My Diary - LPA-1, First time Pit bull Builder

[depictedminds]

Even thought the bridge is sitting about a mile in the sky, I've ran 5, 6 and 1 to see the alignment of the neck, bridge, saddles etc. etc. Alignment wise, I think it's not too bad - thoughts?

Note: The neck isn't clamped, and the bridge doesn't have it's pegs mounted as of yet - Not sure how I'd check the neck angle without really mounting the bridge, so it's firm enough to at least hang on to a string that's tensioned "Straight". The more I look at it though, the less and less Im worrying - nothing particularly untoward seems to be going on there outside of a little bit of creative filler and colouring.

Ideas, suggestions welcome - Im getting heaps of good info from you all so far!

[DrNomis_44]

Even thought the bridge is sitting about a mile in the sky, I've ran 5, 6 and 1 to see the alignment of the neck, bridge, saddles etc. etc. Alignment wise, I think it's not too bad - thoughts?

Note: The neck isn't clamped, and the bridge doesn't have it's pegs mounted as of yet - Not sure how I'd check the neck angle without really mounting the bridge, so it's firm enough to at least hang on to a string that's tensioned "Straight". The more I look at it though, the less and less Im worrying - nothing particularly untoward seems to be going on there outside of a little bit of creative filler and colouring.

Ideas, suggestions welcome - Im getting heaps of good info from you all so far!

Check to make sure that the two E strings are the same distance away from the edge of the fretboard, once they are the same you'll know that the neck is correctly aligned with respect to the body, Gibson give the following specs for the 12th fret action on their factory-built LP guitars (note that the specs are in imperial units):

Low E string 12th-fret action: 5/64ths of an inch.


High E string 12th-fret action: 3/64ths of an inch.


I'm not sure what the metric equivalents are, but if you're able to get the 12th-fret action to those specs without the bridge touching the body then the neck angle should be fine.

[depictedminds]

Thanks for everyone's guidances so far.

Ok, so Im doing pretty much everything I can think of to try and get this guitar set for sanding / finishing / gluing, and in most cases I seem to be going pretty smoothly - EXCEPT for the neck.

Now, when I put the neck into the guitar, it's nice a tight, seems to have a huge angle on it - like really big. Ok, so I have to get a decent mock build done. I get that. The thing is, I can't think of a single way to even begin to get a decent mock build of this particular part done without pushing in the posts for the bridge and the tail. I can't bring the guitar up to any kind of tension if the bridge isn't supported, I can't get a true indication of the alignment if the bridge and tail aren't supported, and I really can't see what sort of action I'll get if I can't get some at least REASONABLE tension on the strings so they at least run straight.

So I knocked the posts in. If there's another way to do that (I can't run mounting screws - there IS none on a tune-o-matic) let me know, cause I'd love to know how.

Right - so I've done that - now I can get a basic idea of what my action is going to be. From what I can tell at the moment, Im not sure it's going to be very good... I set the bridge off the guitar (raised) by about 4mm and I can get the strings to run straight at about 1.3m m off F12 (E6) and around 1.1 F12 (E1) But With no real neck tension. Buzzes like hell (as I'd reasonably expect with no tension). The bridge is raised pretty high off the neck, and Im not entirely certain Im fond of that.

For some reason, Im just not entirely comfortable with this neck angle - it seems FAR too pronounced. What Im worried about is, gluing the neck in and not doing something I should have about the angle.

Can you guys just give me some indicators on what you would believe might be the case here - Specifically:

* Am I going to expect this neck to straighten (angle) with the string tension by much? IE: By amounts that would let me lower this bridge a reasonably amount, and to ultimately get a babicz?
* I don't feel the neck is bowed whatsoever. Do you think this looks like a time where Neck Truss rod would come into play?
* Am I losing sleep over nothing? Glue is just SO permanent, and Im trying to find the "Dude, you should have done THIS BIT" before I start thinking about it (of course, my finishing comes first though)

If pictures and stuff are needed, let me know and I'll supply.

[Dan]

What I did was to just sit the posts for the bridge and tailpiece in the holes without the bushings in there. I was able to put a couple of tuners on for the E strings and check that the neck was in straight and the angle was ok before and when gluing the neck. You don't need a whole lot of tension to check the fit, and you can see if the bridge posts are being pulled out of the holes and adjust if needed.

With this arrangement the bridge will be as low as it will ever go (possibly a bit lower). I found the action was lower that I would need so should be ok.

One other thing to consider is that the neck may be tilting back in the body a bit if you don't have it clamped which will make the angle seem bigger than it is. I cut a block of wood that would fit between the E strings and used that to clamp so I could be sure the neck was fully in the pocket and the angle was the same as it would be when glued, then checked the action then.

I did all this on an SG but the same process should work the same for your LP.

[UpperCaseH]

I'm following this thread with interest for two reasons. First because every one of my current "I whould do this one next" kits have set necks and I find the process looks fairly intimidating, and second because this exact kit is the one I most have my eye on. It's helpful to read all the advice about fitting a set neck even though I'm not dealing with it yet.

Also, the top on this particular kit looks amazing and I can't wait to see how the finish works out.

[depictedminds]

Yeah - and to be honest, Im not overly panicking as of yet, cause I haven't glued anything thus far. But I am just really not happy with the angle of the neck break with this whatsoever. It seems like it's out (with a straightedge) at the saddles (raised up half) by about 15mm (IE: the bridge would need to be raised another 15mm). That's massive. Im positive I can get this fixed, but I cant tell anything whatsoever about the neck until I maybe get it to string tension. The feedback thus far has been outstanding on the forum, but every single suggestion seems to tell me the neck is out by a country mile.

Im terrified to do any sanding or anything as of yet, cause if you make a mistake you're done... But Im certain if I keep looking I might get my answers. Onwards and upwards.

If anyone has anything else they can suggest, please do - I'd love to get past the mock build stage with this...

[Dan]

Looking at your photo from the side up above, it definitely doesn't look like it's sitting in right.

I haven't seen an LP kit, but on my SG the neck pocket routing in the body is flat, and the neck in that photo doesn't look like it's sitting flat in the neck pocket. Mine would do the same before I clamped it.

I'd check it again without the pickups in there (you won't be able to tell if it has slipped if they are covering the hole) and clamp it on and see how it goes.

[depictedminds]

Youre right. It doesnt look like it. But it certainly is. Even when i mock clamped it its that angle. On the pickup side of the neck heel its wood on wood. All the way to the base. The angle is massivly pronounced on this neck.

Im at work atm but will get better pics shortly.
*edit* i THINK its masively pronounced. Ill leave that up to the experts.

Should i post the q to db in his corner?

[Andy40]

Hi Depicted.

I am no expert but when i do a mock build I don't put the bushings for the saddle or the stop tail into the guitar body until the guitar body is finished to prevent damage to them. Instead you can use some plastic tubing (or a bit of rag) and wrap it around the posts and push that into the holes. That should hold for a mock build.

You can't set it up properly until after the finish anyway as you may need to modify the guitar.

Its better to not consider gluing the neck until after the neck and body are finished anyway, but its not a bad idea to check it as you have been to see if you need to modify the neck join.

Generally speaking the neck angle of the LP kits follow the upward angle of the body. Its difficult to see what you are talking about without a photo of the side of the neck join of the guitar. Here is a photo of my LP-1SS neck join.



That's what the angle should look like.

Can we have a side photo of the neck join? and maybe a photo of the neck to see if its bowed or twisted?

[depictedminds]

Im not at home at the present, but the photos that I have put up before show a little bit of the angle - I'll get better images when Im at home.

These are what I have at the moment.

(And no, mine's not at all like yours - As you can see on the gap of mine, that's how far out is is on the angle - It just feels like I'd need to raise the bridge like a crapload off the guitar just to have a baseline action)

But I'll get better images asap.