Fender Strat 70's '3 Hole' And Warmoth Neck 4-hole Dilemma

[AndrTay]

Morning all,

Can anyone offer advice on the best way to go about attaching a Warmoth strat neck with it's pre-drilled 4-holes to a Fender strat 70's type body with it's three holes? I only found out today that the top two holes on the body are slightly closer together than the top two on the neck... Bah!

The way I see it the best option would be to fill the holes in the neck and then use the 3 pre-drilled holes on the body to attach with.

The neck itself doesn't have the 'micro-tilt' groove rout, and I'm not planning to use the one on the body.

If filling is the way to go, what type should I use?

Many thanks,

Andrew

Edited June 16, 2007 by AndrTay

[Guitar WIll]

If it was me I would fill the holes with dowell. This may need drilling the holes bigger. I would glue the dowell in using a water based glue that would soak into the wood, and then sand it flat against the rest of the neck (make it a tight fit). Leave it to set for a while then re- drill the holes in the right place. Use your body as a reference. Put the neck into the guitar. The dip the wooden end of a thin paintbrush in paint and push it through the holes. Let the paint dry, and when you take the neck off you will have the exact place to drill.

[crafty]

Or you could simply convert the Strat body to four-hole and use a new neck plate. I'd use wood plugs instead of dowels if you're going to drill new holes on the neck. Dowels strip out a lot easier than plugs because of the end grain orientation.

Any good wood glue will work, most people here use the original Titebond.

[tim_ado]

or instead of dowl or wood plug wat about some matches

eh..........eh??

[AndrTay]

convert the Strat body to four-hole

That's what I'd prefer, but would I need to plug the top two holes on the body first? They're slightly closer together than the existing top two holes on the neck, I don't think either lines up with the neck holes as they stand, they're more central.

Edited June 17, 2007 by AndrTay

[crafty]

convert the Strat body to four-hole

That's what I'd prefer, but would I need to plug the top two holes on the body first? They're slightly closer together than the existing top two holes on the neck, I don't think either lines up with the neck holes as they stand, they're more central.

Nope. The new neck plate will cover the old holes. It doesn't matter if the new holes overlap the old ones in the body, either. The strength of the joint comes from the mechanical leverage of the screws in the neck and the reinforcement from the neck plate.

[soapbarstrat]

Not fun trying to transfer existing neck holes onto body, while at the same time, making sure your E's are the proper distance from the edges of the neck.

Easier to mark new holes onto neck, through body holes. BUT, in this case, you have to make sure drilling a center hole in that neck won't run into part of the T-rod or something. But let's say you can do it on this neck. Then you just have 2 neck holes to plug, 3 new to drill (2 neck holes can be left unplugged).

[AndrTay]

Thanks for all the advice so far.

The neck I have has a truss rod with a heel adjustment screw, so there might be a problem if I use the centred body screw. I can't find any pictures, but the 1970's Strat neck design has a truss rod that adjusts at peghead instead of the butt-end of the neck. Presumably this allows for the centre body screw to attach to the neck safely clear of the truss rod?

To be on the safe side I'll probably have to tackle it using the neck plate in the neck pocket to mark 4 holes and just hope they match up with the neck. StewMac have an article about bolt on necks that has some measurements to work with, plus some tips on getting the neck lined up.