I've been trying to bolt my new telecaster neck onto the body and came across a bit of trouble. Firstly the neck pocket seems far too snug for any sort of movement in the neck. I've tried to line up the strings the best I can but the high E starts to veer off as it reaches the body of the guitar. I really don't want to do any re routing to the pocket but I don't know if there are any other alternatives in order for everything to line up? I know that it's definitely off centre just by looking at where the strings go over the pole pieces.
If I'm being vague then let me know and I'll try and explain it as best as I can.
I thought it would be a doddle to simply bolt on a replacement neck but it seems not
Worth checking by sighting down the length of the fret board from the heel end. Look at it down the middle and both edges - should be able to see how the neck curves (or not)
iCEByTes wrote:5 Most Jizz face maker Solo�s , classic Rock music i ever listened.
iCEByTes wrote:Blunt a joint , Take the Touch , Listen this.
Dave wrote:Worth checking by sighting down the length of the fret board from the heel end. Look at it down the middle and both edges - should be able to see how the neck curves (or not)
It's not that the neck is bent, it's that it's not lining up properly all the way down from the nut. Once it gets to around the 14th/15th fret it starts veering off the fretboard. I may be being stupid but surely if the neck is warped it wouldn't make a difference to how I've bolted the neck on and it being lined up straight?
I've got barely any movement in the neck pocket so it's not like I can even loosen the strings and the neck bolts and then give it a push in order for the strings to line up with the pickup poles.
Am I being a complete n00b with this? Should the neck have to be straight (i.e. not warped/curved) in order for the strings to run down the fretboard completely straight too? If I was to put tension back into the neck would that then straighten the alignment? I've yet to set the action and stuff with the new neck on so maybe once that's done it will line up?
So many questions. I think my brain is going to explode.
I'm not talking about curvature in the normal forwards backwards dimension that a truss rod changes - I mean side to side! Like it might curve off to the left of centre from 14/15th fret down to the nut. The fact you're saying it 'veers off' at that position sounds odd to me unless something is getting lost in translation.
If the neck is perfectly normal and not warped then it seems as if something in the heel or the heel socket is out of whack or mismatched. I can only think that the heel might need some sanding....but hard to say without seeing it first hand
iCEByTes wrote:5 Most Jizz face maker Solo�s , classic Rock music i ever listened.
iCEByTes wrote:Blunt a joint , Take the Touch , Listen this.
Dave wrote:I'm not talking about curvature in the normal forwards backwards dimension that a truss rod changes - I mean side to side! Like it might curve off to the left of centre from 14/15th fret down to the nut. The fact you're saying it 'veers off' at that position sounds odd to me unless something is getting lost in translation.
If the neck is perfectly normal and not warped then it seems as if something in the heel or the heel socket is out of whack or mismatched. I can only think that the heel might need some sanding....but hard to say without seeing it first hand
Sorry Dave, that's what I thought you were implying with regards to curvature etc. Basically, all the strings line up fine coming down from the headstock and the high E is in line. Once it gets past the 14/15th fret, its beginning to move closer to the edge of the fretboard.
I imagine a sanding down of the neck pocket is probably in order but I'm not massively confident with that. It's either that or I plug the holes and try drilling the neck again. Saying that though, wherever I moved the neck in the pocket, it wasn't ever lining up straight with the pickups.
This is a tele right? I guess one experiment to try would be to unscrew the bridge and the neck with the strings still attached (although you may have to loosen them right off and if Kluson tuners just slip them off).
Then with bridge in one hand and the neck held by the nut in the other (and the strings attached) try lining up the high e with the edge of the fretboard and see if the low E can do likewise at the same time. The point of this is to see if you can actually get both outer strings to lay along the fretboard, from nut to bridge, with even spacing from each outer edge of the fretboard at the same time. If you can't then no amount heel shaving will change that and it pretty much guarantees the neck is either out of whack past the 14th/15th OR the neck was designed for a bridge with smaller string spacing...
From the info given I can't really see any other possibilities.
iCEByTes wrote:5 Most Jizz face maker Solo�s , classic Rock music i ever listened.
iCEByTes wrote:Blunt a joint , Take the Touch , Listen this.
what I would do if I were you is unbolt the neck, fill the screw holes, and redrill them. Before you do this, take a piece of string or yarn and something to the end so it stays in place on the bridge. Take the string and run it along the low E, wrap it around the head stock, and run it back down where the high E would be. Then you'll be able to make small adjustments on the angle of the neck before redrill the holes for the neck. once you get the neck right where you want it, figure out a way to mark where the screw holes need to go!
If you do that, it will fix your problem. You may be able to shim the neck side to side a bit but I haven't had great luck with that.
Yeah. Guess that might of been helpful to of pointed out.
Dave wrote:I guess one experiment to try would be to unscrew the bridge and the neck with the strings still attached (although you may have to loosen them right off and if Kluson tuners just slip them off) Then with bridge in one hand and the neck held by the nut in the other (and the strings attached) try lining up the high e with the edge of the fretboard and see if the low E can do likewise at the same time. The point of this is to see if you can actually get both outer strings to lay along the fretboard, from nut to bridge, with even spacing from each outer edge of the fretboard at the same time. If you can't then no amount heel shaving will change that and it pretty much guarantees the neck is either out of whack past the 14th/15th OR the neck was designed for a bridge with smaller string spacing...
I'm going to try this tonight and see what happens. Although, like I mentioned, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of movement in the neck pocket for me to be able move it very far in either direction. That's why I thought sanding one side may of worked in order to give some more movement.
I really don't think the specs of the neck are off but it could be a possibility. I'm going to give it another look over tonight and then if I still have no joy then I'll take it to a tech to see what they'd advise.
Haha well you kinda did point it out but I wanted to double check because other bridges would be way more of a bitch to do what I suggested with!
Likewise if a Tele neck then I can't imagine there are ANY tele bridges with vastly abnormal string spacing in existence so unlikely to be worng specs.
Hope I explained it okay. its that inevitable 'quicker to do than to explain things'. But yeah - focus on whether the outer strings actually can both fit on the fret board evenly from nut to bridge - that's about the long and the short of it! if they CAN then you may well have to look at some sanding and/or drilling of screw holes.
iCEByTes wrote:5 Most Jizz face maker Solo�s , classic Rock music i ever listened.
iCEByTes wrote:Blunt a joint , Take the Touch , Listen this.
Dave wrote:Haha well you kinda did point it out but I wanted to double check because other bridges would be way more of a bitch to do what I suggested with!
Likewise if a Tele neck then I can't imagine there are ANY tele bridges with vastly abnormal string spacing in existence so unlikely to be worng specs.
Hope I explained it okay. its that inevitable 'quicker to do than to explain things'. But yeah - focus on whether the outer strings actually can both fit on the fret board evenly from nut to bridge - that's about the long and the short of it! if they CAN then you may well have to look at some sanding and/or drilling of screw holes.
Yeah, definitely. I know that the neck isn't too narrow because I've measured it up against the stock one (it's a bog standard Mex tele) and if I apply a little inward pressure to the high E it will go into the right spot, but it obviously moves back to where it naturally wants to lie.
I've read all sorts of different hints and tips and it's just difficult to know which is the best option to go with.
