RC 1 neck and tuning

HI! I am building an RC 1 and all is pretty good. Couple of questions though... (this is my first build)

1) the tuning is a bit sloppy. The neck is solid and there is no play with the body, unless you hold the body and put pressure on the headstock. Just trying to get everything set. Wondering if any one can offer any tips, or have come across a similar problem with tuning/neck movement

2) the volume doesn't go to zero! All the way down seems about a 5. Up the top is def 11!!!

Any tips for that one would be appreciated too, thanks.

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Originally Posted by glennh

HI! I am building an RC 1 and all is pretty good. Couple of questions though... (this is my first build)

1) the tuning is a bit sloppy. The neck is solid and there is no play with the body, unless you hold the body and put pressure on the headstock. Just trying to get everything set. Wondering if any one can offer any tips, or have come across a similar problem with tuning/neck movement

2) the volume doesn't go to zero! All the way down seems about a 5. Up the top is def 11!!!

Any tips for that one would be appreciated too, thanks.

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Have you read the guides?
What intonation have you completed?
What is the action like, especially at the nut and then all the way down the neck?
Which strings are sloppy or is it all of them?


Can you post some pictures of your wiring and confirm that you used our wiring diagrams?

Hi Glenn, there are many factors with the tuning and neck movement. If you recently assembled the guitar it takes time for the neck to set in. Also as Gav says let us know your string action and your truss rod may need some adjustment.
Check you wired the volume pot to the correct lugs. It's also possible the pot is faulty or sometimes they are cooked if too much soldering iron heat was transferred when soldering the earth wires to the pot casing

It may be a bad connection on the ground lug on the volume pot (or no ground at all). That will make the sound go quieter but never fully off.

The 'folded' lug on the volume pots should be soldered to the back of the pot, which then connects to ground.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gavin1393

Have you read the guides?
What intonation have you completed?
What is the action like, especially at the nut and then all the way down the neck?
Which strings are sloppy or is it all of them?


Can you post some pictures of your wiring and confirm that you used our wiring diagrams?

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Thanks Gavin. I followed the guides and the wiring diagram. The action at the nut is very high, especially when compared to my strat, tele and les paul (not kits). The action appears standard down the length of the neck. Have just replaced strings with a higher gauge (10-46) and seems better, but will obviously need to adjust the nut height.

Would you recommend replacing the nut or deepening the string slots? Many thanks for your help

thanks wokkaboy.

hey weirdbits, thanks for that info. I didn't realise that. will try it out. Much appreciated

Hi Glenn,
when you adjust the nut height best you leave the slot depths and rub the bottom surface of the nut on sandpaper on a flat surface. The supplied nuts are plastic and a bone nut will give much better sound.

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Originally Posted by glennh

Thanks Gavin. I followed the guides and the wiring diagram. The action at the nut is very high, especially when compared to my strat, tele and les paul (not kits). The action appears standard down the length of the neck. Have just replaced strings with a higher gauge (10-46) and seems better, but will obviously need to adjust the nut height.

Would you recommend replacing the nut or deepening the string slots? Many thanks for your help

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Have a look at the nut slot depths, make sure that they follow the 12" radius (or in english) that they are much the same height above the fretboard.

If this is the case, rather than having some slots deeper than others which will lead to buzzing if reduced further, then proceed as Wokka suggested and work from the flat bottom of the nut. When sanding the nut, plastic or bone, you should use sandpaper attached to a known flat surface. You want the nut to have as much contact as possible with the neck slot. Stability and sound transfer.

I'm assuming you haven't done a fret levelling job on the guitar? But not an issue except if you are going for a very low action, hence you should check the curvature of the fretboard and neck with a (notched) straight edge or long ruler. This is an important starting point to getting your action and intonation right.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gavin1393

Have a look at the nut slot depths, make sure that they follow the 12" radius (or in english) that they are much the same height above the fretboard.

If this is the case, rather than having some slots deeper than others which will lead to buzzing if reduced further, then proceed as Wokka suggested and work from the flat bottom of the nut. When sanding the nut, plastic or bone, you should use sandpaper attached to a known flat surface. You want the nut to have as much contact as possible with the neck slot. Stability and sound transfer.

I'm assuming you haven't done a fret levelling job on the guitar? But not an issue except if you are going for a very low action, hence you should check the curvature of the fretboard and neck with a (notched) straight edge or long ruler. This is an important starting point to getting your action and intonation right.

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thanks for your info Gavin. Can you advise on the best way to remove the nut from the neck?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by glennh

thanks for your info Gavin. Can you advise on the best way to remove the nut from the neck?

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Hi Gavin... you'd think I'd try it first! Just added a little extra pressure and it popped off! tnx