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Harpoon
04-02-2019, 12:46 AM
I´ve been searching for this info with no luck.
I´m confused with the height of the neck sitting in the pocket, is this ok, or not to high? and the angle?

It seems to me that it´s high, the pick up is far away from the strings.
https://i.imgur.com/iOJ68do.jpg

TZK321
04-02-2019, 07:31 AM
It looks fine to me but I'm a novice. Can't you raise the pickups by turning the screws in the plate?

Sonic Mountain
04-02-2019, 08:41 AM
Yes, looks pretty normal for the kits. If it has a TOM style bridge then yes you want a break angle away from the body, so that looks about right as well. As TZK321 said, pickup height can be adjusted.

People have successfully lowered the neck into the pocket on various kits - it does make them seem a bit more 'factory' but it isn't totally necessary usually. If this is your first build I'd just leave it, unless you are already handy with a router.

Harpoon
08-02-2019, 12:39 AM
Thanks for the reply guys,
to be honest, the fret board sticking out like that makes me want to fix it, but I´m not sure if I have the skills/knowledge to do it!
Is it easier to mess with the neck or the pocket?

BTW, I love your signature Sonic Mountain! :D

Dedman
08-02-2019, 04:59 AM
don't forget if you move the neck down the action will be a mile high unless you can lower the bridge as well or increase the break angle

Sonic Mountain
08-02-2019, 06:10 AM
Thanks for the reply guys,
to be honest, the fret board sticking out like that makes me want to fix it, but I´m not sure if I have the skills/knowledge to do it!
Is it easier to mess with the neck or the pocket?

BTW, I love your signature Sonic Mountain! :D

Hah, applies to a wide range of activities in my life.

If you were to try the best bet would be to deepen the pocket with a router. Having just started ruining guitars with a router myself, I wouldn't recommend it unless you have some experience with them. Dedmans point about is also worth considering, it will depend on how much adjustment you have available there, you may find you need to recess the TOM as well.

Harpoon
10-02-2019, 12:37 AM
all of a sudden, I feel that I can live with that!:D
Thanks Dedman and Sonic Mountain.

wazkelly
17-02-2019, 08:37 AM
I have successfully lowered neck pockets on 2 tele builds as they were ridiculously shallow and had no other way to lower the action.

Above points should be heeded as with any Gibbo style bridge & tail piece the height adjustment is critical as these usually sit fairly high off the deck anyways compared to a strat, tele, or lowset hardtail type bridge.

Best to check everything other than pickup height before butchering the neck pocket as that is where you can easily go down a path with no way of returning. Even more important if this is a set neck build. On my only set neck G style EX1 build the pickups seemed to sit too low and thankfully they can be easily raised and still look ok.

On my Tele's the job was slow and painful and being bolt on's it was not as critical and therefore more meat (thickness) to work with. I used 80 grit sand paper and cut out a wooden sanding block the same width as neck pocket but a bit longer so that I could grab onto it to sand fore & aft. A sharp chisel was also used around the vertical edges to get things started plus a bit of horizontal work to ensure things were reducing in the same planes.

All up I had to remove between 5mm - 7mm and it took quite a long time but better to go slow and steady than rush in with a router and take too much off. Thankfully I had a Strat style guitar to use for obtaining suitable height reference points otherwise I would still be complaining about both Teles with too high actions and impossible to cure intonation issues too.

Cheers, Waz