More Neck Trouble...

[Ghwar]

I bought a replacement neck for my jackson which came with no holes drilled in it whatsoever.

i have done this before with my stratocaster, so It was easy to drill the pilot holes. i used a pretty small drill bit this time, then screwed the bolts in a small amount.. then I took the neck back off and did bigger pilots this time.. almost as big and deep as the actual bolts themselves. now i go to bolt the neck back on, and the bolts will go about 1\2 of the way of where they need to go into the neck, except one which will only go about 1\4th of the way. they just get so stubborn and WILL NOT turn, my hand is literally bruised from trying to turn the screwdriver! i really dont know why it's being so stubborn, my strat's neck was higher quality maple then this and the screws went in pretty easily.. took about 5 minutes and i was ready to play, i have been struggling with this for 2 hours!

and the worst part is from what i can see now, there is a pretty large gap between the neck and the pocket, like i could fit 4 or 5 sheets of paper in there. will that go away when (or should i say if) the neck bolts actually go all the way in?

[M_A_T_T]

You should drill them in ALL the way. I *THINK* the size of hole to drill for a standard neck bolt is 9/64"???? I don't remember exactly, and I'm refering to the neck bolts Allparts sells, yours might be different. I also clamped my necks into the pocket with a c-clamp, and drilled the holes completely, using the holes in the body as a guide. And the holes in the body should be slightly larger, you don't want the bolt grabbing the body at all, just the neck, you get 'joint suck' that way.

[Ghwar]

well i'm trying to bolt em in with a screwdriver which is not working (although it worked without much effort into my strat, wbhat the heck)

do i just need to force it , or am i just gonna break it doing what it doesnt want me to do?

[Mickguard]

I'd be scared of forcing anything.

What I'd do: take the neck off the body. Try screwing through the body part first. Then try screwing them into the neck itself (but be careful about screwing too far).

You should be able to tell where things are hanging up. Maybe your holes aren't perfectly straight?

When I put my bolt on neck on, I used a couple of pump-action clamps--I seated the neck exactly where it's going to be and made sure it was nice and tight.

That means that the screws just hold the neck in place--they don't have to provide the torque needed to squeeze the heel against the joint. It makes it much easier to drive the screws in and I think I got a tighter, firmer joint because of it.

(note: The jaws on the clamps I use are made of non-aggressive plastic, so there's no worries about screwing up your frets or your finish.)

[Mattia]

The holes need to be at least the size of the screw's shaft. They need to go ALL THE WAY, you DO NOT want the screw to create the hole for you (cracks ahoy!). Also lube the screws with a bit of candle wax or similar. If it's not going in without creaking, and without trying to crank it like crazy, you need to drill a bigger hole.

[Ghwar]

Thanks everyone! you guys are always so helpful..

I will try drilling larger pilot holes and the wax lube idea. Unforutnately there's no way i can clamp it, but i will hold it in real tite next time i try to bolt it on..

[Jehle]

The holes need to be at least the size of the screw's shaft. They need to go ALL THE WAY, you DO NOT want the screw to create the hole for you (cracks ahoy!). Also lube the screws with a bit of candle wax or similar. If it's not going in without creaking, and without trying to crank it like crazy, you need to drill a bigger hole.

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+1 to that. I use bar soap to lube stubborn screws. Good old Ivory to the rescue.