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As far as alignment of pole pieces under strings go, is this good enough? The low E is perfect but the rest wander south a bit (there’s some parallax in this pic). I’m guessing I’d just compensate by adjusting the pickup height at one end if I needed as the rout has no wiggle room
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The neck needs alignment. If you look at the distance the two E strings are from the edge of the fretboard, the treble E is further in than the bass E.
Looking at the guitar from the perspective of the photo, you need to move the headstock in the direction of the treble E until both strings are equidistant from the fretboard edge.
This will also align the strings over the pole pieces (almost perfectly I'm guessing) but string/polepiece centring is not as important as many may have you believe.
Yes the neck should be angled back. It won’t be as much as an LP, as you don’t have to take into account the carved top. Is the neck sitting snug on the bottom of the cavity? Are there any obstructions on the front of the cavity that would cause the neck to not sit snug at the front? Is the bottom of the neck flat and square? If the neck is snug and flat in the cavity, you may need to investigate a shim to get the angle right. Just remember small changes to the neck and pocket make huge differences to the neck angle.
Thanks fellas!
Yeah the neck fits snugly and is level with the body when in place so I will want to tilt it slightly to get the angle. As for straightness, some gentle persuasion gets it into alignment but it wants to sit slightly off
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That's something you'll want to address before setting the neck for sure. It may require adjustment to the pocket.Quote:
As for straightness, some gentle persuasion gets it into alignment but it wants to sit slightly off
And, like Fretworn said, little changes there are amplified in what happens at the far end of the neck.
Neck now glued and lined up.
The angle is not quite as steep as it needs to be so the action is still slightly high at the top frets. I’ll see what it’s like with proper strings and maybe file a very small amount of the saddle grooves if needed. By my reckoning it’ll need 1mm Max, maybe not even that if the actual strings sit deeper than this string I used to test. I think I’ll cause more harm than good if I attempt to unglue and adjust so I’m not going to stress on it...
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Is the truss rod adjusted so that the neck is currently as straight as it can be?
Haven’t touched the truss rod yet (for fear of breaking it, did I mention I’m clumsy??)
I figured it’s close enough that I’ll finish the back and fingerboard then spend some time getting the action just right. That’ll also give me some time to work out what tools I need to get hold of too...
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It's just that if it's got a lot of neck relief, then the action will be high at the body end of the neck.
You've also got the option of cutting the notches in the saddles deeper. I had to do that on a friend's guitar that I set up for him with a similar wrap-over adjustable saddle.
Gotcha, yeah the action is higher at the body end so was expecting to file a little out of the saddles but I’ll measure properly and consider truss rod adjustments too. Appreciate your advice!
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