First time build question about epoxying the neck

[ocdp2002]

alright guys, i know theres a ton of amazing builders in here, i bought a LP custom BYOG kit, the neck doesnt fit into the joint correctly, sort of floats a few mm above the body, should i just be sanding the joint down to fit snug? i figure this would be the common sense thing to do, but i dont want to ruin the kit!

also, when i go to finally glue the neck into the body, is there somekind of mock up i should be doing? or just fit the neck into place and be done with it?

i know these are stupid questions and im sorry, i am just very excited about this build and would love to get it right.

if any pictures are needed, let me know! otherwise, ill be starting a step by step thread in a few days where there will be plenty!

thanks hugely in advance!

[szlash280z]

if the fingerboard is sitting off the face of the body then you will have to sand down the bottom of the neck tenon so it will sit flush. GO SLOW! do the sides of the tenon sit flush against the walls of the mortise?

usually you just need at least one or two c-type clamps to hold the neck in place as the glue dries.

[ocdp2002]

unfortunately the entire thing wont sit flush, the sides surely are not straight, and i think the reason parts of the fretboard wont sit flush is because of the carve of the top, i am terribly unsure what to do, or how to fix this. if i get the neck to sit flush, can i use some of the dust from sanding and fill in those gaps mixing it into the epoxy?

heres a few pics of the progress..

(hope those uploaded right) hah

[tnt423]

That needs to fit better before glue up. It shut close with just hand pressure. If not and or carve till it does.
Please don't use epoxy, if you ever need to repair it you would most likely ruin the neck trying to get it out. Use titebond or other quality wood glue and it should be plenty strong and it can be steamed apart if necessary.

[szlash280z]

my bulldog looked similar, turns out the bottom of the tenon didn't even contact the body at all. I had to make a small shim to fit on the bottom of the neck tenon.

[ocdp2002]

thanks for the advice guys, but it seems i have reached another problem, or perhaps not haha

as im sanding and shaping the tenon, i started to do the sides, so the back would be more flush, but iv been working on it a bit, and now the fretboard is closer to the pickup cavity, is this going to mess up my scale length? or perhaps the guitar in a whole?

i was under the impression this would be just a simple "glue together and paint" sort of project, SHOULD it be that way? like, should i contact shawn and see what can be done?

i really appreciate all the help!

heres the update of the fit...


im sure its not completely acceptable, but i have a feeling its not going to get any better without messing something up terribly?

[szlash280z]

haha, they are rarely glue and paint ready, especially the chinese kits. that said, with this being your first kit you can get it close enough and fill the small gaps before you paint it. I had to cut a 1/4" thick shim on my kit because I couldn't get the damn thing to sit flush. I ended up cutting too much away with the chisel. the shim looks bad, honestly. it's my guitar though, so who cares?

here is a crappy video I made of it.

Stupid neck tenon - YouTube

Stupid neck tenon - YouTube

[kfowler8]

Are the holes for the bridge already drilled? If not, it shouldn't affect the scale at all. You generally don't drill the bridge holes until the neck and fret board are joined.

[ocdp2002]

yeah unfortunately they are already drilled, i was thinking of doing the same thing szlash did and putting a shim in there, i have another les paul (not a kit) to compare to, and rather get the neck at the right scale, is there a easier way to find out EXACTLY how to do the sale? a little math equation possibly? as of right now, im doing strictly by like, where the frets land at the heel, trying to line those up right, i have some spare mahogany, so maybe i can glue on a little piece and shave that down to the exact right specs i should of had originally.

[Ole'Lefty]

I will be the bad guy here---why did you post the question if you were unwilling to wait for answers? The first reply should have been a soft warning. You have now screwed around with the two most critical dimensions on your guitar--ultimate neck angle and scale. I just could not post last night. Your early pics show a neck and tongue sitting high but at the angle to naturally tighten up the heel if done properly. I think the second set shows a salvagable situation, but.....

It may still be salvagable. First, how far forward has the neck moved toward the bridge?

[ocdp2002]

bad guy or not, you're right, and thats my own fault.

but i did take the soft warning, and i DID go slow, to the best of my efforts i tried to really get this thing to sit nice and flush, the neck has moved about 1/8'' at the most towards the pickup cavity.

[gator payne]

First thing to be done is if the neck moves from side to side is to shim the tenon until the fretbord is dead centered alon the centerline of the body. Second thing is to floss the heel till you have a good fit aginst the body while maintaing the centerlin relationship. for more info on how to floss a neck heel to the body search google for " flossing guitar neck" and "fitting a guitar neck". This is a method of fine sandign to tune the heel fit to the body. Most of the info you will find will refer to acoustic guitars but the same logic applies to electrics set necks as well.

once you have the neck centered and the heel fitted then you can adjust the depth of the tenon by sanding or planing as needed to bring the fretboard extension into contact with the top of the body.

Just for your future info this is coomon to have to fit the neck on mass produced kits. the amout of tolerance used to produce mass produced bodies and necks seldom allows for 100% proper fit without some fine fitting required.

I like to keep both mahogany and maple cabinet builders edge banding on hand to use as shim material this is typically about .04" (1mm) or .08" (2mm) thick and is easy to make up stacked shims from. I glue as much shimm stock as needed to the tenon and fine plane to the exact requirments to properly align the neck to the centerline of the body.

[Ole'Lefty]

I have little doubt that a 1/8th" change in total scale will require plugging and drilling-compensation on LP's is an additive process with a bridge slant often at 1/8th" for the bass "E".

[emoney]

Are the bridge post holes drilled or just the stop tail? If the latter, no harm no foul, but
if both, then you definitely need to do a "mock-up" and measure from your nut to the
center of your 12th fret, then take that measurement and go from the center of the same
12th fret to the center of your bridge. Post a picture on where that ends up, along with
a pic or two of the neck tenon as it fits inside the pocket and in it's current state.