Did I ruin this PJ body?

[SanDiegoHarry]

Well, if that body is make out of wood that is *that* soft, I'd say that you're better off without it. Get a new one from Warmoth.

 

[Lee Kirkham]

Big Hoss has it right. His solution is the correct way to remedy your issue. The only thing he stated that I wouldn't agree with is the oversized neck plate. An oversized plate is a "band-aid" solution. The method he suggests corrects the damage, negating the need for an oversized plate. I would consider using a plastic gasket beneath the plate.

And from now on, no more power-screwing, ok?

I wouldn't say it's ruined, but you certainly didn't help it out for sure. Obviously you know you used a harmful method. Chances are that Squier body is Basswood, which is awfully soft wood. There are several options for "fixing" this. How much work do you want to do? You could try steaming those dents out, doubt that will be all that effective though. Could use a larger plate that is linked above. That will hide the damage. You could route out and replace the damage, more work than a Squier body is worth if you are paying for it, and I kind of suspect you aren't a woodworker...

If I was looking for a quick and easy fix for damage like that, and it were mine... I would...

#1. Sand the finish off the damaged area.
#2. Fill the damaged area with compatible wood filler. (Elmers, Minwax etc... will work fine.
#3. Sand the repair smooth, and reprime / repaint the damaged area. Fender / Squier tends to use automotive colors, you should be able to find a good color match pretty easily...
#4. Source up and install a good oversized neck plate.
#5. HAND tighten the screws. No NOT use a power driver for working on a musical instrument. They are good for furniture, great for houses, terrible for instruments.

 

[blastoff]

dude its perfect! counter-sunk neck plate for extra smooth upper register shredding. thats a feature not a flaw

 

[bassbenj]

The only suggestion/edit I would make is to change the materials in #2 to super glue or epoxy. Build it up slowly, in steps, so it doesn't get into the holes. Then sand flush. I'd see beforehand if some of the paint/sealer in the damaged area would flake off- that'll give whatever filler something to grip onto, as you can't really sand something that's sunken below the plane of a smooth surface. I'd still use the fat plate and the plastic gasket mention a post or so ago.

This! Choices are
1. just ignore the problem and leave it as it is. Bent plate and all . Will work fine and won't even look bad.

2. use Epoxy to fill in the indents and use a thick neck plate. No need to get the glue outside the neck plate area on the finish. A gasket can be used but it may change the tone slightly. A tight neck joint often sounds and plays better to me. I doubt that otherwise this mod will make any difference.

3. save pennies and get rid of that soft basswood body and get a bass with real tonewood. Let me say I've got 8 or so SX basses with alder and ash bodies and I've put threaded inserts on them all so I can REALLY crank them down and I've NEVER had any crushed wood or bent plates like yours!

 

[fretno]

let me say I don't like Basswood because of it's tonal properties when compared to Ash or Alder but it's a perfectly fine wood to use and many very nice instruments are made from it .

 

[hermetic]

I attach my necks with this system. Much improved system...

 

[Ric5]

Looks like I over tightened the screws when I was reattaching my neck. I didn't notice until I just pulled the neck off again last night. Seems it actually caved in the wood a bit. It's a Squire body, so I assume part of it is due to cheap wood. Is this now ruined or should it be fine moving forward?

View attachment 1052084

Basswood body?

A hard wood would do that ...

 

[pudge]

Another thing to worry about when using a hand drill to tighten neck screws is breaking the screw head off or even worse breaking the off screw in the neck.Some of the import screws are not all that hard.It's also a good idea to lube (wax) the screws before screwing them in at a high speed..I have a B&D hand held electric screwdriver that doesn't have enough power to cream the screws or plate into the wood,I finish tighten them by hand.

 

[MVE]

Everyday we aim to learn something new. Sometimes it happens though accidents and sometimes thats the more valuable lesson. A Squier is the best way to learn this lesson!

Everything I know I learned buy making mistakes... thank god I never took flying lessons.

 

[fhm555]

How in the world could you possibly tell in what order he tightened the screws?

Look at the depth of the indentations. First is the deepest, second is second deepest then third and last.

The wood may be soft but it takes a lot of pressure to bend a steel plate and the more deformed, the harder it becomes to deform it further.

 

[NoiseNinja]

A jackhammer should be able to fix that

 

[fretno]

What do these bigger neck plates do?

I just like the look but I don't think anything other than the simple job of the typical neck plate

 

[Richard_K]

Fire the drummer. Actually I have observed some minor but noticeable indent on one of my basses. The neck was installed (hand-tight) during the winter. The indenting was found in late summer. I reasoned it was due to dimensional changes due to humidity. Perhaps it was also too hand tight.

 

[fretno]

I do have a few custom plates too but they could bend if you used a jackhammer

 

[wmhill]

it's all I use

..... Looks like this one was tightened so much, it left waves in the paint!

 

[fhm555]

Lots of the MIM J basses i've flipped in the last couple years have slight neck plate indents in the poly finish. I guess the thickness and toughness of poly is why it's rare to see a neck plate pad these days

 

[Gyver]

Looks like I over tightened the screws when I was reattaching my neck. I didn't notice until I just pulled the neck off again last night. Seems it actually caved in the wood a bit. It's a Squire body, so I assume part of it is due to cheap wood. Is this now ruined or should it be fine moving forward?

View attachment 1052084

I did that once but to a lesser degree. It will be fine, cosmetic damage only.

 

[madbass6]

Yes to power drill and bent plate. Stupid move on my part. You know when you know you're doing something wrong, but like an ass you do it anyway? Yup, that's me.

Serious dude you actually used a power drill??!!!
Well I guess sometimes you've got to learn the hard way!
Hey here's a tip.. please what ever you do , DO NOT use a power drill when doing the bridge.

Regardless i dont think its doomed! (Hopefully)

 

[Jay2U]

You're lucky the screws didn't come out through the neck. Maybe a fifth screw in the middle to even out the plate?

 

[Bassquest]

YAssUH! Should be just fine!