knighty76 Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Hi! Here comes what might be a really silly question... we shall see! I'm building a telecaster style body and my plan to suspend the guitar for finishing is to attach a dummy neck (ie a length of scrap wood) into the pocket. Using the bolt-on holes, I was going to screw the "neck" on in the normal way. Thing is.. what about the screwheads on the back of the guitar? I can see two potential problems.. 1) If I just screw the wood into the pocket without a neck plate, and if I need to screw them in pretty tight so that I can manipulate the body without buggering up the holes, then will the screwheads not leave unsightly indentations in the wood? Solution to this is to use the neck plate, but you can't spray lacquer through metal.. 2) If it's ok to screw straight onto the body with no neck plate, when I apply the tinted lacquer and clear coats, will I not leave four little round unfinished, uncoloured areas about the holes where the screwheads where? I realise this will be concealed by the neck plate, but.. presumably these will be like little countersunk areas.. will this affect the strength of the neck join, sitting right under the plate at the four points where it couples with the body? Daft questions I know, but after coming this far I don't want to scupper it. What do people normally do? Assuming you're also using a dummy neck that is... Cheers y'all? Rich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 dont worry about the plate, just screw two screws in through the normal holes, more than enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 (edited) I use a length of 1/8" strong steel wire. I bend a hook at one end (for hanging) and a slightly overbent "L" shape (about 3") at the other end which inserts into one of the neck mounting holes from the neck pocket side. I'm shooting rattlecan poly on the guitar. The first 3 or 4 spraying sessions (about 3 shoots / session) happen with the body hanging. I can manage to hit it everywhere without having to move the body. And I don't go at it too heavily because the stuff likes to sag and curtain. Because its a telecaster style body and has flat surfaces, the final shoot is with the body laying flat (and extremely level) on a table. First I spray the edges and corners then shoot the bejeezus out of the center flat area. I do this about 5 or 6 times within the space of an hour. Because everything is level the poly evens out nicely. I'll leave it to cure overnight and then flip it over a do the same on the other side. Edited August 5, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 bombing it on like that can cause crows feet and crazing over time. beware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 this may be bad form or something but when i'm finishing a body i take a 2-2 1/2' piece of 1x2 and and mount it on the inside of the neck pocket with two screws. i place it right in the center of the pocket so i end up with a couple of extra holes but the back of the guitar is bare with nothing in the way..just my two cents worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 this may be bad form or something but when i'm finishing a body i take a 2-2 1/2' piece of 1x2 and and mount it on the inside of the neck pocket with two screws. i place it right in the center of the pocket so i end up with a couple of extra holes but the back of the guitar is bare with nothing in the way..just my two cents worth. ← I just use neck screws with neck screw washers like the ones found on Ibanez guitars. Stew-mac sells them. F.M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n8rofwyo Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 I do it the same way unclej does, seams to due just fine. Nate Robinson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knighty76 Posted August 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Cheers fellas! And lasses, if there are any in here!! If I've screwed a piece of wood into the neck pocket, then on the back of the guitar there are going to be at least two gaps in the finish where the screwheads were sitting. Should I be bothered about this? Gonna be covered by a neck plate anyway... Thanks Rich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Should I be bothered about this? ← Gonna be covered by a neck plate anyway... ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knighty76 Posted August 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Should I be bothered about this? ← Gonna be covered by a neck plate anyway... ← ← Heh Heh.. I figured as much. Cheers everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Seems like a lot of production guitars have a center hole just for hanging --if you're worried that you'll strip the neck bolt screw holes you can add a new hole in the center. One thing I found helpful : I screw a hook into the top of the strip of wood I use --it makes it a lot easier to spin the body about as your painting it. I took Maiden69's suggestion to only paint with the body upright-- his point was that you have to be more careful about how much you're putting on there, and therefore you'll have a better chance of avoiding runs. Of course, once you've got a lot of experience at it, that's not as big of an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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