idrum4food Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 (edited) Just received my neck through body blank yesterday. This will be my second guitar. My first of which I made while in college, (About 30 years ago) Anyway, what should the neck angle (if any) should there be? I layed a straight edge on the neck and measured the distance between the straight edge and where the bridge will be installed and its about a 1/4". Is this enough? My first guitar had a bolt on neck and when I routered the neck pocket, the angle was to much and I had to put a tappered shim in the neck pocket to bring the strings closer to the body. I have NO experience with neck through guitars. All was accomplished without great web sites and tutorials. It turned out OK. It plays good but there are certain blemishes in workmanship. My sites were high as it started out to be a semi hollow (es335)but then quickly realized it was WAY above my skill level. So the chunk of wood ended up solid in the shape of the 335. gadawful heavy. Since I didn't know where to purchase inlay dots back then i drilled holes in the fret board (after the frets were installed) and melted solder and filed it flush. LOL BTW, westhemann's tutorial was a great help. Would like to see the finished product. Edited January 7, 2005 by idrum4food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 BTW, wesstheman's tutorial was a great help. Would like to see the finished product. thank you.i hope to get around to it soon,but life is complicated,and i am still flip flopping about bridge choice on it.... speedloader trem or speedloader fixed bridge? i need to wait for the fixed version to come out i think so that i can order one and see if that is what that guitar wants. for your question...neck angle depends on a few factors...but the main one is bridge choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idrum4food Posted January 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Forgive my simple mind but what options do I have? Would a Floyd Rose work or would a fixed bridge be better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Forgive my simple mind but what options do I have? Would a Floyd Rose work or would a fixed bridge be better? sorry buddy that is a personal decision based on what you want to play.i love my floyds,but i also like a fixed bridge just for ease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 your options are Trem Hardtail Fixed TOM (Tune O Matic) Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idrum4food Posted January 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 So will a tune-o-matic or a floyd work with the neck angle I seem to have? I think I'd really like to try my hand at the floyd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idrum4food Posted January 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Naa. I just looked at the pinned section at the top of this board about trem deminsions. Its all jibberish to me. Think I'll stick with a tune o matic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewarlock Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 where did you buy your neck thru blank? if it was from carvin and stewmac they don't have a neck angle, you can get away with no neck angle if you use a fender style hardtail bridge or a recessed floyd rose, for tune o matics, badass, quadmatics, schaller wraparound , gotoh warparound etc, you need a 3 degrees angle, i suggest, since you don't have experience with neck thrus, to use the hardtail, Neal Moser http://mcs.acidpit.org , www.nealmoser.com sells thru body neck blanks, totally handmade and you can have the option to order a neck with angle, can chose between maple and mahogany necks and can choose your fretboard material Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 i agree with eddie.if it is a carvin or stewmac neck blank you should not use a t.o.m. use something like this(if you are indeed going with a fixed bridge) http://carvin.com/products/part.php?ItemNumber=FT6C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idrum4food Posted January 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Thanks Guys, this helps a lot. Will keep in touch on the progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 there are several real nice surface mounted bridges out there. some have the option of putting the strings through the body. those are a bit more work though, howver i did it on my very first guitar. came out okay too. you might have enough stock on the tail of that blank to shave an 1/8" or so off its thickness to effectively lower your bridge some. that way you don't end up with high action. you could do the same using a tremelo bridge. get your bridge though BEFORE you start cutting any wood and work from there. -Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasteven Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 I've found that www.soulmateguitars.com seem to make pretty good necks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idrum4food Posted January 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 (edited) there are several real nice surface mounted bridges out there. some have the option of putting the strings through the body. those are a bit more work though, howver i did it on my very first guitar. came out okay too. you might have enough stock on the tail of that blank to shave an 1/8" or so off its thickness to effectively lower your bridge some. that way you don't end up with high action. you could do the same using a tremelo bridge. get your bridge though BEFORE you start cutting any wood and work from there. -Doug My guitar blank is going to be 1 1/2" at best when the sanding is done and I'm pretty sure you need at least 1 3/4" for a floyd trem. I'll probably use a surface mount bridge of some sort. Any suggestions Edited January 8, 2005 by idrum4food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 the carvin one i linked to is nice.very nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idrum4food Posted January 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 (edited) the carvin one i linked to is nice.very nice Strings through the body. IIIIIII like it. Edited January 8, 2005 by idrum4food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 stewmac has a couple: hipshot, and schaller with rollers. the hipshot is for string through,and the schaller is for top mount and the strings go in the end like a bass bridge. they are also brass. Allparts has an even better selection. personally, i buy as much from them as possible because they are real nice people. what you buy depends on the look you want. your "thin" guitar is fine. i visited ed roman last summer in las vegas in he had 2 dozen "thin" body guitars for over $3000 each. i came to the conclusion that when a guitar maker is done, however thick or thin it is, doesn't matter. they key is to have fun! -Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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