Electric necktrough neck angles

[metallisomething]

I'm starting to build a guitar, modeled after the jackson Randy rhoads flying V. i have no model to use as a template which is fine because im left handed anyway. i was planning no using a tune-o-matic style fixed bridge but realized that i need an angled neck to do so. first of all, how do you determine what the angle has to be, second how do you angle the neck on a neck through that passes through the entire body? (will tune-o-matics lower enough to eliminate the need for a neck angle?)

[Dr. Jabsco]

I think you could do a recessed bridge, but im no expert.

and with a template, you can just turn it over on the other side and you have a lefty. but I think a V is perfectly semetrical, so it wouldnt make much of a difference.

[PaulNeeds]

A rhoads V isn't symmetrical.

It's teh height of the bridge that dictates what your neck angle should be - a flat bridge like, say, a hard tail strat type doesn't require any angle, but a tom needs between 1-3 or so degrees. The plans I've seen for a V suggest a 1 degree neck angle, which I think is acheivable quite easily with a neck through - especially if you cap the body with a maple top or similar.

[metallisomething]

thanks

paulneeds, where have you seen plans for a V? more specifically a rhoads V. i dont want to make a recessed bridge, ill angle the neck. im not capping it i want the wood im using in the construction to show. i figure the best way to determine the angle is take the height of the bridge, measure the scale (25.5") till its on the same level as the bridge, this makes a triangle where i can determine the angle of the strings and make the neck accordingly, anyway, the bridges are adjustable so if its not exactly perfect the bridge can be adjusted accordingly.

[truerussian558]

you can either give it a very slight angle, but this gets hard with a necktrhough as you have to cut the body section of the neck at a slight angle, or you can recces the bridge, which requires carefull routing, or after the end of the fretboard you can give it a dropoff of 1/8th or so inches (more or less depending on the bridge)

[Meegs666]

guitarbuild.com has rhoads plans in cad. i think you could print it out and just flip it over. when i made my plans, i took their cad plan and made it bigger to accomodate a seventh string. im not sure how accurate it is but there is a lot of room to play around with bridge positioning. and with a neck through you could make a step off near the neck so that the fretboard is higher than it should be and that will make the bridge sit lower so that you dont need an angle.

[PaulNeeds]

paulneeds, where have you seen plans for a V? more specifically a rhoads V.

I can't recall seeing plans for a rhoads v, but there is someone in the forum building one who's posted some pics of his progress.

Can't remember where I saw the plans - was another guitar making forum/website. Email me your address and I'll send the file to you.

EDIT - cheers Meegs - it WAS guitarbuild!