Wasn't sure if this should go here or in the Making & Modding section so apologies if it's in the wrong place...
The neck on my 1996 Chinese Squier Strat has quite a bow in it, and the truss rod nut is just spinning so it can't be corrected. I picked up a 1996 Chinese Squier neck on ebay expecting it to be a simple swap over, except the screw holes don't quite line up with the body. I find it odd as both necks are within one month of each other but hey-ho, it is what it is. Maybe back then there wasn't any consistency in quality control.
What are my options? The holes on the replacement next are just slightly higher (by maybe 2mm) so I need to bring them down a bit to fit the body. My preferred option would probably be to fill the holes and drill new ones, rather than sanding down the neck pocket or the neck heel. I'd worry about screwing either up and would probably feel more comfortable with new holes, but would need to fill the existing ones as they'd be too close.
Thoughts and advice please...
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https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/2192388/#Comment_2192388
I drilled out the holes in the neck heel with a 6mm bit and squidged in some wood glue before tapping in some 6mm dowels. Leave to dry then trim down and sand it flush. Clamp your new neck in place and mark through the holes from your neck pocket, or drill through as the body provides a good guide to stop your drill wandering.
You can either use a drill, or a taper reamer from the pocket side - the screws will be at a very slight angle but it won't matter.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
A bit confused with the above... but if I put the neck into the body and tap where the screws should go in to the neck... the indentation is slightly below the existing holes in the neck. I don't think opening up the body holes would help in this case.
Ok looks like I'll have to do some research into it and get the right size dowels etc. What do you mean flat or slightly sunken - is that there's no overhang on the dowel sticking out?
If the mark is closer to the heel, so that forcing the screws into the holes would pull the neck more tightly into the body, then you can probably open out the holes if the offset isn't too great.
If you are going to fill the holes, wood filler is absolutely not suitable. The weakest material you can get away with is a dowel (hardwood, not softwood), but a side-cut maple plug is best.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
If it's more than a couple of mm it might be a plug job...
With the neck in the pocket, measure the distance from the nut to the top of the fret crown of the 12th fret on the side nearer the bridge, and then measure from the same place on the fret on the top E side of the neck to the top E bridge saddle. If those aren't very closely the same, the neck is in the wrong place.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The one on the right is not actually as far out as it’s marked if you look at where the centre of the neckplate hole is, which indicates that the problem is the hole alignment in the body.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein