Angled Neck - Yes Or No?

[Tinu_CH]

Hello Folks!!

I m still planning on my neckthrough-7 and I still don't know a lot about the nature of tunomatic bridges...

I heard of two ways of avoiding a too high action with tunomatic bridges.

1.) Neck angle of approx. 2 degree

2.) setting the fretboard a bit higher, but not angled.

Do you know, what I mean? I hope so...

What about sinking the bridge into the body?

I consider doing this, although the original cool look of the tunomatic gets kinda lost

Well thanx for your ideas.

Greetings Martin

BTW - anyone of you knows a source for 7-string tunomatic bridges?

[Mattia]

For the angle, whether to recess or not, etc:

Draw. It. Out.

Nobody can tell you off-hand exact what angle you need, as it depends on a number of factors. There's a nice and easy to follow step-by-step by Perry somewhere in the tutorials section, and neck angles can vary between 2 and 3.5 degrees or so without countersinking, depending on scale length, where you start your angle, how proud of the body the neck/fingerboard sits, etc.

[Vince D]

Heres a tutorial on it.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...036&hl=neck

[Setch]

Draw. It. Out.

[Tinu_CH]

Sorry for not seeing that tutorial...

Well thanx alot for the link! I will draw out the whole plan 1:1 today, so I can really look at my "guitar" once

Greetings

Martin

[custom22]

Neck thrus are a little harder to have a neck angle. You can recess the tunomatic bridge like carvin does.

[Prostheta]

I prefer a nice angle so the tension over the TOM is higher.

[Maiden69]

I prefer a nice angle so the tension over the TOM is higher.

The tension over the TOM is the same, it all depends on how "low" you set the neck, if your fretboard is too close to the body then the bridge will have t obe low, but if yoy set it just right the angle from the strings to the body is almost the same asin a TOM n' Stop piece set up.

[fryovanni]

All three methods are viable. One way or the other you need to figure out how much adjustment is needed (be it raised fretboard, recessed TOM, or angle for neck). Getting *about* an extra quarter inch of fretboard elevation may be awkward, and require a thicker neck blank or very thick fretboard. Recessing will require extra routing, and depending on stop piece or thru-body design extra attension may be needed to get a fair break angle over the bridge. Adding neck angle is a fairly simple thing to do and can be cut into your neck blank with little effort. When I cut my neck blanks I leave the the top of the blank true as my fretboard surface, and then cut the back of the neck, headstock angle and profile of the body at the correct angle(very straight forward). Each method requires a solid plan of attack. A neck thru is easy to build, but does require you to plan well (trying to wing it and modify down the road is a recipe for disaster).

Peace,Rich

[Xanthus]

I'm making a neck-through Explorer with no neck angle and a recessed TOM. If it's any help, check out my photo page for an idea of what it'd look like, and what you'd need to go through to get there.

http://public.fotki.com/xanthus/build_1/

I personally like the way the TOM sits when it's recessed into the body. I'm all for low-pro in general, though, haha. The object with the greatest height off of my body surface will be the knobs, with a tremendous 3/4"

http://www.carvin.com/features/guitars/

/\ The Carvin TOM featured on that page is recessed, as well. If you're going to recess the bridge, though, you're going to have to use ferrules and string it through the back of the body, because the tailpiece would be way too high.

Another drawback, depending on what type of TOM you use, is that you can't adjust the bridge without taking the strings off, or at least giving them some serious slack. If you do decide to go with a recessed bridge, I'd suggest going with the Carvin neckthrough, if you have the money. They raise the fretboard 1/8" off the body to begin with, so you don't need to route as far, if you're going down that path (purely my speculation as to the reasons behind Carvin's manufacturing ideas, haha, but it helps)