Neck pocket not tight

[ezas]

I have a Swamp Ash/Quilted Maple top finished Strat Body and a maple/rosewood unfinished neck. I see people posting worried about the pocket being tight but my problem is the opposite. The neck takes very little pressure to seat all the way down and the weight of the neck is enough to tilt the neck in the pocket if I lay it down flat with no neck support.

Do I need to worry about this? Or clamp it down with the plate (after checking alignment of course) and the four screws and call it good? I'm kind of a perfectionist about stuff and this is my first build (i'm doing two builds in parallel) Should I just let a little neck finish get on the heel? I was thinking to build up the pocket a little bit with medium Cyanoacrylate? (I've worked with all viscosity of super glue including laminating with it so Im comfortable with it). My thinking is that sets up very hard and I can sand it to a very good interference fit for the neck and my thinking is its so hard when its set up that it should not be a tone robber. Sure given my option I'd take a good barewood to barewood fit. But the neck and body were both chosen for their looks (i'm doing this for someone else) so I have what I have.

Any and all advice welcome.

 

[baskruit]

Or clamp it down with the plate (after checking alignment of course) and the four screws and call it good?

Yes. This says it all: http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Radical/Vbodies.aspx

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The pocket sounds tight enough to me and not what I'd call loose.  Depending on how you finish the neck, it will get tighter.  But, it's the screws that hold the neck on anyway.

 

[Stew]

My strat with raw canary neck was about the same. Like the others have said once you screw it down it'll be perfect  :icon_thumright:

 

[ezas]

Or clamp it down with the plate (after checking alignment of course) and the four screws and call it good?

Yes. This says it all: http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Radical/Vbodies.aspx

Well that certainly makes the point doesn't it.

Thanks for all the replies. I'd still rather it was a tight fit, but it is what it is.

 

[stubhead]

I'm a bit rare, in that I like my necks crooked - I like to have as much room under the high E string as possible and I'm content with a low E string that's just parallel. I set them up, tune it up, loosen the screws slightly to let the strings pull the neck to the bottom of the pocket, then angle it where I want and tighten them. Sometimes I'll stick some thin hard plastic in the top of the bass side of the neck pocket, but the screws hold pretty good as long as it's wood-to-wood contact. A thin layer of shellac as sealer never hurt. There is another old trick of cutting out a piece of window screen and putting it in the pocket before you tighten everything down, but I've not found it necessary. If you had to do a quick fix on a shiny poly-to-shiny poly pocket, maybe, but at some point that axe would be improved with some finish removal in the pocket.

 

[Strat Avenger]

I'm a bit rare, in that I like my necks crooked - I like to have as much room under the high E string as possible and I'm content with a low E string that's just parallel. I set them up, tune it up, loosen the screws slightly to let the strings pull the neck to the bottom of the pocket, then angle it where I want and tighten them. Sometimes I'll stick some thin hard plastic in the top of the bass side of the neck pocket, but the screws hold pretty good as long as it's wood-to-wood contact. A thin layer of shellac as sealer never hurt. There is another old trick of cutting out a piece of window screen and putting it in the pocket before you tighten everything down, but I've not found it necessary. If you had to do a quick fix on a shiny poly-to-shiny poly pocket, maybe, but at some point that axe would be improved with some finish removal in the pocket.

I'd never want a crooked neck. Both E-strings should be parallel with the edges of the fretboard.

On another note; while a tight neck pocket "may" improve side-to-side stability, I don't buy the claim by some (like Ed Roman) that it improves tone. The neck is tightly screwed to the body with wood to wood contact. Vibration will transfer just fine.
Obviously, you don't want visible gaps between the body and neck -- that's just poor craftsmanship.

 

[riverbluff]

Sounds fine to me.  Of the 6 warmoths I have built the concern you are having was present on all the ones I have built with an un-finished neck.  I think I would only get a bit conerned if the neck had a lot of side to side in the pocket.  As the link posted suggests, some of the bodies (Vs, SGs and LPSs) have very little support on the sides anyway.  It's the screws that do all the work.

 

[ezas]

Thanks for all the replies. No, there is no play. It just not what I would call a friction fit. My other build is a little tighter in that the neck will not fall out of its own weight. It's good to know that neck fit comes ever way from tight to loose and they all bolt up fine together.

I'm new to all this, but it does (did) not take long to recognize BS when you read it at 'some' sites. I'm always wary of anyone who pimp themselves too much.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

The neck fits quite tightly into the pocket on my guitar, with no movement or play whatsoever.  I was very impressed and satisfied with the fitment.

As it's been said, there are a lot of contributing factors, with one of them being the finish you choose.

 

[bagman67]

If you're concerned for  a solid fit, you could also go the threaded-insert route - that will increase the pressure exerted by the screws holding the neck to the body.

 

[ezas]

I've thought about inserts but decided against them. What I do is after inserting the screw once, I remove the screw and harden the threads with either epoxy, using the screw as the 'mold', or by using water thin super glue dripped down the edges. I have built more RC gliders than I can count going from the old balsa wood versions to vacuum bagged Kevlar/carbon fiber wings. I have fixed threads in about every material that can be threaded, including metal.

As for the neck pocket, I used some water on the edges of the pocket and let it dry and the fit improved. While I'm not as concerned about the fit as much, a tighter fit will make getting a good alignment easier.