Attaching neck advice please.

[Jeff]

I'm about to attach the neck to my ES335 copy, and the socket in the guitar body doesn't appear deep enough; that is the neck seems to sit to high above the guitar body and well above the neck pick up. See photos.
While I know nothing about guitars, this seems excessive to me, and wondered if I should deepen the socket, remove a little from the base of neck where it fits in, or leave well alone.
It's 6.15mm from the top of binding on end of neck, to the surround around the pick-up,
Sorry for large pics
Thanks for any help.........Jeff

[dingobass]

That neck is fine.
What you are seeing is what is called the neck break angle.
Simply put, the neck is set at an angle to the body. This actually makes the guitar more comfortable to play.

BTW, very nice finish!

[Jeff]

That neck is fine.
What you are seeing is what is called the neck break angle.
Simply put, the neck is set at an angle to the body. This actually makes the guitar more comfortable to play.

BTW, very nice finish!

Dingobass, thanks for the reply. I was worried about the distance above the neck pick-up. Once glued,very hard to unglue and try to rectify things. Not having bridge fitted or E string fitted, hard to measure. I know the Pick-ups and bridge are adjustable for height, but as I see it at the moment, the strings will be touching the binding on the end of neck. Have to put on the thinking cap, maybe install bridge etc. before I glue neck. Re; the finish, still not 100% happy, but first build so am learning to apply stains and final finishes. have learnt that sanding to 1500 closes pores of timber and wont accept stain; on a solid body this might not be a problem, but on semi hollow body could be easy to sand through veneer.
By the way, generally how far above the Pick-ups are the strings?
Jeff

[dingobass]

The way to go about this is to clamp the neck in, install the bridge and tail piece, sit the pups in the cavities and grab a length of string...
Run the string from the bridge to the headstock and this will give you an indication of string clearance over the frets and pups.

(There is is thread somewhere here on set ups that should answer all your questions)

String height over the pups should be between 1-3 mm, depending on how hard you play..

[dingobass]

Oh, and with the pups, the one with the thicker surround goes at the bridge position.

[Jeff]

The way to go about this is to clamp the neck in, install the bridge and tail piece, sit the pups in the cavities and grab a length of string...
Run the string from the bridge to the headstock and this will give you an indication of string clearance over the frets and pups.

(There is is thread somewhere here on set ups that should answer all your questions)

String height over the pups should be between 1-3 mm, depending on how hard you play..

There is the problem; I don't / can't play.

[Brendan]

Jeff - good advice from DB - and as for playing ability - only one way to get better eh?
BTW - agree with DB on the finish - love the natural look.

[andrewdosborne]

Not sure if it works for an ES kit but on other builds I have clamped in the neck and put bridge into position (no bridge posts) sitting on ice pop sticks to raise bridge approx. 2mm. Then run a long steel rule along the neck centre line over bridge. Steel rule should touch top of bridge saddle.

[WeirdBits]

Here's how I check/test the height of TOM bridges without installing the bushes:

8mm (internal) vinyl tubing is the perfect size for metric bridge/tailpiece post threads and will then fit snugly into the holes instead of having to drive in (and then later remove) the bushes. A washer or two can be used to account for the rim on the bushes and then you can do your measuring and testing without the bridge sliding around.

[Fretworn]

That's a brilliant idea Scott. At one stage when I was making the Bigsby TL I was thinking of trying to make some sort of dowel plugs for this purpose, but this is a much better idea.