Set neck, neck pocket.

[Woodworm]

Hello folks, new member needing a bit of advice.

I'm currently engrossed in my first build, an LP type, mahogany neck, mahogany body with a flamed maple cap, things are progressing slowly and mostly going very well.

I now have the neck and body at the stage were I will need to glue them together soon.  When dry fitted, everything lines up, however what is taxing me is, how tight should my neck pocket be when dry?

Currently, when dry fitting the neck to the body, I do have to use a bit of force to get it into place by hand, it's not tight enough to need a clamp but I do need two hands and a bit of body weight to snug it up, is this too tight?

When I do a dry fitting, if I lift the guitar up by the neck, vertically, it doesn't fall apart, if I jerk the whole lot upwards the body will detach itself from the neck.  Does this sound about right?

If I put a piece of photocopier paper down one side of the neck pocket, I can still fit the neck, but it does feel a bit tighter, I can't fit the neck if I put a second piece of paper on the other side of the pocket.

Really my question is, have I left enough clearance for my mahogany to mahogany glue joint?  Is this something that can be measured or do experienced builders just go by how the joint feels?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Crusader]

It sounds about right to me. I had the same question a couple of years ago and I read somewhere that if you can lift the neck and the body doesn't fall out it's good. No tighter no looser

The bit about the copy paper is interesting, probably a good way to determine the tightness

[Bizman62]

Yepp. I've heard the same as @Crusader. If you can carefully lift it but can't shake it, it's perfect.

If you have the parts apart for a longer time, dry check again before gluing. The Mediterranean atmosphere of your whereabouts may cause the parts to swell or shrink depending on the time of the year. Try to keep the wood in the most stable atmosphere before having the final finish on.

[Woodworm]

Thanks for the replies!

Just needed a bit of reassurance on the neck fit, It's difficult to determine what's a tight fit and what's a snug fit.  I'd hate to apply the glue then have the joint swell and not be able to fit the neck in the pocket.

Both the body and neck have been made and have been sitting in the house for around 3 months, I've just checked today for any movement in the wood and as far as I can tell nothing has moved.

I'm building the guitar in the UK but it will end up in Cyprus, once it's finished.

I took a Kramer over to Cyprus 12 years ago, it's been there ever since, it's always been very stable, in the climate over there, it only ever needs the slightest of tuning adjustments!