Attaching Neck
 

I will be building a 12-fret, with bolt on neck. My question is simply this: What does one use to actually bolt on the neck? I've got the neck roughed out, the body will wait 'till temps get above freezing. So the neck block (the part in the body the neck attached to) will be worked on before I get the body done. Want everything to be perfect.

Suggestions?

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdpro...n+Neck+Inserts

these are two ways to go, or combinations thereof...

for me, i like the threaded insert with shcs's and bellville washer approach. i source stainless steel hardware from elsewhere. under fastener pressure wood compresses over time and after a while you may have a screw/bolt come loose causing weird buzzing, neck angle issues, and other "fun". you can use blue loctite to keep the fastener from working loose, but that doesn't deal with the wood compression problem. bellville washers compress under loading and can deal with expansion/contraction to a small degree.

jmo

Attaching Neck
 

^^^ what he said ^^^

But

I personally prefer the barrel bolt and nut. Less chance of breakage IMO. I'm just afraid of the threaded inserts stripping out of the wood. With the barrel and bolt you have a little more "meat" holding everything together.

good point. i deal with it by wicking in some thin ca glue after installation. it seems to work so far.

You can also use a mortise and tenon with hanger bolts.

Attaching Neck
 

That's a good idea arie. I'm still scared of the inserts though haha. But I can see the upside to them to. Like they say " different strokes for different folks@

I was wondering whether the first method would work, looks like it will (brass insert and washer/bolt). I'll be also using a mortise and tenon, with the bolts working as "glue". I think that gives good strength and stability.

works for many people. you'll want to size your tenon to give you maximum wall thickness between the bushing and the tenon wall. on my small guitars i go with a tenon that is 1.125 wide. with .375 dia. inserts, this gives me .375 wall per side. i have a drill jig that i made out of delrin the fits over the tenon, has 2 hardened slip renewable drill bushing installed, and locates the holes correctly while supporting the tenon walls. once i drill out the holes i slip out the bushings and use the same fixture to support the tenon when i install the inserts. this isn't the only way but it works for me. other methods will work as well.