sighting a centre line

[munkey]

I'm all new to this - just finished painting my Jedicaster (tele)! how should I go about sighting this 'centre line' business when I screw on the neck?

[LGM Guitars]

Basically, the easiest way to do it, since the neck pocket is already cut, and what you need to do is align the neck to the strings, is bolt the neck on, string it, then if the strings have less space to the edge of the neck on one side than the other (not centered) just loosen the neck off a bit, and push it towards the side where there is more space, this changes the orientation of your center line.

The theoretical way of doing it, is make a mark at the nut, at the last fret, and on the bridge, all exact center, then place a straightedge on the nut mark, and the bridge mark, and push the neck from the top until the last fret mark also aligns with the straightedge. I find the string method just eliminates this step though

[soapbarstrat]

I'm sure he means to *clamp* the neck, not bolt it, since there's no way to bolt it yet. And the string method is probably the best. You need to use a clamp big enough that you can put a padded block against the back of the body and another block on the fret-board, but it has to be narrow enough not to interfere with the E strings.

If you haven't installed the bridge yet, then you either have to do that first or install the neck by measuring, then place the bridge by using the E strings, but the other way is better, as far as I know, unless you consider that you might only get the best neck to neck-pocket connection if you just place the neck in the pocket the way it makes the most contact to all possible surfaces. Then you do the bridge placement.

I just changed my mind about the string method/temporarily clamping the neck being the best way.

I think the other way might actually be better.