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Drilling new body for existing neck


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My first project ever is "cloning" the body of my old Yamaha RGX621D (which is made of 6-7 pieces of what I think is alder, which is why I'm replacing it).

I'm reusing the existing neck (that'll be my next project, but not for now). The guitar is a bit like a Ibanez JEM: it's 24 frets with no "wall" between the neck pocket and the pickup cavity, and the neck access is carved and the screws are not arranged in the typical Fender fashion.

So basically, I'm afraid of not drilling the neck screw holes correctly and ending up ruining a perfectly fine body.

Anyone have any tips on routing a body for an existing non-standard pre-drilled neck?

Thank!

Go Flames :D

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If you're cloning an existing body - then you already have your template and measurements right in front of you!! make a MDF template from your existing body, include all holes, and you're all set!

Also, the holes in the body should be large enough for movement of neck. In other words, you're not "screwing" the neck screws into the body...they should just drop in with some play. This allows a small margin of error when drilling them.

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If you just want to locate the holes in the body then do a search of this forum for some suggestions I and others gave a few months back. You can use dowel centers to press and locate holes or you can use phillips head pickguard screws to make an "X" indentation in the body where the holes will go. Or you can trace the neck heel onto some paper, cut it out, then poke out the holes, and mark them on the body. There's tons of ways. I wouldn't suggest dowelling anything yet.

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