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Thread: TL-1HA first build

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  1. #11
    GAStronomist Simon Barden's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fender3x View Post
    If you are really interested in tightening up the neck pocket, this guy has a different approach.



    I should say that I have not done this, and am not an endorser of the approach. It looks like overkill to me. But passing it on FWIW.
    A few things to note.

    1) The extra screws may be possible to fit on a bass neck, but on a typical guitar neck, the two rear screws are only a few mm from the end of the neck and the angled screws would hit them. Even if they missed, I feel this would create two weak areas of wood at the end of the neck that could be liable to tear out if you hit the end of the neck on something, or just simply with use. So I'd recommend only trying this on a bass neck where the rear screws area decent distance from the end of the neck.

    2) For an existing guitar or bass, rather than a new build, you'll already have screw holes in the neck. These will definitely need filling and redrilling if you change the shape of the neck pocket so the neck sits further into the body.

    3) He used a kit bass with an unfinished neck. If you are going to add veneer in order to make the pocket so tight that you can raise the body up with the neck as shown, then only do it with a finished neck. Add finish and the neck will be wider and will never fit in the pocket!

    4) He used the long edge of the pocket to push the neck up against and added veneer to the short edge. This is fine if the pocket edges are truly parallel and also align with the centre line of the guitar, but this is not always the case. If the pocket is more of a parallelogram shape, then you'll need to get the neck pointing straight down the body, and probably need to fill in both sides of the neck with angled veneer shims. Especially important on an existing guitar/bass where the bridge and pickups are already installed, otherwise you could make it unplayable with the stings running at an angle down the neck.

    5) On an existing bass/guitar, if the bridge saddles are already intonated as far back as they will go, then reshaping the neck pocket end so the neck sits further into the body will make the guitar unintonatable without moving the bridge. This may be possible on a top loader, but with string-through bridges or bridges with posts, this is a major fill and redrill exercise with big cosmetic implications. You'll be far better off packing epoxy into the end of the neck cavity (or similar) and leaving the neck where it is.

    6) Any neck is already being pulled back into the end of the pocket under string tension with considerable force. Slackening off the neck screw slightly under tension will allow the string tension to move the neck back as far as the neck screws allow. Then re-tighten them. On an electric, you've got a typical total of around 100 pounds/45kg of tension, on a bass, its nearer 200lbs/90kg. Once you've got that much force pulling the neck into the body and you let the screws move as much as possible under that force, then those angled screws really aren't going to be able to do much more at all.

    7) If you care about the resale value of your instrument, especially if it's vintage or rare, don't fit the angled screws!

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