Neck Tongue Not Level

Hi guys,

Just received a ES-1GT and had a quick look over it and noticed the neck tongue is not level. On the far side it's not as bad like it's been cut on a angle across the tongue. Don't know whether to sand it down level but I'm thinking if I do will the bridge be able to go low enough to get the action right. Suppose check it in the day light by clamping the front of the tongue down. Only thing is it's not going to clamp down evenly along the tongue to get a true gauge of what's going on.

In the photo from above you can see tell tale pattern on the timber showing how it's cut.

Looks rather like they caught the end on a belt sander after levelling it.

Apart from sending it back, I'd either stick some maple veneer on and sand it flat, or sand the the whole base of the heel down flat. You may find that the neck angle is a bit shallow anyway, I know mine was/is, so it may well benefit from a sand to tweak the angle. But it's not that easy to do whilst keeping the heel perpendicular to the sides of the neck.

That’s what I’m thinking Simon. Near impossible to keep it perpendicular. Might be able to make measurements of the sides of the tongue while sanding down. At the moment it’s 21mm thick at the end where it’s tapered down. 20mm thick where it’s glued to the neck.

Any overall reduction in tongue height will remove the same height at the bridge, so the neck angle will need to be increased very slightly to compensate.

I'd probably try and rig up a belt sander (with a fine grit belt) clamped down on its side, and stick the edge of the neck to a flat piece of wood with double-sided tape to keep things angled correctly when offered up to the sander. You'd still need to be very careful and it would be very easy to overdo it.

I haven’t got a belt sander Simon. It might have to go back

Well, a flat piece of wood held vertically then, with sandpaper double-sided taped to it, and still the neck held to a flat piece of wood, but its a bit harder to keep everything flat as you have to move the neck backwards and forwards to sand, rather then just push the neck towards the sander, which lends itself to a slight curve at the ends.

Thanks for your help again Simon..

The possible issues with a replacement neck are that it might not have been cut from the same routing jig pair as the original body and neck (if the factory use more than one jig), so the fit may not be quite as good.

But gluing on some veneer and hand sanding the veneer (again using sandpaper on a flat board) is probably worth trying before sending it back. Advise Pit Bull of the problem (I don't think they'd want it back as it can't be used as it is on another guitar), but you might as well have a go at fixing it before they send out another one. Which may well have to come from the factory with a long delay.

Will do Simon. I emailed Adam.
It’s hard to find veneer around here. I have some 3mm 3 ply pine I could sand down and try that.

I normally buy marquetry packs of veneer from Amazon. Mixed veneers, and whilst some are rather too soft to use on guitars, you normally get a reasonable amount of useable pieces.

That’s a good idea re: Amazon.
I might try a local business for some veneer to get this started. They have a big range it seems going off their website. Hopefully can get a off cut of something hard. Or sand down the 3 ply if I have no luck

I'm a great believer in using a Stanley knife blade rather than sandpaper for this sort of job. The other thing I suggest is to arm yourself with a modellers set square: you can get very small ones which are the length/width of the heel. These are very useful for this sort of job because you can be constantly checking that its not getting out of control. With sandpaper I find it horrendously easy to end up with a domed surface rather than flat, scraping with a blade I find much easier.

When I did my ESB-4 I was using a non-standard bridge which I bolted flat to the body rather than have it siting on the posts, so I had to work quite hard at the neck angle, and this was the way I did it. You also want to have a way of clamping the neck down in position that doesn't compromise your ability to run a straight edge smack down the middle of the neck to check how the height is going.

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Originally Posted by JimC

I'm a great believer in using a Stanley knife blade rather than sandpaper for this sort of job. The other thing I suggest is to arm yourself with a modellers set square: you can get very small ones which are the length/width of the heel. These are very useful for this sort of job because you can be constantly checking that its not getting out of control. With sandpaper I find it horrendously easy to end up with a domed surface rather than flat, scraping with a blade I find much easier.

When I did my ESB-4 I was using a non-standard bridge which I bolted flat to the body rather than have it siting on the posts, so I had to work quite hard at the neck angle, and this was the way I did it. You also want to have a way of clamping the neck down in position that doesn't compromise your ability to run a straight edge smack down the middle of the neck to check how the height is going.

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Thanks for the ideas Jim.

The only thing is with the shim idea is the tongue has a slight radius across it as well. Makes it hard to find a reference point to work to for a final sanding.

I'll second Jim on the mini square and their handiness for guitar work. (especially heels)
I have 2 that use regularly. One is 50mm machinist square and the other is a 75x100mm flat square (Hobby Tools Australia).

Jim's comment on scraping vs sanding is valid as well. The Stanley knife blade is a good economical alternative to a set of cabinet scrapers and are very useful for these kinds of jobs. I'm a recent acquirer of cabinet scrapers and will be getting a set of mini scrapers soon to add to my tool kit.

Lastly, if sanding is your only or preferred option, it's completely doable to make a DIY right angle sanding block. It's perfect for doing heel work. If you google it, there are a few common approaches to making them so you can choose which suits you best. I have one I made years ago and have used it a lot.

Appreciate the advice boys..👍 I’m going in..🤞

Thanks guys. Got it sorted. Went with Simons advice re: using a shim. Used a piece of 3mm 3ply and sanded the 2 outer layers until I got to the right size then tapered it off to near nothing. I was worried leaving it in case it pulled down to one side and stressed the tongue and cracked it when clamping. Plus possibly upsetting the rake angle. Thanks again everyone and thanks again Simon for your advice..