Was working on making a telecaster body and may have messed up the neck pocket. I posted this on a telecaster forum and got some mixed feedback, so I thought I'd ask you guys.
Here goes:
I am (or was) making a tele body and have a USA custom guitar t-style neck. I made a working template from a master copy and did test route on scrap to make sure the neck fit the pocket -- it did...nice and tight. So, thinking the template was good, I went ahead and routed the pocket out on the body. When I tested the route w/ the neck it seemed way too loose for comfort (I'm under the impression that the fit should good enough so that you can pick up the guitar by the neck without it being screwed in). Seems pretty likely that I messed up somewhere pretty bad, no?
But anyway, here are some things that went through my head, and I'm hoping the builders here could chime in...
1) my test route doesn't have a cutaway like a tele, so there's extra support on the bottom of the neck, explaining the difference in fit between the test route and the real route. Are factory tele necks a little wobbly when you unbolt them?
2) I may have done the 2 routes w/ different router bits (porter cable vs. freud).
3) A Fender tele pickguard fits both routes perfectly, making me think back to item #1.
4) I'm over-analyzing this too much.
Here is a picture with the neck angled toward the lower bout:
Some replies on the other forum said building up the lacquer finish would take care of this problem, but since the neck is already finished and I'm planning on an oil finish for the body, I don't that'll work.
Thanks and feedback appreciated! Any places to get single piece mahogany blanks other than Gilmer wood?