Paging guitar builders : need advice

[bonaventura]

hi,

 

a while back someone in the electric guitar forum post a thread that reminded me of one of my long abandoned guitar. its a washburn mercury 340. somehow i lost one of the string holder screw when i was looking for a replacement (the hex head had stripped). so it was kinda abandoned after that.

 

i want to salvage the neck and build a body for it. the thing is that i would prefer to switch to hardtail so i will have to change the nut to a standard nut instead of locking nut. here some pics of the headstock:

 

 

i reckon that the offset might not be deep enough to produce proper break angle, so i would have to use string trees (btw the original string retainer will be removed as well).

 

the nut is fixed from behind the neck so i was wondering if the neck would break if i remove the nut assembly. you know, considering that i will be leaving 2 gaping holes in its place. especially since the base of the nut is much wider than standard nut, i will have to shave some material off that area (red arrow).

 

is there any way to safely do this?

 

looking forward to hearing your advice

[Belva]

I'd be tempted to plug them gaping holes with some dowel stock. If you can find maple it would look better. I'd also just use the existing bar type tree. Already got it, why not? That solves your break angle concern. The big question is the measurement from the leading edge of a gibson type nut to the first fret. I can't remember what that measurement is, but I think it's available at Stewmac's site. They have a chart that allows you to plug in your neck scale and come up with a measurement. It has to be exact or you'll have a guitar that just won't intonate. If that isn't where it should be I'd find parts to turn this back into a locking nut neck.

[MahaloVision]

You could also use the existing bolts. Cut/grind them down to length so that they don't stick through the nut area or the new bevel.

[WRGKMC]

It should be easy enough to find another screw at a hardware store if you want to use the locking nut. You'd need a floyd type bridge though.

 

I hate those locking nuts and tunable bridges myself. I'd take all that junk off there though, fill the holes, resand and refinish the neck. You'd probibly loose the Logo but no great loss there. You would have to take the remaining hump down beyond the nut so the strings dont touch. A simple ruler as a straight edge between the tuner and the new nut would tell you how much you need to take it down. You just want to clear the strings if they're wound on the tuning peg to the lowest point at the nut.

[bonaventura]

plugging with wood seems to be a better way but how do i ensure a tight fit with the screw holes

 

@mahalo : that should be quite obvious, why didnt i think of that this way i can get a good fit to support that area. the remaining holes at the back can be filled with, maybe sawdust/glue paste?

[MahaloVision]

The plugging/dowelling method is probably preferred, and I'd probably do it that way myself. It's not trivial, but not all that hard either. I'd suggest using a reamer to cut a tapered hole going in from the back. Then taper the dowel to match and glue that in. Cut off the excess after it's dry, sand, and refinish.

 

If you do use the existing bolts, you might be able to drill out the holes a tiny bit, just enough depth so that you can cut matching plugs with a plug cutter and glue those in over the bolt heads. I prefer the plugs to dowels whenever possible, just because I can cut the plug with grain to match in terms of color and orientation. But it's not like it's going to be invisible.

[Belva]

I think I'd open up the holes to make them even all the way thru & get some dowel the same size. Cut the plugs xtra long. Once the glue has dried you can use a hacksaw blade to cut them flush. A bit of sandpaper and it will even look pretty good. Just go slow with the blade.

[bonaventura]

thanks for your inputs

 

sorry for the novice questions, im challanged in woodworking skills and equipment. but at least now i know where to start.

 

gracias...

[WRGKMC]

I'd likley use plugs on one end and just fill the rest of the hole from the other end with epoxy. Once dru, just put a plug on the other end. I wouldnt bother trying to make a plug that matches the screw. Epoxy will fill the shaft in quite well and not cause any resonance issues.