Neck pocket too small/heel too large, help

dilithium85

I brought a tele body which is different from a neck I got in another kit.
The neck pocket is smaller than the heel (pics below) what's the best way to remedy this?
Most other necks I see for sale all have larger heels than this pocket. 
If you need more pics or measurements let me know

ICBM

It's not quite as bad as that looks because the neck tapers, although not that much over the length of the heel... but it's still probably at least a millimetre that needs to come off. There's no sensible way to fix that other than routing the pocket wider.

WezV

yeah, measure at the same point to see how far off it actually is

dilithium85

I don't have a router so I have to save up or find someone willing to assist nearby 

MattNovak

As voices more experienced than I have said, it’s not a show stopper. Where is ‘nearby’ to you? If it’s a CB postcode give me a shout.

dilithium85

Sadly not I'm near Ipswich 

Funkfingers

Ask Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft to lend you some glasspaper.

dilithium85

Just wondering which side of the next pocket should I take the excess wood from? The low e side or high e side?

WezV

both evenly

dilithium85

WezV said:

both evenly

Thanks, this could go horribly wrong but I have builders in this week so may try to use their tools

daveyh

I see that’s a Guitarbuild. I recently had the same problem with one of theirs, it was smaller than the Fender standard spec it was supposed to have. Fixed it with a lot of gentle sandpapering on the sides of the neck pocket.

dilithium85

daveyh said:

I see that’s a Guitarbuild. I recently had the same problem with one of theirs, it was smaller than the Fender standard spec it was supposed to have. Fixed it with a lot of gentle sandpapering on the sides of the neck pocket.

I think this may be the only solution. Time and patience 

Teyeplayer

dilithium85 said:

daveyh said:

I see that’s a Guitarbuild. I recently had the same problem with one of theirs, it was smaller than the Fender standard spec it was supposed to have. Fixed it with a lot of gentle sandpapering on the sides of the neck pocket.

I think this may be the only solution. Time and patience 

Had the same problem myself in the past. Take it slow, a little bit at a time and you’ll get there. I’m sure more experienced builders would do it in minutes with the correct tools, but for those of us who are less able the cautious approach will pay off and not ruin the guitar in the process. Good luck.

daveyh

Mine is absolutely fine now, no wobble in the neck pocket, it’s a very tight fit. 

dilithium85

daveyh said:

Mine is absolutely fine now, no wobble in the neck pocket, it’s a very tight fit. 

Did you measure a mm each side to take off or another method?

Jimbro66

As ICBM said, the neck tapers. You should take the width measurement at the other end of the pocket using your internal (upper) jaws. You may find it’s more like 55 - 56mm at that end.

I had the same issue with a Guitarbuild body a year or so ago. The neck pocket was 55mm at the wide end but my neck width was 56mm. The advice I got was to use a router to increase the pocket width but although I have used routers very often I didn’t feel confident to remove such a very small amount with one so I opted to sand the pocket sides. To keep the sides square I used a 22cm long piece of timber 48mm wide by 20mm thick with its end corners rounded 6mm radius. I then stuck* course sandpaper to one long edge and medium sandpaper to the opposite long edge. The two sandpaper’s continued around the 6mm radii. Then laying the timber on its 48mm wide face in the neck pocket I was able to work it to-and-fro along the pocket edge, keeping even pressure on the timber to ensure the side of the pocket did not become curved.

That worked perfectly for the upper side of the pocket. The lower side is too short for that method so I trimmed it with a sharp chisel and then wrapped sandpaper around a pencil to adjust the pocket’s radiused end.

It took a while but I ended up with a perfect fit. It would have been easier to sand the sides of the neck but it was already nitro finished and I didn’t want the trouble of trying to re-finish.

* if I remember rightly I used double-sided tape to stick the sandpaper to the 20mm sides.

ICBM

Jimbro66 said:

It would have been easier to sand the sides of the neck but it was already nitro finished and I didn’t want the trouble of trying to re-finish.

Definitely don’t sand the neck - no matter how temptingly easier it is - it will make the taper wrong at the top end and with a standard-spaced bridge the E strings will tend to slip off the sides.