Setting the Necks

 The next entry in the guitar build has arrived <insert vocal accolades>.  In the last entry the necks were substantially finished sans tuners and finish.  In this entry I'll fit them to the roughed out bodies.  It's been a while since I paid attention to them as they've been set aside while I worked on the necks..

 As you may remember, I made an extra neck to use as practice for the other two.  While I wouldn't say they went perfectly, all of them came out well enough that I figured it was silly not to make a body for the third.  So, I glued together a couple pieces of alder and went to town - this will be another telecaster style body.

 After cutting out the new body and bringing it up to par with the other two, I checked the necks I made against my templates and cut out the neck routing templates.  Then I marked out and drill the body for the neck screws and routed the neck pockets to the requisite 5/8" depth.

With the neck pocket routed,  I lined up the neck onto the centerline and using a straight edge I marked out the lines on the body - making sure the center of the two lines were perfectly centered on the body's center line (re-established on the body using the original template).

 I wanted to set the necks now, before I shaped the body - while it was easier to establish center lines and make modifications to the body should they need it.  If I wait until the bodies are further along, there is more chance for error and less forgiveness.  Doing it now, I reduce the risk, at least somewhat. 

I also re-established the centerlines on the back of the body so I could use a straight edge to make sure the neck was straight - using the skunk stripe as a visual guide.  If the neck was out of line with the body, you would see it here... 

 Once I had the necks centered where they wanted to be, I put the bridge into place to work as a guide, then placed a string in the 1st and 6th string positions to make sure they lined up with the neck.

 Either my template was off or out of place just a little on the Strat, as I needed to widen the tremolo pocket about 1/16" - 1/8" to get the strings to line up correctly and for the tremolo to clear the wood in the pocket.  To accomplish this, a simple rat tail file got the call.

 I fully installed the bridge on the Strat to make sure I had the clearance necessary - you can see it's a little tight on the top side in this photo:

  It's close - I think the photo makes it  look closer than it really is... In any case, the tremolo moves freely in the pocket for its full swing.  The bridge also covers the hole adequately on the face of the guitar, so all is well.

Once I was satisfied with the neck placement, I used a drill bit through the holes on the body to locate where to drill on the neck, which I drilled on the drill press with the neck resting on the radiused sanding block to make sure the holes were drilled perpendicular to the face.

 Then, it was a simple matter to screw in the neck screws into the neck through the body.  I double checked the centerlines and bridge placement after the neck was installed to make sure nothing had gone kitty-wompas, and all went well.

 While it was still in it's roughed-in condition, I placed the hardware in place to make sure there were no issues with the depth of the cavities routed earlier. 

 I repeated the procedure fore each of the other two guitars, making sure each neck fit properly and that there were no clearance issues with the pickups or pickguards. 

 Here's the alder Tele with a bridge and pickup.   I used a noiseless pickup, as they are a little deeper (being a stacked humbucker), figuring if it fits, I should be good.

 I used the opportunity to mark out the locations of the screws and string holes (more on those in an upcoming entry).

Now that I know the necks are good to go, I will disassemble them and put them aside until just before I start finishing.  

Right now I'm thinking I will assemble the guitars at least once completely before finishing - that way all the screw holes are drilled and there will be less chance of marring the surface of the wood, but that will wait until after I have the bodies to near ready for finish. 

One thing I've noticed about the alder is that it dents very easily, so I've started using a towel on the bench to minimize any potential damage..

In the next entry, I'll finish shaping the two bodies and hopefully start binding the third (the Tele with the maple cap).

I had been a bit nervous about setting these necks, as I believe it to be crucial to how well the guitar will work - in the end I was very satisfied with how this stage went - it's cool to have the guitars to a  state where they are finally starting to look like the real thing.