Bozman Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Assembling my first guitar - a Strat type (Mighty Mite body and neck). I'm ready to attach the neck to the body. When I do a dry run, the neck fits perfectly snug, with the overhanging fingerboard just touching the top of the body. The problem arrises when I put the pickguard in place.... the fretboard/fingerboard rests on the pickguard, creating a neck angle and a small gap between the heel and the body. Obviously, I could shim, but I thought that by buying parts from the same manufacturer problems such as this would have been avoided. Hopefully you can tell me if this is normal. Do I have incompatable Mighty Mite parts? Thanks in advance for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 I can't say about Mightymites but my Am std. strat shows about 1/32" clearance between overhang and pickguard. Then again, I realised mine is a microtilt neck. How much are we talking about here? If its 1/16" or less I would sand the bottom of the overhang until it fits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Keep in mind, these parts are not assembled guitars. Most parts have to be tweaked a little even in Fender's factory to fit right during assembly. I don't think I've ever fitted any part to any guitar that fit perfectly out of the box. You can either sand the bottom of the overhang until it clears the pickguard, or simply cut the 22-fret and overhang off. You may need to shim the neck angle to get a good action anyway, so it may not matter in the end, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exafro Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Wouldn't it be easier to just cut the pickguard? Less expensive if you mess up as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Yeah, either cut the pickguard or try a different one--your pickguard might be cut for a neck with no overhang. Don't mess with the neck and neck pocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 If it's just a couple mms off, try using a guitar pick as a shim at the base of the neck pocket. You probably have (like most of us) several different thickness picks just laying around. If you have a signature pick, use that so after you're gone future generations of ebayers can ooh and ahh and wonder how and why and all that nonsense. And hey, different picks are made from different materials for your tone voodoo experimentation pleasure. Seriously, it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Yeah, either cut the pickguard or try a different one--your pickguard might be cut for a neck with no overhang. Don't mess with the neck and neck pocket. Most Strat pickguards are cut for guitars with no overhang, even on American Strats that have an overhang. It'll probably take you one minute to sand a half a millimeter off of the bottom of the overhang, compared to a half hour of cutting, shaping, sanding, fitting, and more sanding and tweaking of the pickguard when it just isn't necessary. I'd actually do what marksound suggests and just shimming the neck a little. Most Strat necks need a bit of shim, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 I don't understand. Seems to me the easiest thing to do and the least risky for the guitar would be to shave down the pickguard where it lies beneath the overhang. Wouldn't take more than a minute and it'll never show. Screw up the pickguard, it's no big deal --I bought a strat pickguard for 99 cents (Dragon Mountain on ebay)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 I just figured this trick out a while back and it's a huge timesaver. At my age I can't afford to be wasting time. 1. Loosen the strings (don't take them off). 2. Unscrew the neck and take it off (carefully, don't kink the strings). 3. Insert shim. 4. Replace neck. 5. Tune to pitch. Last night I disassembled/reassembled a Strat in the living room while watching Friends reruns and never took the strings off the neck or bridge. Took about 45 minutes, start to finish, and that included replacing the pickguard and shimming the neck, and adjusting the action and truss rod. As always, what works for me might not work for you. Be careful, and if you screw something up it ain't my fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Last night I disassembled/reassembled a Strat in the living room while watching Friends reruns and never took the strings off the neck or bridge. Took about 45 minutes, start to finish, and that included replacing the pickguard and shimming the neck, and adjusting the action and truss rod. Hmm...could be interesting to experiment with this one. How long do you think it would take while watching a new episode of Friends? And do you think it'd go faster, with say, Star Trek reruns? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Depends if it's old or new Trek. The warp scale is different, you know ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 I don't understand. Seems to me the easiest thing to do and the least risky for the guitar would be to shave down the pickguard where it lies beneath the overhang. Wouldn't take more than a minute and it'll never show. Screw up the pickguard, it's no big deal --I bought a strat pickguard for 99 cents (Dragon Mountain on ebay)... Well, the pickguard may be worth only a buck, but it's a hell of a lot harder to reshape it and make it look right than sand the underside of a fretboard overhang so that it clears the face of the pickguard--or add a business card or pick under the joint to shim it up. One of the biggest frustrations I have is reshaping pickguards to look tight with the body and neck. Plastic likes to load up the sandpaper and files and it isn't easy to keep the edges clean on most pickguards. Keep it simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 I reread the original post and at first I agreed with you. But then I started wondering: if the overhang already touches the top of the guitar, then he's going to need to sand a lot off of that fretboard to get the pickguard to slip under there. It's just that I'd be reluctant to do that, personally. Of course, I'm still a beginner at this. That's why I'd attack the pickguard, because messing that up isn't going to do permanent damage to the guitar. If he bevels the edge of the pickguard so that the edge slips under the edge of the overhang, it shouldn't be too difficult to get it to look right. You'd think they'd make strat pickguards that accommodate the overhang? Marksound? Beam us up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozman Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Following up my original post/question. I realize now that the problem is with the body. The neck pocket route on Mighty Mite bodies is 11/16ths deep! Why do they do this? Aren't they supposed to be Fender replacement parts? Do any of you use Mighty Mite parts? If so, why.... if not, why not? Thanks for your help and replies.... much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer X Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 (edited) If the overhang is already touching the body, without the pickguard, I'd say just cut the pickguard. It's alot cheaper to fix that boo-boo, than the neck or body. Look at some of the Ibanezes: They have a notch in the pickguard, for the overhang. I was gonna say full-size shim, until I heard about the body and overhang touching, already. You may need alot of shim to get where you need to be, otherwise. Edited February 8, 2006 by Racer X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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