Neck holes drilled a little crooked – How to Fix it?

[Groover]

Hi, I just picked up a nice 1970 fretless Fender Fretless P Neck.

The seller did tell me that this was an original replacement neck that was ordered separately for his 70's bass at the time.

Anyway, I'm fitting the neck on an MIJ Jazz Bass Special, and it looks as if the holes for the neck screws were a little drilled a little crooked on the neck.

Basically, I end up with very little fretboard left on the E string side, and a lot on the G.

When I look how the neck sits in the pocket, since there is a little gap, I can actually see that the neck sits crooked when bolted on.

How can I fix this. The fix would take making the holes slightly oval, because it's not off enough to say drill a new hole 1/4" away from the old ones.

Can I fill the holes and re-drill them? What would I use?

Thanks.

[Mon Rominee]

Unfortunately what worked on one bass doesn't always work on another....
In your case, the best way to fix this would be to plug and redrill. I would suggest getting good quality maple dowel, drill and plug and level the heel accordingly, align and clamp the neck to the new body and pilot new holes thru the body for proper alignment.

This does belong in the Luthier forum, so I would do a search, this has been covered prior, but I gave you a basic overview.

Good luck.