Astracaster First Build FS-1

Last few weeks have been hectic. So couldn't progress with build. Finally got time to do a mock build on the replacement guitar. The alignment of the neck is off. Strings have got more space on high E side and nearly on edge on the Bass E side.

https://i.ibb.co/VVcNtYQ/IMG20230512163042.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/2cSggDB/IMG20230512163020.jpg

Here is the video

https://youtu.be/48bMg1FIyZU

How do I align this is in correct way?. Should i sand it on the High E side and tug the neck on same side?
Or is the bridge too far to left? I don't know if there is much centre block to redrill the bridge hole.

The battery box is yet to reach me. Mostly I will get it by this week. I may have to route a battery cavity this week. I am also mulling options for back cavity.

Still no reply from Adam or from service. It's been more than 2 weeks. I have mailed them in multiple platforms. I am beginning to think that it's a waste to Mail them again, when their customer service is only so so...

I will be starting to post more frequently as I start the build by next week

Cheers Drashkum.

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The simplest way that occurs to me is to get some uncut saddles and cut the slot where you need it to be.

Attachment 44264

Shouldn't be too expensive. The trick is finding one that is the right width.

Alternatively, GraphTech sells Tusq saddles that are uncut, and Stew Mac sells brass ones. You would need to make sure they work with your saddle screws which are almost surely metric...and a set of just saddles is probably about twice the cost of just replacing the bridge...or buying a cheap bridge with flat saddles and just using it's saddle and screws.

On my first ES Bass I went through three or four bridges before finding something that worked. Ultimately you sometimes need cobble some things together to make it work. As a case in point, the bridge/tailpiece on my ES bass ended up with an inexpensive, but functional, no-name ToM bridge, half of a trapeze tailpiece that had the wrong string spacing, half of a precision bass bridge plate, and a small piece of maple to cover the tool marks ;-)

On second look...before doing any of that... you might see what happens if you give the neck a whack up near (or on) the bass side of the headstock and see if it goes into position. You have to whack it carefully so as not to break anything. If it has a Gibson style glued on headstock make sure to whack on the neck below where it is glued on. If it is "fender style" and the headstock and neck are a single piece, I'd wack on the tuner side of the headstock.

Either with your palm or gently with a rubber mallet. Just enough force to see if it will move a little. If that does not work, I'd try the flat saddles and see if you can get it right.

If it is way out of alignment you can always plug and redrill, but I would only do that as a last resort.

Every time I look at it, I see something a little different. On first look the low E looked to be in about the right place, but the high E too far from the edge. On second look I thought maybe the neck angle might just be off a little. Looking at it a third time I am still not sure.

I don't think I'd sand the pocket thought, unless it's too tight. You a good tight joint for the glue to take properly. I understand about the center-block, and agree that it's best to avoid a re-drill if you can.

If you think the neck is straight, but just a little too far toward the treble side, you could sand the bass side and laminate some veneer onto the treble side. That is a hard space to sand, though and you'd need to keep it very flat. If the neck fit is good...I'd try other things first.

I agree with the "wack up near the bass" low E side of the neck.

Also , for the first picture on post #71 was the high E string in the nut slot?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trevor Davies

I agree with the "wack up near the bass" low E side of the neck.

Also , for the first picture on post #71 was the high E string in the nut slot?

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No... The nut slot is very shallow, so string was coming out frequently. That's why I posted a video.

I'll try the "Whack therapy" tomorrow

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Drashkum

... The nut slot is very shallow, so string was coming out frequently.

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They are often quite shallow on the kits. They're designed to be cut down to the right string height. I would still use it as an excuse to change it out for something better ;-) Don't know how much actual difference in sound it makes, but I know I have never regretted doing it ;-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fender3x

Every time I look at it, I see something a little different. On first look the low E looked to be in about the right place, but the high E too far from the edge. On second look I thought maybe the neck angle might just be off a little. Looking at it a third time I am still not sure.

I don't think I'd sand the pocket thought, unless it's too tight. You a good tight joint for the glue to take properly. I understand about the center-block, and agree that it's best to avoid a re-drill if you can.

If you think the neck is straight, but just a little too far toward the treble side, you could sand the bass side and laminate some veneer onto the treble side. That is a hard space to sand, though and you'd need to keep it very flat. If the neck fit is good...I'd try other things first.

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I tried the whack therapy. It seems to open up a millimeter of a gap on the neck pocket 9n bass side and aligns the strings much better. So i think the way to go. So how do I glue the neck in that position?. Should i shim it? Glue the shim first and glue the neck to it?

But in the downside what it does is that it it puts stress on the Neck Pickup cover and it's pops Out and I am not able to push it back in.. May be i may need to enlarge the pickup cavity a bit to prevent this.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by fender3x

They are often quite shallow on the kits. They're designed to be cut down to the right string height. I would still use it as an excuse to change it out for something better ;-) Don't know how much actual difference in sound it makes, but I know I have never regretted doing it ;-)

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Yes I had ordered a bone nut. I will change it out if deepening the slots doesn't work.

Pitbull guitars and @adam have not mailed me back or doesn't even have a courtesy to reply to the mails, messages in fb/insta and DM here on this forum on the bad replacement issue and missing fret crown file. I think they have put my mail ID in spam [emoji23]

At first I thought after they get back to me with reasonable solution ( Atleast a 16 Aud refund for the missing file) to the problem, I shall ship one of those guitar Body and neck back to them.

But since they refuse to turn an eye to the problem, I have decided to build 2 guitars with the kit they have sent. First I shall build a FS-1 with the bad kit and gain experience and probably gift it to my guitar teacher as a token of gratitude and then build my own with the piezo thing.

I had already ordered locking tuners/ SD triple-shot pickup ring. The piezo TOM is already there and the Artec MB bufferamp came with it's own set of pots and output Jack's. So all I need to build a new guitar are new pickups, tailpiece for TOM bridge and string trees.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Drashkum

I tried the whack therapy. It seems to open up a millimeter of a gap on the neck pocket 9n bass side and aligns the strings much better. So i think the way to go. So how do I glue the neck in that position?. Should i shim it? Glue the shim first and glue the neck to it?

But in the downside what it does is that it it puts stress on the Neck Pickup cover and it's pops Out and I am not able to push it back in.. May be i may need to enlarge the pickup cavity a bit to prevent this.

Sent from my NE2211 using Tapatalk

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I think I'd shim if there is much of a gap either on the heel or in the pickup cavity. Veneer is probably. if you cut multiple strips you can stick them in next to each other as you do the glue up to form a wedge. You want to make sure that there is plenty of contact so that the glue holds the neck well.

Yes, I'd mod the pickup cavity a bit to make the pickup cover fit. The cover will hide a multitude of sins ;-)