Build #3 - FV-1

[Cliff Rogers]

That is a cool looking finish, looks like an old table top.

[Plainfaced]

Morning all... So again I was pretty quick with this build.. and there are a few small issues. IM sure very fixable. Hoping for some help.

Problem 1: Back bow with little to no room to loosen nut more

So after putting the guitar together, I checked the relief, by fretting the first and 15th(ish) fret. The low E was hugging the 12 fret. So I decided to loosen the truss rod.. However I found the nut was pretty much already loose. I decided to tighten it, to make sure the nut was grabbing the thread, then loosened it back down a little... Still quite a back bow.

I then measured the height of the neck/fretboard where it meets the body, and found up front (the nut end) was lower. So im thinking it had a back angle. I then I got some pickup wrapping tape of all things and placed a few strips in the pocket to guide the neck up a bit.

Which leads to problem two.

Problem 2: Bridge is all the way down, but strings are too high.

Is this a simple case of making a shim?

Problem 3: Electronics. A heap of hum - Little to no sound.

I admit Im a pretty average solderer. I also didnt have copper tape to do the whole cavity.. I'll open her up again and git it another go. Is it possible though that maybe one of the hot wires is touching ground somewhere? I also forgot to ground the bridge. But that would cause all the issues would it?

Hope I can get some help in this thread, else I might ask in a separate thread.

Here a quick shot.. Glamour shots will come when all issues are fixed, and im happy with her.


Edit. The knobs are off an old strat. Ignore the labels. Knobs should be Vol > Vol > Tone

[Plainfaced]

Quick update

I managed to shim the neck. After around 15 tries, unbolting adding/removing shim, rebolting, checking action.. I got it pretty good. While the action is not as low as I'd like, the break angle and overall relief is pretty close.. I am still left with the truss rod nut all the way loose though. Im relying on string tension to bring the neck relief up.

Re the electronics.. To get the thing going I just wired up the bridge pickup to the volume pot and output.. When I decide to replace the pickups, I'll attempt a batter job at wiring. Or Im even thinking of getting a set of EMGs, so install is easy.