Whetstone School of Lutherie Adjusting Neck Bolts

Scott Hausmann - 01/19/12

Page 1 of 2 – Copyright © 2011 by Whetstone School of Lutherie – All rights reserved

We think bolt-on necks make a lot of sense, but for years we've fumbled around inside our instruments trying to adjust those pesky joint connector bolts. Once we started making ukuleles we realized we really had a problem, and we finally stumbled on a solution that works great for just about everything.

Our solution utilizes a ¼" drive thumbwheel ratchet and a 5/32" ball end hex bit socket. The ball end hex bit sockets are difficult to find commercially, so we just make our own by cutting standard 5/32" ball end alen wrenches to length, and epoxying them into 5/32" ¼" drive sockets. If your necks bolts use a different hex size than ours, substitute the corresponding components. We use 2 lengths in the shop – one about 3.500" long for 12 fret guitars and ukuleles and the other about 2.750" long for 14 fret guitars.

There are lots of thumbwheel ratchets out there, but we like this Craftsman model, which has a very smooth ratcheting mechanism and is easy to hold in your hand.

Craftsman ¼" Drive Thumbwheel Ratchet

Whetstone School of Lutherie Adjusting Neck Bolts

Scott Hausmann - 01/19/12

Page 2 of 2 – Copyright © 2011 by Whetstone School of Lutherie – All rights reserved

The ball end feature makes it a snap to locate the tool in the hex recess, and as you can imagine loosening and tightening the neck bolt is easy as pie. While you could probably get by with only one hex bit socket, the longer one is easier to use when working on 12 fret instruments.

If you make ukuleles or mandolins with small soundholes, you know how difficult this simple task can be. Here is a picture of the longer hex bit socket in action. You simply won't believe how easy this task is with the right tool – just like it should be!