smasher2000 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Hi guys, just got a question about putting my first project together, you'll have to excuse the quality of my photo below as its a really old camera and the resolution is extremely poor :-) Anyway i'm at work at the moment so i cant get a proper pic at the moment but hopefully you;ll get the idea from this. my trouble is the green bits on the pic, ie the fretboard and the trem in relation to the body. as the fretboard is quite high off the body, this means that the trem has to be raised away from its pocket and imo it will look crap if its raised about 2cm from the body. the fretboard sits approx 2x its height above the neck pocket which i'm guessing is too high. Should the bottom of the fretboard ideally sit level with the top of the body, and if so is it best to shave the excess off the back of the neck? the only other way i can think of is to shave the neck pocket to make it deeper, but there is not a lot of body depth to work with. By the way its an Ibanez style JEM project but i'm piecing together bits from all over the place, which is why the neck and body might not fit together perfectly etc. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripthorn Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I would definitely try to bring the fingerboard down. it doesn't have to on top of the body, but the bottom of it should not be raised more than a few millimeters off the body (usually). Of course it depends on what you want. I would maybe at least a little bit of depth out of the neck pocket, but if you are talking 1 or 2 cm, I would not suggest taking anywhere near that much out. Of course, I am not the most experienced person here and better qualified people will probably be by in a bit to correct me if I am wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Ignignot: Let us leave this primitive rock because there's nothing but cavemen here. Ur: Say goodbye, cavemen. Go beat rocks together, you sissies! Freakin' nerds! Well, that doesn't actually answer your question, but I couldn't let an awesome graphic like that go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smasher2000 Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 thanks for your encouragement! I'm at work, and i thought drawing a pretty little picture was well worth my valuable time and effort :-) I will hopefully be able to take a photo when i get home which may be a little more to your liking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Unless your guitar is inspired by the Atari 2600, I doubt it. That picture made my morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 you'll have to excuse the quality of my photo below as its a really old camera and the resolution is extremely poor :-) That's a pretty bad camera... You would be better with a photo but likely you will need to take out some neck pocket...depends on that actual parts not just a diagram of them I am afraid...it may be possible to take some from the neck. This is the second one in as many days where the neck doesn't fit on a different body...must be seasonal! pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I'd take more out of the neck pocket. You could get shorter screws (rather, you SHOULD) and use them for the neck pocket, so you don't pop out of your fretboard. As a guideline, I like there to be about 1/8" of neck/wood/body/whathaveyou above the body, before putting on my 1/4" or so fretboard (no neck angle, of course). That gives me a good string height above the body. Less than a TOM, but not as shallow as a recessed Floyd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smasher2000 Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 As a guideline, I like there to be about 1/8" of neck/wood/body/whathaveyou above the body, before putting on my 1/4" or so fretboard (no neck angle, of course). That gives me a good string height above the body. Less than a TOM, but not as shallow as a recessed Floyd. cheers fella, does than not make your bridge too high above the body? 1/8 inch seems quite a lot to me as well on top of the fretboard depth. Also whats the advantage of taking the excess out of the neck pocket rather than the neck heel itself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smasher2000 Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 right, heres the photo i promised you all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Ahhh...much better with the photo...and surprisingly very much like the drawing... The body looks pretty thin, taking out some of the neck pocket may weaken it so I would go easy and watch the screws...you could file off the tips of them if the neck is already drilled and effectively "threaded". The quick and nasty way would be to reverse shim the neck so the strings angle back towards the body...but a little too nasty really. You wouldn't need to take much out of the neck socket if you don't mind a floating trem...looking at my strat it is not that much lower...remember the bridge mounts at those knife points not the top of the screws. pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesy Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 cheers fella, does than not make your bridge too high above the body? 1/8 inch seems quite a lot to me as well on top of the fretboard depth. Also whats the advantage of taking the excess out of the neck pocket rather than the neck heel itself? "Standard" dimensions for Fender that I have been working to, are 5/8" depth for the pocket, and 3/4" for the neck wood (without fingerboard). That means 1/8" sticks up above the body. If the neck heel is already 3/4" then I'd take it off the pocket. That way the neck will be more likely to fit another "standard" body, and vice versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Looks to me like the neck is too high -- there should only be like five millimeters of neck (i.e. to the line of the fretboard) above the body line. So you'll need to route the neck pocket deeper. I believe the top of the fretboard at the center should stand about 10 mm proud of the body, but everything depends on the neck itself. The bridge should be flush -- you'll be able to figure out how high the fretboard (and frets) need to be by measuring the height of the saddles. Is the body thin, or it that the carve we see? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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