Just noticed something...

[GoDrex]

...on my new LP. One of the neck screws just turns and turns and the thing is pretty new. Anything I can do about this easily? Like jam some tooth picks in the neck or something?

Should I not be using the plastic pad thingy under the plate? Maybe it's robbing it of the 3 mm it needs to grab on?

The neck hasn't been off of the thing all that much. I'm really surprised by this - it's weird.

 

[RLW]

Man, I don't have an answer for you, but for the neck bolts I'm not sure the ol' toothpick trick is the way to go. First time I've ever heard of this problem, but I just think a more permanent solution would be better.

 

[GoDrex]

Yeah I didn't think so either, but I'm just not in the mood to go all nutty on it right this minute. I don't have a shop in my house will supplies, so I'm thinking I need to go to the store and get wood glue or something and some kind of dowel and make it fit in there and sand it and re-drill it and lose more years off of my life etc etc blah blah blah... :-\

 

[jackthehack]

Try losing the pad?

 

[DocNrock]

Slightly larger diameter screw with the same sized head?

 

[RLW]

Okay, dumb question from me. Is it a contoured heel? If so, maybe you got the screws mixed up and used a short one where a long one was supposed to go?

I know, I know...

:-\

 

[GoDrex]

Yeah I'm going to take the pad out of there - - I'm not even sure why I have the thing. I saw it when I was making my shopping list and just threw it in there figuring why the hell not? But my strat never had one...

hmmm bigger screw sounds interesting... scary too.... it might come to that if I can find one.

Oh and I did think maybe the screws were mixed up so I checked. Nope they're OK. This is the hole closest to the middle of the body - basically the thickest spot. It's got a long screw in there.

 

[GoDrex]

took the pad out... made no difference... oh well.

this is par for the course for me and guitars... next the hardened steel shaft of one of the tuners will break. :toothy12:

 

[jackthehack]

Is this a new Warmoth neck and a set of neck screws from Warmoth?

 

[GoDrex]

yep it's pretty much brand new from Warmoth - got it in April...

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=3120.0.

 

[jackthehack]

I hate to ask this question, but did you take a power screwdriver to it?

 

[GoDrex]

hehehe no I didn't. :tard:

 

[GoDrex]

I've decided to take it to yet another guitar luthier/tech whatever.  I figure if I keep throwing money it, eventually it will be OK. :help:

 

[ByteFrenzy]

Probably that's the best thing to do. If this is the neck that had the issue with binding, I'm afraid you may have overdone the tightening when you turned your fingerboard into a lookalike of a ski jumping ramp. Probably the best solution is to drill the stripped screw hole a bit bigger, glue in a wooden dowel, and re-drill the hole when everything is dry. But with the luck you've been having with this build you probably will drill through the fingerboard or something, so taking it to a tech really makes sense.

 

[GoDrex]

Yeah had taken it to place and IMO they did a crap job. This time I'm taking it a guy that is a luthier that will hopefully do a much better job. I'll just keep taking it to every place I can find in ever widening circles, until I've spent enough for another guitar.

I should have gone with my first guy that I know is a pro and wanted $325+ tax to assemble it. By the time I'm done I'll have spent that much anyway. I just felt like that was high but I'm an idiot. I don't really know why I thought I could actually have a nice guitar.

 

[ognolman]

I like ByteFrenzy's idea of using the dowl, but I wouldn't try it if I didn't have a drill press.  That would make for super-accurate drilling and keep you from going through the fretboard.

But look at it this way: if the neck is holding just fine with one stripped screw then it would probably also be fine with the toothpick trick as long as you used good glue and thoroughly filled the hole.  I'd probably just throw in a bunch of toothpicks soaked in 5 minute epoxy.  It would probably be every bit as strong as the other bolts.  It would certainly be a lot cheaper and less hassle than going to a pro luthier.

Now that I think about it, I did it on my MIM Fender Strat a few years ago and it's still holding up fine. <neck pops off as I type> :laughing7:

JBD

 

[ognolman]

...Also, you can just use a piece of tape wrapped around a drill bit as a depth gauge to keep you from going through the fretboard.

Just wrap the tape around the bit at point where you want to stop drilling.  Use the neck screw as your guide as to where to set the tape.  My drill has a little bubble and crosshair on the top that helps me drill fairly straight holes.  Not as straight as a drill press, but straight enough.  I would just go slow and careful.

If you're really worried about it you can pick up a small drill press set that lets you clamp a standard drill into it for about $30.  They do a good job, too.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Aluminum-Drill-Stand/G8061

JBD

 

[ByteFrenzy]

...Also, you can just use a piece of tape wrapped around a drill bit as a depth gauge to keep you from going through the fretboard.

That's what I personally do all the time, whether it's drilling a wall for mounting a shelf or drilling a body for PU screws. I did that just this evening and every time it still scares the hell out of me. It's not just a matter of stopping in time, but if your arithmetinc is wrong you will still come out the back. That's the beauty of a drill press, you can check beforehand that you stop well above the support.

A repair that is simpler than the dowel method would be to look for something made of wood that will fit the neck screw hole. A toothpick will be too thin but I have found kebab skewers that are a perfect fit. You just have to find some that are made of wood and not from some cane-like stuff. If you bend it, it should break cleanly instead of separating into a jumble of fibres. If you glue a length of one of those into the stripped hole, then carefully re-drill with the correct diameter, you will have a strength very close to the original.

 

[GoDrex]

I'm having a luthier work on the guitar now. I hope this will take care of all the trouble I'm having.

 

[blue313]

I don't really know why I thought I could actually have a nice guitar.

True...its not a nice guitar.  It's a freaking sweet ass custom guitar!!  It just needs a lil tweaking.  :icon_thumright: