whoofnagle Posted November 7, 2004 Report Share Posted November 7, 2004 I was wondering how you guys go about lining up your neck prior to routing the body on a fender style neck (ie-not set, but screwed in). i have read many different ways. The reason I ask is I get very nervous each time i go to route the pocket. I have the dimensions drawn on the center line, I use a template, but it just seems to scare the hell out of me that I am going to be off. Thought some of the more experienced folks might have a solid way of ensuring success. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted November 7, 2004 Report Share Posted November 7, 2004 Check out Myka's neck jig. If you plan on making more than one guitar (sounds like you already have) this thing would help out a TON. Plus it should ease your mond a bit when firing up the router. I know that feeling of trepidation, trust me I am building one myself. Do it right and you will have a kick ass jig with a ton of uses. Good luck. http://www.mykaguitars.com/tools/neckpocketjig/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted November 7, 2004 Report Share Posted November 7, 2004 Well, if you're using a good template (I've used the same Stew-Mac neck pocket template for 9 years now...works for me ) and you've centered the dots with your centerline, hell, how off can you be? Having said that, when mounting my bridge, I -always- run 2 strings down the outer 2 nut slots and sight that up with the neck down to the outer two saddles on the bridge before I mark my bridge placement out. And I always mount the neck first before placing the bridge and sit the bridge so it will be centered with my neck. I don't see how you could possibly screw it up when doing it like that. To NOT do this simple step and just screw your bridge down without checking it first is asking for trouble. To me, you have to change the way people commonly look at this. To me, it's the nut, the neck, and the bridge. The body is almost an inconsequential piece of scrap wood sitting there, the real guitar is the nut, neck, bridge relationship. At least as far as your question is concerned. Once you get that in your head, you'll stop worrying so much, because if you do it this way, you will always be able to adjust your bridge if you have to, so what's to worry about? Even if, for some weird reason, your neck pocket is out of center, you'll always catch it when sighting the two strings down the neck over the outer two bridge saddles. If your bridge happens to not be dead centered with your centerline, what's the worry, as long as the bridge is -perfectly- lined up with the neck? That's where the game is at, the bridge and the neck, not the body so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoofnagle Posted November 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2004 Thanks for the responses. Drak - I like the two strings from the outside nut positions. I will give that a shot. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmmr Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 I found this pretty handy for general alignment problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 On my first project guitar (which is nearing completion) I used two pieces of fishing line; it's a lot easier to work with than actual guitar strings. But I didn't use a template or a router; I fitted everything by hand. D~s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 10, 2004 Report Share Posted November 10, 2004 What Drak said....I do it exactly the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerryL Posted November 10, 2004 Report Share Posted November 10, 2004 If you're still up for ideas, and Have neck completed, Clamp the neck about where you want it, finding relative center, using a shim between the fretboard and clamp, and use a straight edge down the sides of the neck, and mark a fine pencil line, then center your bridge at scale length. Trace a line around the the neck heel to show where your neck pocket will be. Remove the neck and clamp, now line up the Trusty stew mac Neck template and stick it down with double sided tape and fire up that router, cutting that neck pocket to the correct depth. 2 3/8" is width of my lines at the bridge, and you want to center that with relative center of the body as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoofnagle Posted November 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Well, I tried, Drak's idea of the string as well as the laser line(forgot I had it) suggested by lmmr . I found them both to be very helpful. Thank you very much. Here are a few pics. I was doing some house cleaning and had to take a few pictures with a playable guitar (i did not build). Again, thanks for the help!! Bill http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v403/who...letele04001.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v403/who...letele04005.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v403/who...letele04009.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82DeanZ Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Ohhh...nice Baker....and a Rivera too. You tone monster you! Nice gear. Best Regards, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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