Drilling neck holes

[BottleRocket]

I'm about to install a replacement neck on my '51 reissue P-bass.

The Allparts neck I've bought is very slightly narrower at the heel than the Mike Dirnt it's replacing, so there's a small amount of play from side to side at the headstock end. (The Mike Dirnt was tight as a glove in the pocket and came ready-drilled anyway ... damn those unreliable truss rods ... ).

So, I need to think up a way of ensuring I drill the four holes nice and straight. My idea is to clamp the neck in place fairly tight, then fit the E and G strings to a point where they're just taut. I'm thinking this should give me the correct positioning.

Is there any other way you can recommend? All suggestions welcomed

[62bass]

Originally Posted by BottleRocket

I'm about to install a replacement neck on my '51 reissue P-bass.

The Allparts neck I've bought is very slightly narrower at the heel than the Mike Dirnt it's replacing, so there's a small amount of play from side to side at the headstock end. (The Mike Dirnt was tight as a glove in the pocket and came ready-drilled anyway ... damn those unreliable truss rods ... ).

So, I need to think up a way of ensuring I drill the four holes nice and straight. My idea is to clamp the neck in place fairly tight, then fit the E and G strings to a point where they're just taut. I'm thinking this should give me the correct positioning.

Is there any other way you can recommend? All suggestions welcomed

That's the way I do it. I use a clamp that won't get in the way of the strings, usually a Quick clamp with a bit of padding to prevent damaging the finish or fingerboard. Then I stand the bass up and tap the neck back and forth until the strings line up correctly. I mark the hole position on the neck with the tip of the drill bit just to give me a starting hole. Then remove the neck and drill the holes carefully. It helps if you can use a drill press as a portable electric drill can get out of control fast and you want these holes to go in at 90 degrees. Check everything before you drill. And mark your drill bit with a pice of tape so you know how deep you need to drill without drilling right through the fingerboard. I did that once when careless.

You may want to use a shim of some kind to fill any gap on the side of the neck. A strip of hard plastic, wood veneer, whatever gives you a snug fit.

It sounds like you've got it pretty well thought out.

[BottleRocket]

Seems to have gone swimmingly!

Thanks heaps for your support