Stainless Inserts

Here's a write-up on the stainless insert kit found in the products section. I hope you find it useful. This is the process by which I install inserts into a guitar neck. Let's start with the insert itself, though. They are not all the same.

I have tried a few, and decided on these for two reasons. First, they are made from 304 stainless steel, which is a great plus. The last thing you want in an installation is a stripped, cross threaded, or otherwise broken insert.

Second, the threads are designed specifically for hardwood. These threads would be no where deep enough for pine, but maple, wenge, bubinga, and most all neck woods are quite hard, making this insert ideal. Also, there is a notch in the threads of the insert, which actually cuts the threads in the wood as the insert is being installed.

Installation really isn't too difficult, but you definitely need to use a drill press. Because the threads are rather shallow, it is all the more imperative that the hole is exactly the right size. The drill bit must be 9/32" and you need to drill a clean, perpendicular hole.

Here are a few tips to consider when installing stainless steel inserts into a neck. I documented the installation of inserts on this maple Warmoth neck.

In this installation, the neck was ordered without holes. The neck will be mounted using recessed ferrules, and the standard hole locations won't work. I lined up the neck in the pocket, and with a drill bit, scored where I would need to drill.

 

To make sure you drill to the correct depth, I like using a piece of painters tape to mark off the correct depth. Your drill press likely has a means of controlling the depth as well. Here I clamp the neck to the drill press using two radius blocks, 16" at the heel and 10" at the nut.

 

Here is what you should be left with.

 

 

Once you have drilled the holes, you are ready to install the insert. The kit in the products section comes with two jam nuts that with a 3/8" wrench are used to screw the insert into the wood. Here is how you want to set everything up. The screw is about 3/4 of the way into the insert.

 

I like to line up the insert perpendicularly by hand, to get about one thread deep, before attacking with the wrench.

 

Make sure your wrench is on the top nut only. The two nuts bind together. Keep tightening till the bottom nut is flush with the wood.

 

Once the bottom nut is flush, loosen the top nut and back out the screw. When I'm finished, I like to add a small dab of thin superglue to penetrate the threads between the insert and the wood. Be careful not to get any on the inside threads though.

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