wayja Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Hello Forum, I have an idea that I have not seen addressed any where. I purchased a Les Paul body with a set neck that had been sawed off flush with the body. I have no idea why. After a fruitless attempt to find a reasonable set neck replacement, I thought maybe my purchase wasn't the best. Then I had a brain storm. With the availability of plenty of bolt on necks, maybe I could pull out what is remaining of the tenon, and "attach" it to a bolt on neck and reset it. My other thought was to fill the set neck pocket, and reroute for a bolt on? As much as I would love to have a set neck Les Paul, I have played many guitars and there does not seem to me to be much of a tone difference between the set neck and bolt on to me. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you, Wayja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Is it a real les paul or a chinese copy? You can purchase chinese LP necks ready for installation. If it is a Gibson...you should replace the neck with a neck made for it...My opinion is that if you hack up a Gibson to make a bolt on...then that kind of turns my stomach a bit... There are people who can build you a replacement neck of better quality than the original... http://www.soulmateguitars.com/Necks.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayja Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Thank you for the input. I am honestly not sure of the origin of this body, but after looking it over, there is no way it is a Gibson. The quality of the cavity cut outs gives it away. It could be an Epiphone. I really would like to put a set neck back in, but my fear is doing more damage trying to take out the tenon remainder. Using this body as a training aid, I think I will take your advice and try Soulmate. Do you know anybody else who makes set necks? Thanks again for your help. Wayja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Hello Forum, I have an idea that I have not seen addressed any where. I purchased a Les Paul body with a set neck that had been sawed off flush with the body. I have no idea why. After a fruitless attempt to find a reasonable set neck replacement, I thought maybe my purchase wasn't the best. Then I had a brain storm. With the availability of plenty of bolt on necks, maybe I could pull out what is remaining of the tenon, and "attach" it to a bolt on neck and reset it. My other thought was to fill the set neck pocket, and reroute for a bolt on? As much as I would love to have a set neck Les Paul, I have played many guitars and there does not seem to me to be much of a tone difference between the set neck and bolt on to me. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you, Wayja I bough a cheapo Uke kit and the neck came that way. For what I was doing I just glued it on. I think the easier solution is to use dowels. You could also remove the existing tenon and with hand tools try and get a new tenon into what is left of the heal. But dowels seem like an easier solution, 15 min VS several hours. Use big dowels. Like two 1/2" dowels. The other issue is not removing too much wood your you will change the position of the bridge in relation to the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 did ya try Ebay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayja Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Tim37! You are a genius! This wasn't there last time I checked eBay. This may just solve my problem with a reasonable price. Now to get the old tenon out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 now wait a sec..that is an LP studio tenon on that ebay neck...the chinese copies have an offset tenon,and the LP standards (gibson) have a completely different thing going on.. Most likely the one we are talking about is a chinese copy...and if so,it needs an offset tenon...unless you plan on rerouting the existing pocket...which is also feasible... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayja Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 westhemann, You bring up a very good point. My thought was to route the neck to fit the tenon cavity on this body, which does have an offset. I am thinking the wrong way? Maybe it would be easier to reroute the body. This whole set neck thing is turning into a pain in the butt, but a good learning experience. I appreciate all your input. Wayja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Better to make the body fit the neck,rather than the other way around.Means you will need to fill the existing pocket with wood,then tout the pocket you nee into it. You have a router? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayja Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Filling the body and rerouting makes good sense and is probably the easier way. Maybe I should just leave the existing tenon "stub" in place and get a les paul neck pocket template and route it as is and then fill any voids? What do you think? I have several types of routers available to me, from huge to Dremel size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anderekel Posted April 18, 2009 Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 Well you could leave the tenon in if you want, but really, it's gonna be the best idea to take it out, then route out a rectangle and fill it with a perfectly sized piece of wood so that there aren't any gaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayja Posted April 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 Thank you all for your quick responses and great information/advice. I contacted the eBayer with the Les Paul replacement neck and it just so happens he has a Korean Epiphone neck that will fit my body. After several painstaking hours of decision making, I decided to take the easier way out and purchase the Epi neck. It seems like the logical choice for my first neck replacement. Thanks again for the invaluable input. I will try and post some pictures of the repair for others who might be entertaining a neck replacement. Maybe I can be of some help to someone else. Wayja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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