Which is preferred on a bolt on neck? Should the holes be large enough to push the screws through and only thread into the body? Or is it better to be threaded into the neck as well? Fender type. Thanks 
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Neck Screw Hole Question
- Thread starter EatS1stBassist
- Start date
Did you maybe reverse "neck" and "body" in your description? Because the screws definitely need to thread into the neck!
In terms of the body, ideally the screw would make contact with the hole but the threads should not engage. In fact, any time you're screwing two pieces of wood together, it's typically ideal to have the threads only engage in the "far" piece of wood - threads engaging in both can lead to the screw wedging the two pieces versus drawing them tight.
Some wood screws have a non-threaded portion of the shaft under the head that's the same diameter as the large diameter of the thread to facilitate good contact with the hole, but in a Fender design with a bolt plate on the back that's arguably not as important.
In terms of the body, ideally the screw would make contact with the hole but the threads should not engage. In fact, any time you're screwing two pieces of wood together, it's typically ideal to have the threads only engage in the "far" piece of wood - threads engaging in both can lead to the screw wedging the two pieces versus drawing them tight.
Some wood screws have a non-threaded portion of the shaft under the head that's the same diameter as the large diameter of the thread to facilitate good contact with the hole, but in a Fender design with a bolt plate on the back that's arguably not as important.
The screws should thread into the neck but pass through the body. That way, the neck gets clamped tightly to the body and you don’t have to worry about where and how the screws are going to catch the neck like you would if they threaded through the body. I had an Ibanez 6 string bass that was impossible to set up until I (quickly) realized the screws were threading through the body and holding the back of the neck heel up off the bottom of the pocket. Once I opened the body screw holes up a little it set up very nicely.