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For a bolt on neck, how much clearance should one leave in the neck pocket for a tight fit, but one not so tight that when it get's finished it isn't so tight as to impede attachment.

I usually put a piece of painters tape around the neck when I'm making the template to route the neck pocket.
Due to the slight taper of the neck, the fit of the heel into the back of the pocket determines how tight the sides are.
edit: I'd say 0.01" clearance is good, and 0.03" is probably typical for factory Fenders.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Leo designed the bolt on neck mortise with a 2 degree angle on the bass side.

Try this in a drawing David
To do this you would draw your body.
Draw in the Mortise by tracing your neck end. This would give the perfect tight fit.
But as I said Leo designed two degree relief to be able to angle the neck when setting up the guitar.
Mark a point where the neck end and the neck base side would meet if these two lines were straight. The reason I say this is because it slightly rounded.
From this point draw a line that is at A 2° angle.
This allows the neck to be pointed right or left. However this is obviously only possible if the troubles side is open like a strata caster. If not you will need the 2° angle on the other side also. This might look a little bit too big of a gap.

I hope I'm clear on this.



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Ken

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Ken

Every time I get the opportunity (be it fortunate or unfortunate) to be able to measure a piece of my finish for thickness, it usually comes in around .007"-.008". Remember you need to figure this increase for both sides of the neck. So, I would say roger's suggestion of .010" is probably on the safe side. That is if you are figuring the increase all the way around. If he's saying .010" total, that might be a bit renegade. Or maybe my finishes are too thick.


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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."

Measuring my recent build the finish (truoil 13 coats) is 0.007 same as you Aaron. I didn't allow for this and ended up a little tight. In the end I just wet sanded the pocket with a bit p600 till it fitted nicely but this is a handy piece of info.

I also tape off my neck pockets when I finish.


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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."