Set Neck Gap of 5mm To Get Intonation Right

Hi guys,
Doing some checks on this AG kit and it seems the neck tongue needs moving away from the body about 5mm to get the right intonation. Thinking of glueing it in and adding a shim later. The neck needs to kick on a angle when glueing to line the strings up with the neck. Has anyone else had this problem?

Yup, many of my set neck kit builds have had this issue.
In nearly all cases I inserted and glued in a small piece of correctly sized wood to maintain that gap/correct neck position. None of my builds were the worse for it, and as the neck is in the correct position they all intonated correctly.

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Originally Posted by Marcel

Yup, many of my set neck kit builds have had this issue.
In nearly all cases I inserted and glued in a small piece of correctly sized wood to maintain that gap/correct neck position. None of my builds were the worse for it, and as the neck is in the correct position they all intonated correctly.

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Thanks for that Marcel. I'll make up a 5mm shim and slightly taper it so the neck kicks to the lower side, that way the strings will line up too. When I looked at where the PU is housed it wouldn't had fitted the if the neck was pushed up to the body the way it is.
So much for the video saying these kits are mass produced, there's not going to be a neck suddenly incorrect. When the guy started showing the 16th fret as the 12th, I knew I was in trouble.. ;)

They are mass produced, but not by CNC machines. Routed out by hand using a template. They normally get them right, but occasionally some do go a bit wrong.

The neck tenon is there to add more surface area for gluing, and not to position the neck.

Interesting Simon. The body's ok it's the neck tenon that is short. 5mm short. Hopefully there should be enough surface still for the glue..

It's the same as every other kit, mine included. Don't worry. :cool:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

It's the same as every other kit, mine included. Don't worry. :cool:

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Lol..thanks Simon. It's ended up being 8mm short.

Just for interest and maybe comment by the more experience if found this video from StewMac while researching for an ES build.
Dan added 3/64 to the scale length for intonation.
Any comments ???

Whoops! Forgot the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYJIXdlOg-o

I'll just say that Dan is the man! Love the offset thumb wheel trick! I'll bookmark that one in the old memory bank.

re: 3/64" adjustment -
If you pause the video just before he puts the tape on the steel rule, look at the numbers and you'll see the 12th fret falls forward of the 12-3/8" mark. This where he gets his compensation figure from.

Attachment 35383

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Originally Posted by McCreed

I'll just say that Dan is the man! Love the offset thumb wheel trick! I'll bookmark that one in the old memory bank.

re: 3/64" adjustment -
If you pause the video just before he puts the tape on the steel rule, look at the numbers and you'll see the 12th fret falls forward of the 12-3/8" mark. This where he gets his compensation figure from.

Attachment 35383

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Thanks guys. I'll check it out. I ended up moving the neck out 5mm. Throwing that kit bridge out and buying a Gotoh. A lot more travel then the Gotoh and that way I can close the gap up between the neck PU and the neck. I pulled one off another guitar I have here and tried it.

If you close it too much, you'll have problems with the pickup ring not covering the edge of the rout.

spot on Simon. That's what was happening. It's still not covering it 100% neck side but the trade off for having the tonation right is important to me..