Weak neck joint solutions

Joseph Wurtz

Joseph Wurtz

Feb 21, 2022
4
4
801
25
Perrysburg, Ohio
#1
Hello y'all! First post on TalkBass. I've started a Rickenbacker style kit guitar from amazon to experiment with, but I've run into a problem. The neck joint is intended to be a glue-in job; the neck joint snapped in on me while stringing it up for the first time. I went ahead and drilled some decent sized screws to see if a bolt-on job would work better. It still creaked and wobbled like an old home built on sand before I strung it up again. The neck and body don't have a lot of material to work with which is leaving me bereft of safe solutions. My father suggested gluing the bolt-on job for double the strength. I figured perhaps using an oversized backplate to get into areas with more material. Perhaps a "T" bar to get into more material with least amount of space taken up?

help4.jpg


help3.jpg


help2.jpg


help1.jpg


I don't care much for looks because this is a prototype I'm using before making basses and guitars by hand. Any ideas?
 
#2
Those screw just going into the body wood aren’t going to do much. If you look at a production bolt on neck bass there’s a metal plate to spread out the force of the neck over a larger area. You need at a minimum fender washers for the screws or make up a neck plate. Even at that there’s not a lot of material thickness in the body to support much.

Another option might be to make a metal neck plate and install T-nuts in the back part of the neck tounge since you can get to it behind the pickup.

You glued the neck in and it pulled out? Any idea of the what’s or whys on that?
 
#5
Is the gap between the heel and the body the pickup rout? Am I seeing correctly that there will be about 1/2 inch of neck material holding all the tension of the neck much like the old rics?
If so, yes you'll need to sand back to wood to get a good bond. I would use epoxy and not wood glue. I expect that neck to give a little in that pickup route just like the old rics.
 
#6
The dowel won't get you much strength. Sand back to wood and use epoxy. Line it up and clamp it properly. Use a slow (20 minute) cure time epoxy and not a 5 minute epoxy at walmart. The body looks like pine. Do you know what woods the kit is comprised of?
 
#8
You'd be correct. I'll take my mistake as a lesson for the future! I haven't worked with epoxy, so it'll be a first as well. Thanks for the recommendations!
I'd prefer no give in the neck even if it's a certified vintage feature.

The kit claims the body is made of mahogany and the neck is maple. I couldn't tell you what the fretboard is made of. It has a faded grey/brown look to it. When I did some reshaping of the jack hole, the body gave a spiced smell. Not very pine-y. While sanding the neck, I didn't get much of anything.

And thank you for the welcome!
 
  • Like
Reactions: bobdabilder
#10
Welcome to TB! Sand off the stain, use epoxy then grab an actual neck-plate, no need to "make" one as they are available for less than the price of a good cup of coffee, it'll also cover those screws holes, yikes! :)
image.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joseph Wurtz
#11
There is very little glue surface available here and none on the critical front to counter the string pull. That kind of pickup route can work for a Ric as they are neck through. I don't see it working on a glue in neck. I agree converting it to a bolt neck is the safest solution. You also may want to consider gluing some wood blocks in on the sides for more support.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joseph Wurtz
#12
Epoxy job has begun after much needed sanding. I have a plate to cover up 97% of my terrible screw job and double down on the connection. I way over did it and used a few pieces of scrap wood to fill the space to a semi-acceptable degree. It looks a mess in that joint right now. Additionally, I chose not to try to dowel idea as I didn't feel any size would be reliably strong enough to make a difference.
 
  • Like
Reactions: C Stone, bobdabilder and Matt Liebenau
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back