Liam F Posted November 7, 2021 Report Share Posted November 7, 2021 Hello all, Recently I got a Kramer Baretta Special to make a project out of it. When I got it, the headstock was broken so I got the guitar for a STEAL! The only thing I noticed is the neck pocket is a bit too deep for the original neck. I threw on a Jackson neck (which I LOVE and would SO love to keep) however the neck pocket is still too deep for it, I have my action basically almost as low as it can go and the strings are still a bit too high for my liking, plus I hate feeling the screws sticking out of the bridge when palm muting. Does anybody have any potential solutions? Replacing the neck is the last thing I want to do but if I have to I have to.. Maybe the original owner replaced the original neck and just f**d up with getting the wrong depth I would say just make a spacer of some kind, but I'm worried about it not coming out flat, because obviously that would screw up a lot in the guitar. Its pretty bad to the point where I can feel alot of stress in my wrist when playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted November 7, 2021 Report Share Posted November 7, 2021 well, then you put a shim in which angles the neck and brings it closer to the strings. you can buy one from stew mac or you can put any number of things in the pocket to raise up the heel end of the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 7, 2021 Report Share Posted November 7, 2021 Hello and welcome! As @mistermikev said a shim is what you need. A simple flat shim might be enough to lower the action and still allow you to raise the bridge so the bridge screws won't rip your wrist. Hardwood is the most often used material but for testing purposes you can choose other solid materials as well. Perspex, aluminium etc. are available as perfectly flat in various thicknesses, pieces of soda cans can be used for fine adjusting. Just make sure that the screw holes are wider than the screw diameter so they don't grab! The common consensus seems to be that a piece filling the bottom of the neck pocket is best for the sound and sustain although even big name guitars have had models with a tilt screw. If a flat piece can't fix your action, tilting the neck will. Finally, when you've got the action as low as possible you can file the bottom side of the bridge screws if still needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 9, 2021 Report Share Posted November 9, 2021 Continuing my previous post... As may or may not have made clear, there's two ways to get a low action while still having a tall bridge. Either you raise the entire neck with a flat shim or you install the neck at an angle. For changing the neck break angle you can add washers into the neck pocket for the two screws at the very end of the neck heel. As the screw holes in the body should already be larger than the diameter of the screws no extra drilling is needed. Raising 1 mm below the 21st fret will allow the bridge to be raised about 1.4 mm for the same action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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