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Stripped bolt heads.

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(@kingpinjones)
Eminent Member
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 21
Topic starter  

I need a little help, i was feeling confident and decided to do a little work on my Warrior and decide to throw a shim in to see it that would help my action, and well... it did magic, until i actually put the bolts back in, i stripped the head of the bolts on the top 2 closest to the headstock and the other 2 are working on it. Now they're about 92% in and i just cant get them to tighten, and the angle of the neck is all off and theres a nice little gap where i can see the bolts going between the 2 pieces. now i don't know whether to put all my effort to tighten them and leave it alone forever, or take out the bolts and get new ones, but right now the latter isn't economically feasible so it'd be in 2 for a while.

So you're telling me i can sing AND play guitar at the same time.....? Since when?


   
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(@ezraplaysezra)
Honorable Member
Joined: 12 years ago
Posts: 484
 

When you changed the angle of the neck you also changed the angle of the guide holes in the heel. You probably figured that out by now. First thing is back the screws out if you can. You'll probably want to try a large flat-head to avoid further damage to the heads. You might be able to file the grooves to save the screws you have.

In the future and for anyone considering this: Always use the correct (or correct-est) available tool for the job. When you remove neck screws it is a good idea to drive the screws through a bar of white soap before returning them. The soap will lubricate the grooves - especially for an instance like this where the positions might change slightly. And keep the two parts, neck and body, in the same room for 24 hours before installation primarily for new neck installs or services where the neck might be sent out for work. Most important, never force anything together. Anyone who has ever broken rocks knows a well placed wedge and a little force can undo millions of years of unity.

If you take the shim out and lube the screws it might go back in effortlessly. Maybe not though. You might get wiggle or possibly bent the screw. Newer Jackson's being owned and built by Fender, I suspect to have the same, slightly thinner, lousy neck screws as Fender uses lately. So you should be able to source out larger screws for repair and drill new guide holes that will work if things have gone all pear-shaped on you. If I had your guitar here I'd probably install threaded brass inserts into the neck to except the screws at the newly drilled angle - if it was found to need shimming.

Your best bet now is to try to return the guitar to its former setup and fix the action at the bridge or temporarily live with it like it is until you can have it setup and/or repaired.

To file the screw heads: fashion some grit paper or similar to a thin hard flat surface like a flat head screw driver or putty knife or butter knife and strap or clamp the "file" down tightly to a sturdy surface and work the head against the grit. Of coarse, use a file if you have an appropriate one. Working the file against the screw could cause the screw to warp or misshape the head or grooves.

Notice I call it a screw and not a bolt - we all refer to these as bolts and bolt on necks but they are in fact wood screws. If you go to a guitar part website and order guitar neck bolts they will cost you $10 (maybe, I don't actually know) - but if you go to home depot and ask for #8 wood screws you'll get a bag full for $2. But if you ask for a #8 bolt - you'll get something different. Good to know. While we're on the topic, Your guitar input... it's an output, drives me nuts but we all call it inputs. Next time you take your guitar to your tech say output instead - he'll like you more. And for good sakes, stop taking guitars off the wall and looking down the body to see if the neck is straight! What are you looking at anyway! The neck is on the other end over there. I digress.


   
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(@ezraplaysezra)
Honorable Member
Joined: 12 years ago
Posts: 484
 

Also - Do the screws closest to the body first not the neck. Notice Fender did a triangular three bolt pattern in the seventies where the flat of the triangle was parallel to the end of the pocket... it sucked and they changed it back. The rear bolts snug the neck into the pocket and the fronts prevent lateral movement, or they do in my head at least.


   
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(@kingpinjones)
Eminent Member
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 21
Topic starter  

actually i worked some magic and left the shim after unscrewing and rescrewing everything i tightened the screws closest to the headstock first and then the bottom 2 and it joined nice and snug, it's actually quite beautiful now, minus the poor ugly screw heads. Fixing the action at the bridge is easier, yes i tried that first to no success or else i wouldn't have touched the neck, but i'm a poor broke loser who lives hours from the nearest music shop/guitar tech, i figure i can learn what any tech knows through trial and error, my goal is to be self sufficient when it comes to this and i seem to be improving every day.

So you're telling me i can sing AND play guitar at the same time.....? Since when?


   
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