Gluing-in a bolt-on neck

[Richard Barbera]

I'm in the process of building a Les Paul Style guitar. Although it was made to be a bolt-on neck guitar (like a Fender), I'm wondering if there is a possibilty of gluing the neck to the body permanantly w/o the use of the 4 neck screws & neck plate? The TR adjustment nut is at the hdstk.

 

As of now, the neck fits in the pocket...just right! Once setup w/ the correct neck angle, so the strings have enough height at the saddles, I can see no need for the neck to come off. Would gluing alone have sufficient strength to hold the neck in place. Or...maybe even using a single bolt (fastener) via the neck pickup cavity also...like an acoustic guitar would be bolted together?

 

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/Rnbguitars/neckattached009.jpg[/IMG]

 

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

Gluing (after checking there's no lacquer) would be perfect that way. Nothing special to do.
If the neck/pocket fit is tight, there won't be a noticable change when gluing, so I would just leave it as is, bolted on... maybe one day you'll be happy to have the ability to remove the neck.

[Richard Barbera]

It's not bolted-on now. It's just sitting in place. No holes have been drilled yet for the attachment either. My line of thinking was to have no screws or neck plate visible...like a conventional bolt-on has.

[Donald A. Fortune]

I'm sure toy can get away with setting the neck you are talking about-- take a check and see what a les paul set neck looks like and I'm sure that you will see a heel at the botom of the neck, in order to make it a set neck you will have to make a heel for the neck, to meet the body as the les paul has.. just mu two cents---
Peace,Donald

[Ned Knepp]

One of the best pieces of advice I've ever been given in trouble shooting is to try your best to avoid doing something that can't be undone. I believe the same applies to repairing and building instruments.

I think that before I glued a neck, that is patterned after a bolt-on design , to the body of a guitar, I would make sure I knew exactly how that neck was going to be removed if and when it needs to be removed.

Ned

[William F.Eden]

A men to Ned veary good advice. BILL.'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

[Tom Krebs]

It was designed as a bolt-on. I would do just that. You are not gaining anything by gluing it.

[Richard Barbera]

Sounds like solid advice. Weighing the overwhelming response, to not gluing it in, I'll go the traditional bolt-on rout. Definately a lot less work than what I had in mind. My initial thoughts were: that once the neck angle was permanently set, securing the neck w/ glue would pose no problems in the foreseeable future. But, one never knows?

What put the skids on my brainstorm...besides the objectionable advise given here:
Since the neck pocket or heel do not have an angle cut into them, the bridge has to be set quite low to acheive a decent action come setup time. With the neck clamped in & my straightedge layed down the fretboard middle, I have 5/8" height at the saddle tops & the ABR's lowered all the way down. If I glued the neck in, I'd for sure be stuck w/ no way out! With the neck bolted on...If need be, I can add a tapered shim I've made that fits in the pocket, which will raise the height at the saddle a 1/16" to an 11/16" height, giving me additional room for lowering the bridge...if need be. Thx all!

[Len Biglin]

Also check the headstock design , Les Pauls have a habit of losing their heads .Len