verbally or via email or a notice on the W site) to check out both the forum in general and the Assembly post in particular.

We've all had avoidable tragedies while building guitars, and as a community we'd all like to help others avoid those mistakes. With W's help, we can hopefully reach more people who need the information.

Yes, there is a ton of info on the internet. But that's kind of the problem. By making an Unofficial Warmoth Building Guide, we can hopefully provide people with a tested, trustworthy set of instructions.

Just my .02,


-Sean

 

[fdesalvo]

Great idea - the Carvin Bolt community has one.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Not to be the "oddball" here, but I have yet to wax or soap any of my screws when assembling my guitars. If you drill the right size pilot holes, it's really not needed. Just use a drill bit that matches the size of the screw shaft (not the threads) or slightly smaller. It's worked every time for me.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Not to be the "oddball" here, but I have yet to wax or soap any of my screws when assembling my guitars. If you drill the right size pilot holes, it's really not needed. Just use a drill bit that matches the size of the screw shaft (not the threads) or slightly smaller. It's worked every time for me.

Wax is just really good "insurance".