KevinL Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 OK, I have been playing guitar for longer than I care to admit, but I am now building my first guitar... well putting it together from parts. I bought a Strat style body from E-Bay. When I was bidding on the body I asked the seller if it took a 21 or 22 fret neck, and he said either one. Well I got a 22 fret neck, and it looks like to me the neck pocket needs to be about 1/4 closer to the bridge or I won't be able to intonate. So my question is, does the neck pocket USUALLY need to be altered for a 22 fret neck? I'm pretty sure I will have to for this one. The pocket wasn't quite wide enough either, so I sanded it out a little on both sides and it fits at least now. It looks like I will have to do some routing or carving to get this thing to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian d Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 it depends how the neck was made. e.g. warmoth 22 fret necks have the extra fret overhanging the end of the neck. fit and intonation are the same as a 21 fret neck as the distance from the nut (or 0 fret) to the end of the neck (and thus the existing neck pocket and the bridge position) remains unchanged....it's just the fretboard that's been extended towards the bridge. however, if the neck itself has been made longer to accomodate the extra fret, then a different pocket needs to be routed. because of the taper of the neck, the existing pocket has to be filled in first, then the new pocket routed, and you'll end up with some of the filler wood visible at the edges. after you fit the neck as the body is now, check where the bridge should go. I suggest using stewmac fret calculator. after you put in your scale length, at the bottom it will tell you where the forwardmost mounting screws should go for most popular bridge styles. this includes compensation for intonation. see if your bridge lines up as it should. If not, you'll see where the bridge should go if you don't change the neck pocket. it may be a lesser compromise to move the bridge a bit further back than to fill and re-rout the neck pocket. hope this helps, Brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinL Posted January 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 The fingerboard is extended beyond the end of the neck, but something is going to have to move. I measured from the nut (at least where the nut will be) to the saddle and it is 25.75 inches. The body came all routed, so either the neck pocket isn't right, or the route for the tailpiece is wrong. It would seem easier to move the neck pocket a little closer to the bridge, but I'll have to think about it for awhile. This is probably not the highest quality body ( or neck for that matter, although it looks and feels pretty nice ), so there is no telling what they have messed up. It is a basswood body. I was really wanting an alder body, but for $52 including shipping for a nitro finished body, I suppose I can do some work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian d Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 what type of bridge is it? strat bridges don't have tailpieces. did you mesure from where the bridge side of the nut will be? where are the saddles adjusted on the bridge? all the way forward? all the way back? in between? the saddle needs to be further than 25.5" for proper intonation, and with the ability to adjust the saddles forward, the bridge may be in acceptable position. brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinL Posted January 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 It is actually a strat style tremolo from an old 1980s Dean Baby Z. The saddles are about midway through their range and I don't think they'll go far enough, and I really don't want to start out with the saddles that close to either end of their range anyway. It appears to be just a standard Strat style tremolo, but the screw mounts are slightly wider than the pre-drilled holes (american vs. mexican/japanese spacing)and I'm going to get a replacement from guitar fetish that should drop right in. There might be enough difference in the geometry of that bridge that maybe it will be closer. I'll have to wait and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 the saddle needs to be further than 25.5" for proper intonation You need the ability to place the High E saddle right about at that measurement. Depends on the string gauge, but still. The other saddles shift backward from there. Here's what I think happened: the seller lied to you. He sold you a cheapo Asian knockoff guitar body--he of course paid only slightly more than $50 for the entire guitar, then he parted it out. He didn't bother to measure anything, he just told you what you wanted to hear. I've bought a couple of tele copies in the past. Both came with 22-fret necks with no overhang. Impossible to do much with a 21 fret neck or a 22 fret neck with overhang, unless you make a major mod. I ended up moving the bridge, since it was a tele, the extra routing was covered up. But then And probably it will be easier to shift the bridge forward--since it's a strat trem type, the mod won't really show all that much --it'll fairly easy to hide the space of the hole behind the bridge if that bothers you. Much easier than messing with the neck pocket. And anyway, this will give you the chance to place the bridge exactly in line with the neck, which is pretty important. Especially since you'll mostly need to redrill the screws, no matter what guitarfetish says. But this is one of the biggest problems with trying to part together a guitar, it's hit and miss what you're going to receive. The easiest thing to do, really, is just buy a new neck, find one that will fit right --this isn't going to be the last guitar you work on anyway, you should realize that. Once you start, it's hard to stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinL Posted January 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 Well, at least part of that isn't true, because the body has never had a screw in it, though it is most likely a cheap asian knock-off body, and I'm quite sure the seller wasn't forth-coming with the facts. There isn't a whole lot of wiggle room at either end. I might be able to get an 1/8" at each end. The neck doesn't hit the end of the neck pocket due to slightly different end contour. I think I can just do some sanding to take care of that. The bridge pocket has a lip at the front that would be pretty easy to route. I think the neck proportions are fine. It looks like it would be a drop in replacement on my Telecaster. If anything, I'll just get a different body. The main reason I got this one was that it was already finished, and was the exact color I was looking for. It is a lot of time and money to finish a guitar. There were some others available at the time, but they where ash, and I'm not sure ash is what I am looking for tonewood wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 Question: Is the heel on your neck rounded or squared? You said the neck might fit your Tele. If the heel is squared and the pocket is rounded, that might be your problem. Pics would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinL Posted January 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 That is definitely part of the problem. The heel of the neck is flatish and the neck pocket is rounded. This might make up 3/32" if I reshape the back of the pocket.. I remember back when I got the Dean, I had a local luthier install a Kahler tremolo and he said that guitar had the original bridge in the wrong position also, so I wonder it there isn't something non-standard about it. If that guitar had the bridge in the wrong place, then lots of Dean baby Zs would have also. At the time Dean was a pretty big time guitar maker and soon after, they were selling them in the Sears catalog. Coincidence? OK, Ive never tried to use any links, so we'll see of this works. Neck and Pocket Neck in Pocket Bridge Whole Guitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 Those square corners on the neck heel are keeping it from seating in the bottom of the pocket, throwing off your scale. You can use a rounded heel neck in a square pocket, but not (easily) vice versa. It's time to consider your skill level before you start modifying parts. If you're confident you can do it, go for it. If not, you're probably better off finding a neck that fits your body (or vice versa). There's a lot to choose from out there and what you have can always be resold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WisconsinStrings Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 Sorry, I can't help you with your problem, but that is a nice looking color. You'll have to post some pics when you get it complete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinL Posted January 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 Oh, I'm considering my skill level OK... and I am somewhat hesitant. There is a guy here in Wichita that does some luthiery that I might be able to have do it. I suppose the thing to do would be to make a template and get the proper router bit. Do folks generally cut their own templates? All I have to work with is a coping saw and a skill saw. I don't have a scroll saw or anything like that. What got me started on this whole thing was a used MIM strat I saw down at Guitar Center. After I looked at it, I came back about 30 minutes later and there was a guy looking it over pretty good. I knew he was going to take it, and when I came back the next day, they said he put it on lay away. $279... that would have been a bargain compared to what I'll have in this by the time I'm done, that is for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGW Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 It appears that you have two missmatched shapes. I thought that the squared off neck pocket was for a tele and the rounded one was for Strat. Your neck has a squared off end but has a Strat headstock. You may have to reshape either the neck end or the pocket, but either will mess up the finish. You may want to consult the luthier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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