ive got a warmoth P/J or just P in the works, and i was wondering is it hard to put the neck on? this is the only part that ive never done. is it pretty much just throw the neck plate on the back, and but the bolts in, or is there a little more to attatching a bolt on neck for the first time?

On my Warmoth (http://hallgeir.no/bass/warmoth/) it was pretty easy, even though I drilled the holes myself. If you are getting a neck with pre-drilled holes, it should be very easy. It might be hard work to screw those screws in for the first time, but nothing difficuly.

I always thought it interesting that the term is "bolt on" when it's actually "screw in".

I've assembled a couple of Warmoths.

1) Select a drill bit that is just smaller than the center part of the neck screws.

2) Insert the neck into the body's neck pocket-

Make sure the neck is all the way into the pocket, toward the bridge. There must be no gap- the body end of the neck must be firmly in contact with the bridge end of the neck pocket.

Also make sure the neck is pushed straight down into the pocket, so that the heel is firmly in contact with the back of the neck pocket. You want to make sure the neck is seated, no gaps anywhere.

Warmoth necks and bodies usually are very tight fits, which is a good thing.

3) Turn the bass over carefully onto its face.

4) Drill straight down through the neck holes in the body into the neck. I have always been able to do this visually by putting the drill bit in the holes, then holding it in place and visually checking it all around. It'd be better to have some sort of a drill press that would allow you to center it in the hole with perfection, but the visual method works, also.

5) Clear all wood drill dust from the holes with a vacuum.

6) Position neck plate and insert and tighten screws.

Tightening the screws should be done gradually and probably with a hand screwdriver instead of a power screwdriver.

For a four-bolt neck, I was taught to alternately tighten the screws, which is something like this:

1.......4

3.......2


Get them just tight, in that order, then snug them up.


* * *

This was my neck method; I'd welcome additions, corrections or other ideas posted here.

Especially since I'm gassin' for another Warmoth project, probably a J.

EDIT- Nice to hear that Warmoth is now predrilling the neck holes. Outstanding!!

I'd highly recommend you not drill the neck holes in place against the body - you're simply begging for a BAD experience IMO. This is my recommendation whether I'm assembling a Warmoth past bass or building one of my own basses.

You do want to mark the hole locations with the neck firmly in the pocket, and I do this by inserting the wood screw into the holes and then twisting them while applying a little pressure with a screwdriver. Once the hole locations are marked, remove the neck.

Hold the neck plate in place and insert each screw into the body so you can measure how deep you will need to drill. Take this measurement + 1/8" and make sure it will not pierce through your fretboard.

Use some heavy tape to securely mark this drilling depth (the measurement + 1/8") on the drill bit before drilling. If you have a drillpress, use it to drill the holes ... if not, use a hand drill making sure your are drilling normal to the neck mating face


One last tip: before inserting a screw for the first time, add a little bar soap to the tip. This will act as a lubricant and keep you from having a screw bind before it reaches its final depth.

all the best,

R

Just a heads-up - we've been pre-drilling the neck screw holes on all our bass necks for at least a year or so. We started around the same time we started rounding the 21st fret fingerboard extension on our 4-string necks, so the newer ones are easy to spot in the Showcase:

http://www.warmoth.com/showcase/necks/large/BN729b.jpg

cool to know, Brian - thx

can you still order a neck without the pre-drilled holes?

all the best,

R

cool sounds like an easy deal. i just thought there might be something more to it. thanks for the soap tip, and the tightness thing. now to glean together alll the parts. :ninja: