Distance to saddles?

[KramerKrazy]

I want to route out my body but I don't have the neck yet.

I am going to buy one of Brian's paddle head necks and I need to know how far from the neck pocket the saddles should sit.

Can anyone help me out on this one?

[spirit]

that depends on how far the neck pocket is from the nut.........

[KramerKrazy]

That's why I said I was using one of Brian's paddle head necks(strat style).

The distance between saddles & neck pocket should be the same on any boby that uses that neck.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

[spirit]

ah right, the question requires specific knowledge, particularly of brians necks. sorry for wasting your time.

[theQuestioneer]

i would think that that's true but:

1.take the scale of the neck

2.the saddle is that far from the nut.

(3.) (scale)-(nut to heel)=(heel to saddle)

[Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars]

How long is a strat neck? I believe it is like 18" away from the pocket to the nut, but dont quote me.

[Drak]

That measurement is so critical, you shouldn't even think about doing anything with it until you have the neck right there in front of you, bolted to the body. THEN you can take your measurement and set your bridge.

Trying to set your bridge with no neck there is just asking for trouble and mistakes and go-back-and-fix-it-later-ons and damn-why-did-I-do-thats.

Just my worthless .02.

[krazyderek]

(3.) (scale)-(nut to heel)=(heel to saddle)

measure it yourself, (no i'm not a jerk) even if someone has the neck, there would be variations from neck to neck... so why not just wait and get it dead on the first time.. like drake said...

[Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars]

good point. patience is good.

[KramerKrazy]

Thanks guys.

I guess I'm just going to have to be patient(not my strong suit).

I can always spend some time designing more bodies, and maybe even try to get some work done on the screenplay I'm writing.

[VanKirk]

If he is making the body as well then wouldn't the bridge placement be the crucial measurement as far as the scale length is concerned? Since he's getting a prefretted neck his scale length is already decided.

I do agree about waiting for the neck so you can route a nice and tight neck pocket.

I don't know what style body you have but most strat & tele models join the body to neck at the 16 fret on the upper horn. You still have to figure bridge height & placement to decide the depth and/or angle of your neck pocket route as well.

Slap me if I'm wrong (I'm a lil hung over)

[Drak]

^^For those who missed it the first time around. ^^

Trying to set your bridge with no neck there is just asking for trouble and mistakes and go-back-and-fix-it-later-ons and damn-why-did-I-do-thats.

BTW, you shouldn't be held up by this measurement just to cut your body out, I'm not sure why this measurement would stop you from cutting out a body...could you go into a little more detail please?

I want to route out my body but I don't have the neck yet.

[krazyderek]

i think he means the neck pocket rout, bridge (trem) rout, pickups and electronics?

[mdw3332]

The way I figure it is that you don't really need to be concerned with the distance between the neck pocket and the bridge. The critical measurement is from the nut to the bridge - or from the 12th fret to the bridge. If you want your bridge in a particular place on your body, what you change is where the body and neck connect, which can vary quite a lot. For instance, on a small body, unless you want your bridge at the very bottom of the body, you will have to join the neck and body at a higher fret.

But don't even think about routing a neck pocket without the actual neck in hand. Then, measure it about 7 times, go do something else for a while, and measure it some more. I can guarantee that any time you spend planning, measuring and double checking simple things will be worth its weight in gold.

Good luck.