As the heading says, I've decided to buy some stuff and put together a "partscaster". As such I am starting this thread to start with the inevitable countless questions I will have.

First question... I ordered a neck and vintage tuners from GuitarFetish.com and they claim they tunes will fit the neck. They are vintage style tuners and the bushings they came with do not seem to fit the holes in the neck. I assume these should be tight to the hole, but should I force them in? If so, any tips for getting them in there with doing no damage to the neck/bushing?

Second question...much to my dismay the neck was not drilled to simply bolt on to the body, as such how should I judge what exact position the neck should be in before drilling holes in it?

Third question...since the tuners are non-graduated, do I need to use string trees? How can I judge this?

Those should keep me busy for a few days...I appreciate the help that I hope you can provide...and I am sure more questions will follow.

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

YAY!! another building thread.
good luck

sarcasm?

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

The need for string trees may depend on the type of nut you use. Roller nut (like the commonly used LSR) eliminate the need for a string tree. If you use bone/graphite then you will need the tree. I'm pretty sure they can't hurt

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Live guitars: 2009 LTD Truckster, 1989 Strat Plus, 2001 Am Standard Strat, 1996 MIJ Jaguar, 2007 Gibson Explorer 76 reissue, 1999 Ibanez RG7621, LTD MH-301, LTD FM400, 1999 Jackson Kelly, Mystery Les Paul, Hamer Chaparel, Fender FM 62SCE A/E Mandolin

Hi guys: very respectfully and politely I so strongly advise against using either a drill or a Dremel to widen those tuner holes. I have seen folks - including pro luthiers - ruin pegholes by those methods.

The correct tool for this job is called a "cello peghole reamer". Here's mine:


And in use:


(Blue hands - a cold day when those pics were taken...)

With that tool you have superb control and can widen the hole evenly by virtually a thou at a time. It is the Rolls-Royce way to do the job.

Unfortunately it is a stupidly expensive tool in proportion to what it is. Stew-Mac are currently selling the size you need for $99.98:

http://www.stewmac.com/?PCR=1%3A100%3A1 ... rencyid=17

You can sometimes find them a bit cheaper on Ebay but not much. (Don't be lured into buying a cheaper violin peghole reamer: it is the wrong size for the job.)

So since you probably don't want to buy that tool a workaround is needed. Take a thin slightly graduated length of round wood - the handle of an artist's paintbrush is ideal. Then wrap some sandpaper of approximately P200 - 300 tightly around it. Then use that as your reamer. Go very gently and carefully with a turning motion, not in-out. Take your time - there is no easy way back if you go too far.

You want those bushings to fit nice and firm in their holes, but not quite so firm you can't get them out again.

Whatever you do don't force the bushings in if they don't want to go. That's how split headstocks happen.

I'll come back and do the neck screw holes if nobody else jumps in on it. Don't worry: it ain't too hard.

Cheers - C

The holes in the neck were the right size before the finish was applied. So thats what you need to remove. I have to agree against using power tools unless your highly skilled and have a good assortment of tools. I would double check the dimensions of the tuners and the holes just to make sure you got the right size. I've heard some pretty good things about the guys at guitarfetish so I would contact them first before You did anything just in case you can return them for the right ones. As far as the strings trees don't worry about them until you have all the rest of the parts together. I didn't install them on mine until it was built and the strings were on it.
Good luck and keep the guestions coming. I'm sure you'll get more answers than you'll need Ha Ha

Here is some help to get you started on mounting a new neck.

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Neck_re ... -4005.html

I had to plug and redrill the tuner holes in my '78 Strat and I used a small round file to fine tune the diameter. Should be available at any hardware store for a few dollars.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

Sounds like you've got your hands full.... I do have a blog with some tips about building a partscaster . Like BigJay mentioned, the key it to keep things moving slow but I think once you sort out the neck the rest should be pretty easy... the bridge will be the next biggest issue. There's some info on my blog about which ones work with which bodies and string spacing.

Good Luck!

http://stratocasterbuildersresourcecenter.blogspot.com/

no, my bad if it came off that way.

Big Jay is right. Slow down and think about what you want for a finsihed poduct. ie sound, feel, looks, options. I spent a year collecting parts before I started building. And I hate to say it, but I have enough parts for 2 guitars. Not that it's a problem but I picked up parts that didn't really go together well (pickups, pots, switches) I just finished the fisrt one and it's great but it is really the 2nd guitar as far a the parts collecting went I plan on putting the other together this weekend I hope but I've learned not to rush anything.

Although Guitar Fetish necks look nice you may want to check the width at the neck pocket in the body. I've been told that they are not an exact replacement for a Fender body. Are you using a Guitar Fetish body? I believe this issue with their necks may have been discussed before but it may have been on a different site. I recall someone discussing the need for shims in their body but it may have been a Squire body.

Yes there is a difference. The GFS neck is wider. The post your thinking about was using a GFS body and a mim neck

Thanks for the input so far fellas, all very helpful.

I was gone for a while(I am in the Canadian Navy and was in Haiti since the day after I wrote this post), but now that I am back I have sometime to get to work on this project. Thanks for the tip on the paintbruch with sand paper, it worked like a charm.

Since many have asked, I knew what I wanted, and I am using all GFS/Guitar Fetish stuff because it was an afordable way to go for my first build. Maybe after this one in a few years I will spend a buttload of money on some Warmouth stuff etc. Here are the details:

Maple 60's style neck,
Dark stained ash body,
Vintage style tremelo bridge and tuners,
Perloid pickgaurd,
GFS Jimi Alcino 2 pu's, and
A few other parts necassary to bring it all together.

Now I'm just waiting to get the pickgaud so I can see where the neck, body, and pickaurd will all work together. The next step will be to lineup and drill the neck and attach it to the body.

I am sure that more questions will arise so you'll have to bear with me...in return, I will provide pics upon completion.

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE