Hey all. Just got a new neck delivered from Warmoth...she's a beaut!! My question is, do I have to put a laquer or anything on to protect her? I'm slowly working on my MIM with little upgrades here and there. If all goes accordingly the exterior will be complete as soon as the neck is strapped on. Also, first time installing tuners.....any suggestions for drilling the holes in the right spots so the tuners don't go on off center??

I recently went through this. I specifically bought MIM Fender Pings (eBay) that do not have the two alignment pins. But what does he send me? The more-expensive staggered MIA Std Fender Ping tuners that have the pins. Considering this killer deal (MIA Std tuners for price of MIM Std tuners), I kept the MIA tuners. But my neck did not have the twelve tuner alignment holes...

"Oh, Lord, please do not let me ruin my neck..."

It was actually really easy. REALLY easy. I put the tuner into the neck, made sure the top was parallel to the headstock (just eyeballing it). Then I pressed real hard so the pins indented the headstock. Now I had pefect placement for drilling. I found the drill bit that was just slightly bigger than the actual alignment pin (again, just eyeballing it). Then drilled away. For me, the first drilled hole took about three seconds of drilling to be deep enough. So for each subsequent drilling, I would count 1-2-3. Done. The neck looked like it came from the factory with those tuners when I was done. Too easy.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

Tons of guitarists play on unfinished or untinted necks. So it is not vital that it be there. I can see how it may make cleaning a bit easier and it may make the fretboard a little less slick (assuming its a maple board).

As far as the tuning machines go. I pretty much used the same method mentioned by the previous poster with one exception. Prior to pressing on the machines to make drilling marks I used a straight edge to make double sure each machine lined up.

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Hello Hamms30,

Warmoth requires you finish the neck for
warranty purposes, with most wood you choose.
They offer a solid rosewood or ebony that
requires no finish.

Cheers.

Bless my soul, is that right? What on earth is that all about? I've bought finished necks from other makers (WD Music and Mighty Mite, for instance).

Anyhow, if the neck is indeed unfinished (ask Warmoth if unsure) then buy an aerosol of polyurethane lacquer (not to be confused with polyester), widely and easily available. Spray between six and a dozen coats (lacquer in aerosols is mixed particularly thin to stop it clogging the nozzle, so err on the side of more coats) and have at it.

If it is a rosewood fingerboard then mask that before starting. If maple, spray everything and scrape it off the tops of the frets with something like an old credit card every few coats. Easy stuff.

BTW: urethane is the lacquer for this job. Nitro is also easy to use, but much less hard wearing - there is a reason Fender use urethane on the majority of their necks (check their specs).

Regarding the tuners: just to be clear, you're not saying there are no pegholes in the headstock, are you? It's just the fixing screw holes you're asking about? If so, the others have covered it - I'd encourage the use of a steel ruler to get them straight, as previously mentioned.

Good luck - C

Thanks everyone for the help. I should have mentioned. Neck is birds eye maple and the fingerboard is rosewood. Ceri, yes, the peg holes are there... I can't imagine the damage I'd do to the neck if they weren't . I'd imagine the headstock would look like swiss cheese by the time i was done with it. I'll try to get pics up as soon as I can after all is put together.

This isnt entirely true. Just last week I ordered an unfinished maple/maple neck from them.

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Hello All_Thumbs09,

I'm not sure what part of my post you believe untrue?

Heer is a link to the warmoth warranty
http://www.warmoth.com/Ordering/Warranty.aspx
Scroll down to "Necks", the second sentence is pretty clear.
Followed by the species that require no hard finish.

Cheers.

Please believe Mr Bill:

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Ah, thank you for clarifying that, Orville.

I had misunderstood Mr Bill to be saying that Warmoth would only sell us an unfinished neck - hence my surprise.

So, given the option, I'd have let Warmoth finish this neck. They are equiped to do it better than any of us. But it's perfectly DIY-able.

Anyhow: hamms30, I'm very glad to hear the pegholes are there. You're right, drilling those would be no joke! By the way, a little tip: insert a small rolled up sliver of paper into each peghole as a simple mask while you're spraying. That stops lacquer getting in there and interfering with the fit of your tuners in the holes afterwards. Oh, and mask the trussrod hole, too!

Good luck - C

You're welcome. Here's more from the Warmoth web site:

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Most interesting! I'm a bit suprised they didnt mention this when I ordered the neck, especially since i ordered it over the phone.

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

hmm...i wouldn't have thought to put something in the peg hole tuners. Believe I'm going to spray the neck tonight...waiting on tuners. Went to the music shop and they didn't have them in stock so I had to order them online. Went in looking for tuners, walked out with a Martin