Oversized Neck bolts for Strat?

[Willabe]

Does anyone know of anyone that sells an oversized Strat neck screw?

The holes for the neck bolts/screws do not hold the screws tight anymore. It's an early 80's 62' reissue Strat, 4th set of frets in it.

I could drill out the neck screw holes and glue in maple doll rods, but an oversized screw would be much easier. The the neck plate holes have plenty of play to accept a larger screw.

It's the screw head that would be the issue, next sized screw would also have a larger head and would stand proud of the neck plate.   

   

[rafe]

"It's the screw head that would be the issue, next sized screw would also have a larger head and would stand proud of the neck plate."

You could turn the back of the screw heads with a lathe . If you don't have access to a metal lathe send me a pm

[Willabe]

Thanks Rafe, but I'm gonna just try some flat tooth picks and wood glue.

Should work fine.

[rafe]

That will likely do it. I am a carpenter by trade; always have a gallon on hand great stuff. I have done similar repairs with sawdust and glue as a wet paste' fills the voids on the threads and is strong

[Willabe]

The flat tooth picks and wood glue worked fine.

Guitar is all put back together and it's good to be playing it again.   

[Ritchie200]

Glad you gave up on that silly hollow body infatuation you were going through last year....Be true to your avatar bro!


Jim

[Willabe]

No, that Gretsch is a great guitar. Just a different animal for different music/sounds. Still trying to get used to the filtertron PUP's. 

But I do still love my Strat. 

[G._Hoffman]

Drill, plug, and redrill.  Also gives you a chance to correct any alignment issues, if they exist.

[G._Hoffman]

Old thread, but thought I'd add another method - You can solidify the wood fiber with epoxy, but ideally low viscosity amine epoxy like west system, sys3 etc, not store aliphatic chemistry stuff jb weld etc, which doesn't penetrate well. JB Weld does sell a 'marine' which is amine chem' and is grey not clear.
 Maple density not the greatest for this technique but probably would do fine with some existing thread holding left. Warm the neck some before so epoxy goes into warm wood, will penetrate better. I run it in on a toothpick or match stick etc and work it in good but not fill the hole per se.  Very common in wood boats for hardware attaching.

Much better to drill, plug, and redrill.  Epoxy just creates future difficulty for the next repair guy.


Gabriel

[Latole]

You are right Gabriel
And toot pick are made from too soft wood. Better to use hard wood plug.

Hole in wood (neck or furniture ) are so easy to fix, I'll never need to use over size screws on a guitar

[G._Hoffman]

You are right Gabriel
And toot pick are made from too soft wood. Better to use hard wood plug.

Hole in wood (neck or furniture ) are so easy to fix, I'll never need to use over size screws on a guitar

Around here, toothpicks are mostly maple, which is what Strat necks are made from, so that's not really the issue.  They make a great short to mid term way of tightening up strap buttons.  But they aren't appropriate for long term repairs, and never for neck bolts.  WAY too much pressure on those neck bolts.  You want a very solid, very tight, and single thread in the hole.  When you put them back in, you want to be careful to catch the original thread.

Gabriel

[Latole]

My brand ( no name ) of toothpicks look not maple wood, look soft wood. 
Google :

[sluckey]

My brand ( no name ) of toothpicks look not maple wood, look soft wood. 

Birch is a hardwood.

[Latole]

Thank you, I learn here.

https://www.shodor.org/succeedhi/succeedhi/weightree/tableHardSoft.htm

Yellow Birch   Yellow Birch                  Hard Hardwood
Sweet Birch   Other Hard Hardwoods   Hard Hardwood
River Birch   Other Soft Hardwoods           Soft Hardwood
Water Birch   Other Soft Hardwoods   Soft Hardwood
Paper Birch   Other Soft Hardwoods   Soft Hardwood
Gray Birch           Other Soft Hardwoods    Soft Hardwood

[sluckey]

Different types of maple, even though classified as a hardwood just as birch, vary widely in actual hardness/softness. You can find a similar chart for maple.

Pine, OTOH, is classified as a softwood. But the actual hardness varies widely with the actual species.

My point is that hardwood or softwood is not defined by the actual hardness of the wood. I think Gabriel's point is don't use toothpicks for a high stress repair. Use a toothpick for quick repairs such as that loose cabinet door hinge.

[G._Hoffman]

Hardwood is any broad leaf tree (i.e., it looses it's leaves at some point in the year), and softwood is any evergreen tree (i.e., it has needles which it never completely sheds while alive).  There are some incredibly soft hardwoods (bass wood comes to mind), and some incredible hard softwoods (some species of old growth pine, for instance), but on the whole the catagories are roughly correct. 

[Ed_Chambley]

Brad,
The early telecaster screws are just a little larger and will probably work.   Has for me.  here:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Genuine-Fender-Slotted-52-Tele-Neck-Plate-Mounting-Screws-001-8369-001/223727669694?hash=item34173551be:g:JLAAAOSwJ7RYUiSw

[rake]

Hardwood is any broad leaf tree (i.e., it looses it's leaves at some point in the year), and softwood is any evergreen tree (i.e., it has needles which it never completely sheds while alive).  There are some incredibly soft hardwoods (bass wood comes to mind), and some incredible hard softwoods (some species of old growth pine, for instance), but on the whole the catagories are roughly correct.

Yep, the term hardwood has nothing to do with strength. Balsa is a hardwood!
If ever I have to fix stripped screw holes on a neck I cut my plugs with a plug cutter.
Dowels give you end grain for the screw to grab. Much weaker. I have a piece of Osage Orange
that I cut my plugs out of. (tough stuff) I tried using Lignum Vitae but the plug cutters just burn
up on that stuff!

[G._Hoffman]

Hardwood is any broad leaf tree (i.e., it looses it's leaves at some point in the year), and softwood is any evergreen tree (i.e., it has needles which it never completely sheds while alive).  There are some incredibly soft hardwoods (bass wood comes to mind), and some incredible hard softwoods (some species of old growth pine, for instance), but on the whole the catagories are roughly correct.

Yep, the term hardwood has nothing to do with strength. Balsa is a hardwood!
If ever I have to fix stripped screw holes on a neck I cut my plugs with a plug cutter.
Dowels give you end grain for the screw to grab. Much weaker. I have a piece of Osage Orange
that I cut my plugs out of. (tough stuff) I tried using Lignum Vitae but the plug cutters just burn
up on that stuff!

Yup, always cut plugs with a plug cutter, match species, and do your best to match the grain direction, which makes for the strongest possible glue joint. 

Gabriel

[jjasilli]

Another alternative is threaded inserts, e.g.: https://www.amazon.com/s?rh=n%3A17290528011&rd=1&ref=Oct_s9_apbd_odnav_hd_bw_b16rAj_4


It's important to install these dead-on straight.  Most useful if the neck is removed for safe travel or shipping.