The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Build and Repair

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 11-21-2021, 09:18 AM
dnf777's Avatar
dnf777 dnf777 is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: NW Pennsylvania
Posts: 3,655
Default Tele neck bolt holes. Universal?

Noticed many (most) body blanks and necks are pre-drilled. And obviously the steel plates. Is it safe to assume most of the holes will line up?

As JohnnyCash said in song:

And that's when we noticed that something was definitely wrong
The transmission was a '53 and the motor turned out to be a '73
And when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone
So we drilled it out so that it would fit
And with a little bit of help with an adapter kit
We had that engine runnin' just like a song
__________________
Dave F
*************
Martins
Guilds
Gibsons
A few others
2020 macbook pro i5 8GB
Scarlett 18i20
Reaper 7
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-21-2021, 01:16 PM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Allentown, PA
Posts: 4,598
Default

There are two "standards" in the Fender world, Telecaster square route and every other (presumably started with the Strat) Fender model which is more rounded. I believe the actual bolt holes and back plates are all the same, it is just the shape of the body end of the neck.
__________________
jf45ir Free DIY Acoustic Guitar IR Generator
.wav file, 30 seconds, pickup left, mic right, open position strumming best...send to direct email below
I'll send you 100/0, 75/25, 50/50 & 0/100 IR/Bypass IRs
IR Demo, read the description too: https://youtu.be/SELEE4yugjE
My duo's website and my email... [email protected]

Jon Fields
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-26-2021, 12:59 PM
* velcro-fly * * velcro-fly * is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2021
Posts: 13
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jonfields45 View Post
There are two "standards" in the Fender world, Telecaster square route and every other (presumably started with the Strat) Fender model which is more rounded. I believe the actual bolt holes and back plates are all the same, it is just the shape of the body end of the neck.
Correct. The mounting holes and back plates are standard (basically across the guitar build world for any standard square 4 bolt on neck assembly)

Re: necks / neck pocket, you can put a Strat neck on a Tele body, but not vice versa. The rounded Strat neck butt will make contact with the end of the Tele body neck pocket and can be intonated properly. A squared off Tele neck however cant do the same into a rounded Strat body neck pocket.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-27-2021, 12:07 PM
dnf777's Avatar
dnf777 dnf777 is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: NW Pennsylvania
Posts: 3,655
Default

[QUOTE=* velcro-fly *;6865076]Correct. The mounting holes and back plates are standard (basically across the guitar build world for any standard square 4 bolt on neck assembly)

Thanks, thats what I was hoping to hear.

So if I buy a tele neck, and a tele body, both pre-drilled, the holes *should* line up. (I keep a should-jar right next to my swear jar)
__________________
Dave F
*************
Martins
Guilds
Gibsons
A few others
2020 macbook pro i5 8GB
Scarlett 18i20
Reaper 7
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-27-2021, 02:03 PM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Allentown, PA
Posts: 4,598
Default

[QUOTE=dnf777;6865858]
Quote:
Originally Posted by * velcro-fly * View Post
Correct. The mounting holes and back plates are standard (basically across the guitar build world for any standard square 4 bolt on neck assembly)

Thanks, thats what I was hoping to hear.

So if I buy a tele neck, and a tele body, both pre-drilled, the holes *should* line up. (I keep a should-jar right next to my swear jar)
Once you've got the strings on, it is not uncommon that you might need to do a little work to center them over the end of the neck. Typically there is enough play in the neck pocket that you can loosen the bolts a little, center, and tighten. Sometimes you might need to sand a little wood off of the top side of the neck pocket (the one that runs longer around the neck end). If you attempt to force the neck to center for those rare cases that don't, you can risk cracking the finish at the neck pocket.
__________________
jf45ir Free DIY Acoustic Guitar IR Generator
.wav file, 30 seconds, pickup left, mic right, open position strumming best...send to direct email below
I'll send you 100/0, 75/25, 50/50 & 0/100 IR/Bypass IRs
IR Demo, read the description too: https://youtu.be/SELEE4yugjE
My duo's website and my email... [email protected]

Jon Fields
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-28-2021, 10:07 PM
dnf777's Avatar
dnf777 dnf777 is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: NW Pennsylvania
Posts: 3,655
Default

Thanks, Jon. That sounds like something I was destined to learn the hard way. Ive seen those creacks in more than a few teles.

By chance, are you familiar with Bill Kirchen’s modification to the neck? He puts double-threaded countersunk nuts in the neck, so he can use machine bolts instead of wood screws to secure the neck. Wonder if that would improve or worsen alignment efforts?
__________________
Dave F
*************
Martins
Guilds
Gibsons
A few others
2020 macbook pro i5 8GB
Scarlett 18i20
Reaper 7
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-29-2021, 07:32 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Allentown, PA
Posts: 4,598
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by dnf777 View Post
Thanks, Jon. That sounds like something I was destined to learn the hard way. Ive seen those creacks in more than a few teles.

By chance, are you familiar with Bill Kirchen’s modification to the neck? He puts double-threaded countersunk nuts in the neck, so he can use machine bolts instead of wood screws to secure the neck. Wonder if that would improve or worsen alignment efforts?
I suppose it could make things different, but better or worse depends on how accurately they nuts are installed into the neck, and how accurately drilled the body was in the first place.

It would be my inclination to not make that modification. Stories of worn neck wood screw holes must be pretty rare as I've not run into one, and in any case easily repaired.

Taylor and Collings bolt on necks are a different story since the neck heal is a short grained extension and needs to be reinforced for the intended joint.

Most of those finish checks you see on Fender style neck mounts are probably the result of shock in regular usage or shippings (and not abuse from aligning the strings). I bring up the alignment issue as I did crack the finish on a Mexican Strat aggressively attempting to center the strings. I ended up crazy gluing the lifted finish back to the body and sanding the side of the neck pocket to get perfect alignment. The finish check I left unrepaired as it is a pretty hard for a pro to fix, and I'm no pro.
__________________
jf45ir Free DIY Acoustic Guitar IR Generator
.wav file, 30 seconds, pickup left, mic right, open position strumming best...send to direct email below
I'll send you 100/0, 75/25, 50/50 & 0/100 IR/Bypass IRs
IR Demo, read the description too: https://youtu.be/SELEE4yugjE
My duo's website and my email... [email protected]

Jon Fields
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Build and Repair

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:51 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=