ShortScale.org

This works on pretty much any bolt-on style guitar, though those with tremolos seem to benefit the most. My telecaster-style did also benefit somewhat as well.

1. Make sure your guitar is in standard tuning.
2. Loosen all of the neck plate screws a couple quarter turns -- just enough to loosen the connection a bit. You may hear some 'creaking', don't freak out.
3. Your guitar is now flat. Retune it to standard, making sure the neck is in proper adjustment. Check once more that it's in tune before moving to the next step.
4. Retighten the screws (make sure you're not over-tightening them..)
5. Your guitar is now sharp. Retune to your preferred pitch. You might now notice a slight improvement in the overall sustain of the guitar as well some increase in body resonance when you pluck the bass strings.

How it works: The strings pull the neck taught against the body, removing any small gaps that may have been present when the neck was initially set.

I tried this on all my bolt ons and it actually does work. It's not going to make any huge, drastic changes, but it does seem that there's a more solid connection between the bodies and their respective necks.

I posted this a few months back - does seem to work a bit, did it on my tele.

benecol wrote:I posted this a few months back - does seem to work a bit, did it on my tele.

apologies... not sure how i would have searched for it. But yeah, good to know other people are aware of it.

I'm sceptical. Wouldn't it just angle the neck away from the body slightly? Like the opposite of shimming?

I think it would work; think about it - the string tension is like you pushing the neck when you're screwing it in (which you should be doing) but you're getting all the tension in the right place to bring it "home" as it were.

Those who are skeptical should at least give it a try. It literally takes like less than minute to do.

Plenty of sustain on all my guitars, my Jaguar is crazy, it's like

BBBRRRRAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

Same with mine. CP jaguars have loads of sustain.

Maybe CP jaguars, haven't tried them yet, but real jags don't have no sustain.

jcyphe wrote:Maybe CP jaguars, haven't tried them yet, but real jags don't have no sustain.

Part of their charm. I happen to love the sound MBV and Mew get with theirs, and would consider getting a Jag in the future. I think the tune-o-matic bridge is a solution in search of a problem in the case of offsets..

I've just done it on my jag, does make sense but I do wonder if when tightening the screws the neck can somewhat shift back to it's original seating... despite being persuaded. It could also marginally weaken the internal screw threads of the wood, neck or body. Not a real concern really.

Either way, I seem to hear a slight difference.... the body certainly seems more resonant & I don't think that's me just thinking that. I play this guitar on average an hour per day. Thanks for the info.

My Franken-sonic had shit for sustain, but after I gave it a string through body bridge it's faaaaar improved. Not even in the same ballpark. Will try this as well and see if I can get a bit more.

Fuck it. I'm gonna do it to my jag right now. I'll record an open E before and after.

I can't post the clip because the stupid dicky iPhone app I recorded it on wants me to pay to transfer the file, but I checked the time the chord rang out for and it was the same on both, around 10 secs.

Just did it to my jaguar. Maybe a tad more sustain unplugged.

I was never trying to overstate the benefit this might impart... It would only have a very dramatic effect if the guitar were poorly set in the first place. But for mine it did yield a small yet noticeable improvement.

othomas2 wrote:I've just done it on my jag, does make sense but I do wonder if when tightening the screws the neck can somewhat shift back to it's original seating... despite being persuaded. It could also marginally weaken the internal screw threads of the wood, neck or body. Not a real concern really.

Excellent point, but one that's easily addressed. Do the procedure, tighten the neck up, then repeat it again. If the strings go flat and you hear the same creaking the second time, then you can assume that rescrewing it is undoing the changes.

last time this was posted I believe rob(og) said that this is like G&L's "secret" factory setup technique.