Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello everyone,

I am a beginner in the world of guitar building and am working on building a guitar from pre-assembled parts. I recently purchased a body and neck but I had to sand down the neck joint to compensate for a higher sitting neck. As a result, I am unsure how deep I should drill the bolt holes in the neck. Is there a general guideline for how far the holes should be in the neck? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Leif Ridgeway

I won't be any help, but Welcome to the OLF, Leif!  Others will be along to answer your question.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Welcome Leif.

Any chance you could post pictures?

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Aoibeann

Welcome, Leif!

Sounds like you might have a dovetail neck joint. If you do, you likely don't need bolts too. As Lillian said, pictures would be helpful.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Is this a Fender style electric guitar?

If so ... you should have removed material from the neck pocket rather than the neck. Measure your bolts and avoid having them hit the back of the fretboard. 

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Tom Krebs

Actually the governing issue is how close to the nearest edge and how close they are to each other. While there is nor absolute is a common practice to have a minimum of 1 x the insert thread diameter between the edge of the thread and the nearest edge of the mortise. and a minimum of 2 x the insert thread diameter between threads of each insert. This gives enough area for the insert to spread the load of that bolt over an large enough area to help eliminate fatigue failure in the wood due to the torque applied by the tightened bolt.

Actually the governing issue is how close to the nearest edge of the mortise and how close they are to each other. While there is no absolute it is a common practice to have a minimum of 1 x the insert thread diameter between the edge of the thread and the nearest edge of the mortise, and a minimum of 2 x the insert thread diameter between threads of each insert. This gives enough area for the insert to spread the load of it's bolt over an large enough area to help eliminate fatigue failure in the wood due to the torque applied by the tightened bolt.

Is there a general guideline for how far the holes should be in the neck?

Yes, drill a little deeper than the screws or bolts.

IF a screw or bolt bottoms out, it won't tighten the joint. What's worse it could damage the hole or fretboard or strip out.

Photos would be nice.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

good point Mr Dickey

To add to that when you size the length of you bolt for maximum loading. You should make the bolt long enough so that at minimum there is 1.5 x the bolt diameter engaged in the thread of the insert. This gives enough thread engagement to provide the full loading capacity as the bolts rating.

Most threaded inserts have enough internal thread for 2 x bolt diameter engaugement.

Thanks everyone for all of the great information! I will probably have more questions as the build moves along (hopefully not too many) and I appreciate everyone taking the time out to respond.

Thanks again,
Leif Ridgeway