MIMF

I'm getting ready to try using hide glue for a set neck on an electric build. I bought some BT&E 315 gram strength High Stress granules at Woodcraft. When I got home I got to thinking I might have bought some from LMI six to eight years ago. After digging around for awhile I found it. I don't believe shelf life is a problem with hide glue so my question is which would be the best for this job. Thanks for any input.

It should work fine, as long as you remember it has a very short
gelling time. Make sure the 'dry fit' is good and make a dry run
to see how much time it takes.

If you heat the pieces just before gluing them, it will extend your working time a bit also.

A lot of really good builders who use hide glue just use 192 gram strength for everything. The 192 will make a bond that is stronger than the wood, so that is all you would really need. However, some also use the glue in the range of 200 or the 315 for gluing bridges to acoustic guitars, and that should be more than enough.

Like you, I am in the midst of an electric set neck, all hide glue build. I plan to use the 315 for the set neck joint, not that I think I need it, because the joint is very snug, but I just figure, why not. This is not something that is going to ever need to come apart. Just make sure the joint is snug, and that you have everything ready to go, because, as mentioned, the gel time is pretty quick. However, with a snug joint and hide glue, you don't need a lot of clamps - maybe one or two just to snug it up. Also, make sure the excess has somewhere to go, or you will never get the joint together. I cut the tenon on mine about an 1/8 inch shorter than the mortise, because the end to end grain is not really going to be a good glue joint anyway, and this gives somewhere for the squeeze out to go when you slide the neck tenon into the mortise.