Hughes Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Hi, I know if you have a tune-o-matic bridge, you have to angle the neck. But I remember someone pointing out Carvin recessing their tune o matics, but if you go through all this trouble, do you still need to make a neck angle but only a smaller one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Depends on how you build your guitar. The answer's always the same: draw out your guitar, full-sized, side and full frontal view, and questions shall be answered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Hi, I know if you have a tune-o-matic bridge, you have to angle the neck. But I remember someone pointing out Carvin recessing their tune o matics, but if you go through all this trouble, do you still need to make a neck angle but only a smaller one? The whole point of recessing a TOM is to eliminate the need for a neck angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarchump Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Exactly! Thats what im doing for my guitar. By the way anyone know the correct angle the tom bridge should be at for a 25 scale guitar? (the bridge angle) Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikhailgtrski Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 By the way anyone know the correct angle the tom bridge should be at for a 25 scale guitar? (the bridge angle) Depends on the body (flat, carved, etc.), how thick the neck heel is and how deep you route the pocket. That's what your drawing is for. Now, you could build one with 0 angle and a non-recessed TOM if the neck was thick enough and/or the pocket shallow enough. But you wouldn't want to play it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarchump Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 (edited) I have a drawing and such I know how much i have to recess the bridge, i just dont know the angle the TOM bridge has to be to have the correct intonation. It's a flat toped guitar just to clarify things. By the way the guitar is a neck thru and the only height the fret board has is its own thickness. I just want to know how far back the low E string has to be compared to the 25 inch mark. Like you see on gibsons the bridge isnt perpendicular to the centerline, its on an angle. Edited July 6, 2006 by guitarchump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 I have a drawing and such I know how much i have to recess the bridge, i just dont know the angle the TOM bridge has to be to have the correct intonation. It's a flat toped guitar just to clarify things. Hang on, we're talking about different angles now. The Neck angle (how far back, if at all, the neck is tilted relative to the face of the guitar) is defined by bridge height. Angling a TOM for compensation purposes (bass side further back than treble) has NOTHING to do with neck angle AT ALL, and is always required. Use StewMac's fret calculator (look for it on their site), it'll give you positions to drill your mounting studs. Again, this is entirely a seperate issue from the neck angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarchump Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 O i know that i just thought it was relevent information to setting up the TOM correctly. Sorry for the confusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikhailgtrski Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Hang on, we're talking about different angles now. Yup, my bad. What Mattia said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarchump Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Ha no problem. thanks by the way thanks for the heads up on that stewmac thing SOOOOOOOO much help Mattia. Just what i needed. Im going to try out these new locking TOM's on stewmac. Wish me luck haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Now, you could build one with 0 angle and a non-recessed TOM if the neck was thick enough and/or the pocket shallow enough. But you wouldn't want to play it. This is essentially what Rickebacker does --their bridge is similar to a TOM. Neck has no angle. The fretboard is raised way high off the surface of the body, and they use surface mounted pickups. They also double the pickguard so the end result is that there's no much difference in playability. For my Rocket I used basically the same idea, except I use a wraparound bridge. My fretboard is slightly lower, and I recessed the pickups into the top to accommodate for that. I also have the doubled pickguard. And no neck angle (it was my first guitar ) There's really no difference in playability between that and my Gibson. I kind of like a taller bridge, but I can see where others would prefer a bridge lower to the surface. One thing though, I switched to wearing fingerpicks a few weeks ago, and it's much easier to pick with the taller bridge --on my strat, the picks keeps smacking the pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 It's very possible, I once started (still to this day haven't finished however, but that has NOTHING to do with the TOM recess) a neck-thru with TOM, and because of that type of construction I didn't want to angle the neck. So I recessed the TOM, worked fine like that. Just make sure you reccess enough. I'd prefer to recess MORE than needed... cause you can always raise it... Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Yeah, I'm building a guitar with the neck-through Carvin bridge and the recessed TOM as well. My calculations came out to (keeping in mind the Carvin neck has a 25" scale) that the treble side should sit at 25 1/16" from the nut, and the bass side should sit at 25 3/16" from the nut. I measured down to the little convenient hole in the Carvin neck to measure my 25", then drew the 1/16" line and a 1/8" line after that. Also, the stud spacing for the Carvin TOM is just a hair over 2 15/16". if you're setting the bass side of the bridge 1/8" inch back from the treble side *duh duh duh!* *whips out triangle formulas from freshman year algebra* Pythagoras says that the line at the 15 1/16" mark should be 2.903" wide, or 1.45" from the centerline on each side. Then, on the bass side of the bridge, mark the same distance, just back an extra 1/8" for intonation. Mark holes, make jig, route! The thumbscrews are 5/8" diameter, so that'll be the side of your route channel. Hope this helped, and sorry if I just rambled on; routing the bridge pocket is the next step on my build, so I've been calculating and recalculating to make sure everything is good, and to me, it's sound. But don't trust me. I don't know why I even trust me. Measure and calculate on your own build and good luck! And if anyone thinks that it's wrong, feel free to let me know, that I might save myself from doing something potentially very destructive. -Xanthus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughes Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 (edited) Thanks a lot guys, I had some complications with my other guitar which is the reason why i designed my own. I made so many mistakes on my last project that i learned enough to make a sucessful guitar...that is if i dont have to try new things (AKA neck angles). Ill probably buy a TOM and use a piece of scrap wood to make sure everything will work...good ol' pine to the rescue oh, do you guys have any methods of recessing properly? im guessing a router bit and a template... Edited July 7, 2006 by Hughes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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