Bolt On To Set Neck.

[guitar2005]

I want to convert one of my builds from a bolt on to a set neck - kinda.

The idea would be to take the neck out, clean the pocket route, glue the neck in and use hardwood dowels instead of screws. I think I'd prefer that look.

What do you think? Should the dowels be strong enough?

[ScottR]

I want to convert one of my builds from a bolt on to a set neck - kinda.

The idea would be to take the neck out, clean the pocket route, glue the neck in and use hardwood dowels instead of screws. I think I'd prefer that look.

What do you think? Should the dowels be strong enough?

It's just my opinion, but since you are glueing the pocket as well, I'd say it should be plenty strong

SR

[LightninMike]

since you are gluing the entire pocket, you are taking the strength from each side..... dowels are just gilding on the lilly.... you could effectively cut the neck tenon down on the back side of the guitar and still have more strength than the four bolt neck that was there originally

look at it this way, if you glue two pieces of wood together, what fails first on a strength test: the wood or the glue? the glue will hold strength OVER the wood every time

[ihocky2]

This has been discussed several times in the past and the one key point to doing this successfully is a solid glue joint. This means that the fit needs to be snug to achieve maximum bonding. Most factory neck pockets are too sloppy for this without shimming first. Since I see that this is one of your builds you'll know better than anyone how tight the fit is. A good rule of thumb though is that you should be able to hold the body by the neck without any screws or anything. Then you'll need to sand off just a hair to make sure the neck fits in once the wood starts swelling from the glue.

[guitar2005]

This one doesn't have a lot if side support because its a flying V. The real glue joint will the bottom of the neck heel route and the neck heel. That's why I was thinking Dowels, plus, square dowels could look real cool.

[ihocky2]

Bear in mind that SG's had issues with neck stability because they did not have much side support in the joint, or length for that matter. The glue joint on the bottom might be enough to secure the neck in place against the string tension, but you still need side support to prevent side to side movement of the neck.

[guitar2005]

Bear in mind that SG's had issues with neck stability because they did not have much side support in the joint, or length for that matter. The glue joint on the bottom might be enough to secure the neck in place against the string tension, but you still need side support to prevent side to side movement of the neck.

Hence, the dowels.