How To Tweak The Angle Of A Guitar Neck For Perfect Action
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- Опубликовано: 2 июн 2016
- In this episode of From The Luthier's Workbench, I show you my favorite way to tweak the angle of a guitar neck to get the string action just right.
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I love the attention to detail you give to your guitar building. It’s such a well thought out approach
Tremendous amount of work!!! So many hours into each instrument.
I've been trying to setup an old Peavey with a micro-tilt neck adjustment for over a week! I couldn't figure out how to get the neck angle just right. Thanks for the pro tip about bottoming out the saddle and getting the strings to kiss the frets. Took me 5 minutes to get a perfect playing guitar!
This video has saved my butt twice. The 2nd time I started with a chisel not remembering what you showed me the first time. All has been saved.
My guitar teach gave me the best advice. Every time my guitar goes out of tune, sell it and buy another one.
Well done. I love and appreciate the way you try to bring out the very best in each instrument you make. I too believe all guitars have individal characteristics and needed to be treated with this is mind.
Thank you very much!
An oldie but a goodie, thanks a lot for this video mate.
My Les Paul has a slight neck angle problem.
The bridge had to be raised to get the strings up off of the fret board and accommodate the slightly back (away from frets and pick ups) angle of the neck.
When I got the guitar, the bridge was cranked up pretty high.
I managed to get the guitar completely dialed in by relieving the truss tension just a little and bringing the head stock up towards the pickups which lessened the poor angle.
Then I re-cut the nut to get lowest action possible at that end of the guitar...which of course helped the bridge issue at the other end of the guitar as far as fret buzz and possible action settings. Basically it allowed more options than simply raising the bridge.
Now the bridge is only raised maybe half an inch from the body (if that) and the action is very slightly lower than spec.
Plays great now. Very happy.
Thanks
I once did that to a cheap strat copy. Didnt know anything about luthiery, just figured out on my own that the neck doesnt fit properly in the neck pocket. Angled it and brought the string action down perfectly
Thank you for this video... I've been skimming for hours looking for an answer of how to determine initial adjustment of angle. The string with just kissing the last fret with the saddle bottomed out.
I’ve shimmed many many neck pockets over the years with absolutely no issues. No matter what anyone says, there is no loss in sustain or “tone”. At all. BUT! This will be my preferred method from here on out. Because it does look more uniform and much nicer than a noticeable gap on some guitars. Awesome video and nice work!
There physically has to be a loss in sustain shimming the neck. You might not hear the difference but it's there. If it's not a solid wood to wood contact, sustain will be compromised.
@@r.llynch4124 I would agree, but argue air gaps/ density variance, are a more serious problem. Using cellulose paper or dense cardboard IMO would have no discernible difference.
Wouldnt sanding the neck be a better alternative? one can always replace the neck and sand-/shape it to fit the pocket, reshaping the pocket it a pretts much one time deal.
Leo used business cards
Good video, changed the neck on my Tele and now have this exact problem.
That's a nice touch dialing in the neck break angle on each build. As you say, wood is an imprecise material - its not like we're machining all this stuff out of 4340 billet steel to thousandths of an inch. Almost all my builds these days are one-offs, so shimming necks is a regular thing for me. Want a REAL challenge? Make an ultra thin body that bows slightly under tension - trial and error becomes the only way to set the break angle. Just finished my worst case ever - had to pull the neck 16 times to get the shim correct.
Thanks Chris! A friend has an electric guitar with an output for a PC. He wants to use it for recording and displaying notation, but the action was too high even with the saddles on the floor. So I tried shimming... no joy. Then I watched this video, read through the comments and tried this technique. The pocket was painted over, but I seemed to have hit it just right. Bolted it back up and now the action is right where he wants it. Great tip!
Very cool!
Ya know, Superman had an arch-enemy who made guitars?
Lex Luthier.
😹😹😸😂🤞🤙
Great info as always. Thank you!
Excellent video. Blessings.
File the body cavity. Check periodically so you don't overshoot. That seems like the best way. You get a solid connection with no gap between the neck and body. Nice.
That is exactly the problem I have with my Fender Stratocaster that I put together. With the saddles fully down the action is still to high. I'm fairly handy with wood working tools, If I use your method carefully a little at a time, I think it will solve my problem perfectly.Thank you for showing this.
That's a beautiful guitar, my boy.
Useful info-Thank you.
It's great that I found this video! I'm building a guitar that's gonna have a Bigsby style tremelo. I'm sure the neck will probably need some sort of an angle to it. I don't want to use shim because of looks...being a new build you want it to look nice. If needed, I'll try one of those files when the time comes! Thanks!👍😎🎸🎶
@Tony Berkopes thanks for the tip!
Many thanks Chris for the video. Nice looking guitar mate.
Fred Jones ".qw',qad,qqqqqwqqqqwqqqqqqqqwqaqaaaaas,s',A
Cool video. I think I'm gonna sand my neck though. Should get the same results but it will be customized to the neck itself instead of the pocket. I tried a few shims but still need firther to go so might as well try it. Thanks!
I'm going to try this on my bass, same problem. Thank You ! :}
I like this guy's style.
Thanks for the great tip! I like this better than a shim! You have a great business attitude and a good work ethic...not seen so much these days! Nice work!
he choose a poor solution. reangling the back of the heel would be much better. there is no way he can do a smooth, flat angle in the neck pocket with the files. just can't get in there. the back of the nwck is easily accessible, and can achieve a flat and smooth surface, so the contact between the neck pocket and the neck is not compromised. yhis was a micky mouse job, unlikely with desirable results. i am glad i saw this, will never buy a guitar from this guy.
louis cyfer seems like he was getting in there just fine and also using a kickass file to do it with! I'm going to try it soon, myself, so I'll know if it works or not. Seems like this guy knows what he's talking about and seems to want to do quality work...properly!
just think about it. there is ni way he can do a perfectly flat surface for the pocket with that file. it is just physics. the file has to move past a point to file it. otoh, the back of the neckheel is easily accessible for a flat surface reference. the choice is easy. based on the choice he ia making, i don't agree with you. he seems to know what he is talking about is not a good argument. especially when you don't possess he necessary skills to evaluate it. and you obviously don't.
Man, what a beautiful guitar. It's like an EVH mixed with a Japanese era Westone Spectrum.
I'd play on that 14 hours a day.
That's a nice looking instrument, I'd be interested to know your take on working out the break angle on a through neck guitar. Any hints or tips or tricks of the trade would be appreciated :-)
Do you always start with a 1/16" deepest bevel line?
I need to do this to a cheep 12 string I purchased and was thinking just to do it to the neck heel as the aesthetics are not important.
I watched this video and I wonder whether it would affect the Vintage Wilkinson trem that I have and I keep at a higher pitch for the pullback and flexibility
Is that a maple neck? if so, did you use any sealant before staining it to archieve the non-blotchy look?
That's a really pretty guitar!
Thanks for this information. Builders need to reconize the need for this adjustment for every individual instrument.
adjustment? yes. but not with this mickey mouse solution. there is no way he will have a smooth contact surface.
that guitar looks really beautiful to me.
Great this info i was looking for thanks.
Howdy,
I like the string idea for a quick measurement but was wondering if there is a quick rule of thumb for using a straight edge from the fretboard to the bridge. Maybe 2mm below top of saddle or something similar?
I like this. Superior resonant bond than micro-tilt or shim/riser. This neck will fit in the pocket snug. Without adding weight actually decreasing weight yet still increasing sustain? Looks better to boot.
As the neck angle increases the scale length line will move also. Learned that hard way. My experience is roughly a 2.5 degree neck angle will move the scale length line abt 1/8" or so. So make sure u have enough saddle travel to accommodate the change, if the neck was previously flat.
trigonometry wasn't your strong point at school
@@rogersmith5167 His comment was accurate. Perhaps your reading and comprehension skills weren't "your strong point at school".
@@gpdude22 2.5 degrees over 648 scale length will increase the scale length by .61 mm (.025 ") maybe we are talking at cross purposes
Scale length will increase by .617mm. If your saddles don't move that far you've got a bigger problem.
@@gsisk911 Exactly. We're talking about 1/40th of an inch.
I think I have this issue on my guitar because I feel that my 6, 5 and 4th string is lower than my 3,2,1st string but I didn't sure if the problem is come from the neck angle or the twisted neck issue
Great tip! Thanks!
The 2 nuts section tht u didnt file dont they gonna need some fillings or shimmings to compensate the tilt?
I bought a cheap Ibanez RG for $35 at pawn shop. Dont like the pick ups or tremolo. But the action is unbelievable. All the other guitars I own are way too high compared to 5th is one. I've adjusted bridge, nut, and thrus rod and still I can't get the strings any lower. Is this what I need to do? Please help. This video is making want to remove the neck and get some sand paper
Where can I get one of those bodies? So awesome
Very helpful video, thank you! I would like to ask when you do the test with the string where you rest the other end of the string?
I place the other end where it will sit in the nut.
Thank you! That means if the nut is already installed, the other end should sit in the nut slot? @@HighlineGuitars
Where to buy that file?
Hello! Great video! I have a question on shimming if you don’t mind giving me some insight. I own an ESP guitar with an Original Floyd Rose bridge/locking nut. This guitar has bothersome buzzing issues from the 3rd fret on up to the 12th fret area. I’ve set the relief at .010 measuring at the 7th fret with a capo at the 1st fret and 15th fret. I have string height set at 4/64” on the low E at 17th fret(with capo on 1st fret) and 3/64” on high E at 17th fret. The feel/playability with the .010 of relief is stiffer than I generally like but I still have annoying buzzing in the 3rd to 12th fret area, especially on the low E side. I’m thinking maybe shimming the neck angle may allow for less relief, better playability and less buzzing. Is this possible from changing the neck angle through shimming? Thanks in advance!!
I'll preface this by saying I am not an expert but I am currently developing my skills as a luthier/guitar builder. Your string height/action should be measured at the 12th fret, without the string being fretted. The 4/64 and 3/64 measurements are good but that should be measured at the 12th fret on an open string. If after that measurement, you are still getting string buzz around that area, it would suggest either a backbow, a high fret or possibly an uneven neck (twisted, bump in fretboard, etc.). I doubt a neck shim would do anything in this situation, best to take it to a trusty guitar tech and have him fix it. He can then give you an explanation on what he did to get it back to shape
I am going to fix a guitarkit that has this problem only its worse and way of. I made a piece and glued it in the pocket and I will make an adjust/tiltable jig and route it.
My neck is leaning back to far. The strings are touching the last fret and the bridge is raised quite a lot. Would you use this technique to file and angle on the heel of the neck itself to bring the nut higher? Thank you.
I can't say without having the guitar in my hands.
so you are string lining it from the saddle @ it's lowest point to the first fret? Also does it matter that the body is not parallel with the body now?
Basically yes. To be more precise, I go to the nut and put the distance above the first fret at .01" on the treble strings and .02" on the bass strings.The saddles should be lowered as far as they can go and the strings should be the same distances above the 12th fret as they are at the first fret. That way when you raise the saddles to set the 12th fret string action, you don't have that far to go.
Thank you for this video!! I bought a guitar body and neck off of eBay and being new at this I just glued them together as they seemed to fit nice... Now I see with a bit of string and a file I could have avoided disaster. I'm not giving up, next time I'll try this method. Meanwhile I'll grab a bag of marshmallows and roast them over this chunk of mahogany with a flamed maple top.
that was idiotic. don't glue a bolt on neck. it needs an entirely different connection. you need a neck tenon to glue in.
Wow Bro, Did you work at Valley Arts? Cant imagine what one of those would cost.
Are you using wood screws to fasten the neck or machine bolts into an insert in the neck heel?
I use wood screws on my Maple and Rosewood necks. Mahogany necks get machine screws and threaded inserts.
Thanks for the video! Could you supply a link for where to purchase these files?
Gladly. amzn.to/2quE72x
Using the string, I see no nut installed yet so can you do this with a nut installed or do you need to have the nut removed? Thanks
It's actually better to have the nut installed. Your results will be more accurate.
Have you ever had problems with buzz because of the wrong neck angle.....I'm working on a telecaster....have tried everything including leveling the fingerboard and refretting. If I shim the neck it will make the strings more level from the bridge to the nut.
I shimming it with a .010 flat shim to get the action lower.....I think I may need a slight wedge. I know the best playing guitars I've had usually have very flat strings from nut to bridge in relationship to the frets.
Any thoughts? The frets are perfectly level with a rocker.
I have a .010 flat piece under the neck......just put an 1" 1/2 piece of .010 on top of it in the back of the neck pocket! amazing! It leveled the strings from nut to bridge. I'm going to check the buzzing "A" string next.....the action feels like butter. I'm really excited on this.....a light bulb moment. The B and E string ring like a bell now. I raised the saddles.....
Have you checked the neck for level? I would have done that before touching the frets. A bow, back or forward can really screw your setup. Best checked with a slotted straightedge which sits just on the fingerboard.
If you do need to shim the neck a wedge which runs to zero across the full neck pocket is the way to go.
Wedge won't work. Try a 5 iron.
WOn't recutting the bottom of the heel pocket mean that you need to re profile the back of the neck pocket, so it meets the neck flush?
Only if the angle of the neck is so much that it creates a noticeable gap. You can also sand the back of the heel at a slight angle to compensate. In my experience, the gap is barely noticeable. Also, I add a about 3/32" fretboard overhang which will easily hide any gap.
If the neck isn't firmly against the back of the pocket top to bottom, that would mean the strings are pulling on the screws only. It should fit tight against the back of the pocket as much as possible for the best sustain.
I think this is what I needed to do with my guitar but the cheap screws I used broke off at my neckplate😥 not sure if Im going to bother with a screw extractor
How do fix the angle in the opposite direction?
A shim is what's best for that.
I watched Doug Pinnick take about 5 songs to figure out that his freshly tuned basses weren't in tune because his tech was right handed. (Doug being lefty) so it would appear that correct playing position is important. At least with bass.
when holding the string to see if touches last fret, don't you need the nut in place at the other end?
Yes, you do.
What about the opposite problem, where the saddles have to be raised before the strings clear the frets? In that case, would you shave the heel of the neck instead of the pocket? Does it make any difference if it's a set neck?
I have this question too.
You can angle your neck forwards or backwards to find the sweet spot. In my case I had to angle mine forwards to resolve a lot of fret buzz higher up on the fretboard with ridiculously high action. Some necks have a "kink" in them where they meet the body, usually on cheaper guitars, which can cause this issue.
Another way is to file down the neck cavity especially if it is uneven and/or the neck is already at a forward angle, which will bring the neck down (providing it is attached to the front of the body, not the back).
How did you dye the top without bleeding into the sides
Taped around the body before dyed/sprayed it
i dont care if the shim is visible is just cosmetic as long it sounds good and its comfy to play im alright with it , peace .
I've had an issue with the neck geometry on a Telecaster that I purchased new at Sweetwater. I could tell that there was something wrong when I was setting it up. Yes I know that the people at Sweetwater check and setup every guitar they sell, but how much time can they possibly spend on each unit under such circumstances, and it didn’t really matter what they did or didn’t do anyways because I was having issue setting the action and intonation on this guitar to my liking.
When I inspected the guitar, I could tell that my guitar had neck gap and angle issues. I removed the neck and discovered that the neck pocket was uneven. I filed it even with a fine wood file. The wood was really soft and easy to work. I periodically checking with calipers to see I was approaching true.
Now the neck sits snugly and squarely in the pocket. I never considered doing so before, but I suppose one could alter the neck geometry by adjusting the neck pocket instead of installing a shim, but I probably would never would have touching this pocket if it looked planer, but whatever the guys who assembled this guitar were thinking, this was clearly a hack job.
I also purchased a Player series Mexican made Tele from Sweetwater. I paid for the high dollar German PLEK service even. And I've had trouble setting the action. It just occurred to me "Neck Geometry"
and brought me to this video. I like your idea of using calipers! I was trying to figure out how to measure the plane of the pocket.
@@Mike-cd9cj A set of feeler gauges will come in handy as well.
Good luck!
Hey man there’s another way. You could route out a cavity under the bridge about 2mm or so for it to sit in. Like what we do with the schaller hannes bridges but this way is less cosmetic and you would never be able to use a different bridge so this was the right choice.
I have a video on just such an idea: ruclips.net/video/ZUD9yafxMlo/видео.html
What's the song in the intro?
idk but it's what failarmy uses
Great video, thank you. Exactly the tutoring I was looking for. Got into a huge problem setting a bolted neck, strings are so low won't even make sound only buzzing. I grinded the pocket in a forward tilted angle to move strings up, still buzzing? any clue
Did you try checking the truss rod adjustment ? I'd suggest you go through a full check of the neck action, the truss rod, neck angle everything and try to find what might be causing the issue. If you're still getting the buzz then you'll need to check all your frets. Maybe one or two are not crowned properly or not set properly. Then you'll need to file and crown that fret and check the buzz. If still buzzing, move on to the next fret thats causing the problem and repeat the process. You'll find a lot of elaborated videos on youtube on refretting or crowning the fret rods.
@@azmrafsan thank you so much for your help. Truss is flat. Frets I didn't check so thanks I will. Thing is now that I started that big filing job on the pocket it's not levelled properly, so don't you think I should finish that first?
Yes of course bro. Don't go too far with that. Maybe it was just a fret issue but you already started on an advanced step. I'd suggest finish that off as close to as it was before, dont make any further changes. Put the neck back in and adjust/check frets
@@azmrafsan hi, thanks again for your precious inputs, well I sort of got as close as I thought I could get to a even neck level which it seems I did,. You are right though 2 or 3 frets at the top of the octave are the culprit I'm on it, and will keep you posted about what happened, again thank you so much for your help.
Best of luck brother. You'll find a lot of resources online. I hope you get your guitar play like you want it to. Just don't panic and don't get frustrated. Every good thing comes with patience and passion.
Great video. You sound a bit like Steve Vai.
Hello, What cut is the Iwasaka file? Thanks
Fine
@@HighlineGuitars is this too 'fine', "File 150mm Flat Extreme-Fine Cut" ( I ordered it, but can cancel)
@@joebubbit No. By changing the angle of the file as you work, you can increase or decrease its aggressiveness. I often wish I had the extreme-fine cut.
@@HighlineGuitars Thank you! There's been a run on these files, so I ended up paying premium price on the only place that had them in stock. Folks must be watching you! ;)
I use stewmac shims
In my opinion using a shim under the heel of the guitar has a huge effect on the sound especially the compression waves or acoustic properties of the guitar. This is because you are creating a disconnect from the body and neck. I bought an Ibanez RG750 built in '93 and when I played it it felt dead and lacking in something. I bought it secondhand from a friend who said he just had it set up by a good guitar tech from my city. I took the neck off and found a piece of sandpaper he had used in the heel of the guitar to create an angle to supposedly improve the action. It was a small slither of folded sandpaper in just the far end of the neck pocket. I put it back together and then the guitar had a very strong rumble with much more low end and doubled the vibration and gave it power. I then adjusted the action from the bridge and trussrod to taste and the guitar produced a far more strident tone also the guitar vibrated beautifully. The neck and body joint has to be flawless, tight and then it will transfer the energy much better.
Mickeyislowd A piece of sandpaper under the heel is NOT a shim. A proper shim made of wood with full contact works just fine.
What's the file?
Found it... IWASAKI
this guy knows what he is doing but it would be easier to make a tapered shim and paint/stain the edge to match the neck or body I don't think the average joe would notice or care about it the Japanese file though efficient is probably very expensive a good substitute is a farriers file ( used to trim horses hooves) another file is the dreadnought file ( used for car body repair)
Why would you set your saddles as low as they can go?
When the saddles are in the lowest position, the strings should just kiss the top of the last frets. This is your starting point. From there you can raise the saddles to whatever action height you want. However, if you lower the saddles all the way and the strings are bending down to the bridge from the last fret, you will be very limited in how high you can raise them.
Great video BUT, always fit a handle on your files!!
not sure, how you can do this, without the nut being in place?
He's laying it across the first fret. Just like you do when checking relief.
Easy peasy, what matters is fret hight, that sets everything including the nut that is adjusted last after neck us set.
You are building really nice guitars, I'm surprised that you are not using bolts into wood inserts for the body to neck connection, makes a better everything for the guitar! Also it would be very wise to build a jig for lowering the neck joint, as precise as you are, filing free hand will never be perfect.
You mean like this video I did a while back: ruclips.net/video/AOV2AZaJyck/видео.html
if you want it lower you can file frets down I think. Filing them also seems to teach me that certain fret may be the problem.
This made me think that would be awesome to be able to have different sized frets because I would know where im at on the board thru feel without looking.
Braille fret markers?
Yeah right! fret one can be a tiny bit higher , the last fret is lowest?
Yeah I also love a lot of rocking on my frets. The more the better. Gives it a very ..unique.. sound.
personally, I would have glued an extra piece to the neck and shaped the wedge the angle needed accordingly. creating the perfect angle in the neck pocket seems way too tricky for my skillset!
That's my way too. Plus it is easilly reversable if its not 100%.
Yeah, but if you're paying money for a repair, you don't want to see offcuts glued onto your guitar
Are you in Business ? Like to have you work on mine .
I only build complete guitars. I don't repair others.
This is where cheap guitar makers fall short! They don't spend time on tweaking each guitar to make it the best!👍😎🎸🎶
That's the great thing about cheap guitars you can modify them easily to perfection with no regrets or worries about negatively affecting value. Though wonce I own a guitar I could care less about maintaining or impacting value, guitars are not an investment they are to play so hack away. Watch out for that snake oil crap on finishes or "Tonewood" bullcrap affecting tone.
It's like owning a Ferrari, drive it like and race car driver, like you stole it and modify the crap out of it to your liking. Ferrari's aren't ment yo be garage queens.
@@airgliderz yep. I agree!👍😎🎸🎶
Why not shim the entire part where the neck meets the body to keep the neck flush with the body? I don't get the purpose of going to all these lengths to angle it. I would assume in the long run this angle would just cause more problems with action, neck relief, fret wear, and intonation.
A lot of guys hate shims. I have no issue with them, but if a buyer doesn't want shims, I have to angle the neck. It's not difficult to do. Sometimes just a couple of quick passes with a file or a sanding block. Almost every guitar ever made with a tune-o-matic bridge has the neck angled and they don't suffer the issues you mention any more than guitars with flat necks.
I don't care about shims either. I'm more in the proper functionality of the guitar over looks. A lot of guitars with Tune-o-matics are of the Les Paul variety and they have tons of tuning stability issues. Of course, most of that is due to the head stock angle, the 3x3 tuning machine design, the tune-o-matic height itself if incorrectly set, etc. I'd just imagine that neck angle would be another issue. Maybe that's why the neck is angled on those guitars to give relief to the head stock? I'm not so much arguing against it, I just want to know the practical purpose of it is if there is any compared to keeping the neck flush with the body because I am modifying a guitar right now that requires the neck to be raised and or angled because the trem is as low as it goes and the strings don't touch the frets.
@@7James77 If Gibson kept the Les Paul neck flat, they would have to raise it so far out of the body, the guitar would look ridiculous. Is your tremolo recessed into the body?
I read as well recently it's because of how high the tune-o-matic is that they do it. So, I at least know both reasons why. My guitar I'm modding is a custom. I own a standard cheap model Randy Rhoad's that had a 22 fret neck. I wanted a guitar with a Reverse Head stock and Maple fingerboard but did not want to buy an entirely new guitar. Searched Ebay and found the exact neck I wanted from a different Rhoad's.
The Neck sits much lower in the body than the original neck by about 2/16 and the tremolo is a Floyd Rose(The strings touched the bottom frets on the original neck). I have shimmed it to the height of the neck on my Jackson Warrior but have to do further modifications to the neck/body and tremolo so it is currently off the guitar. Hence why I'm wondering if I should angle it if it has added benefits I don't know about.
I know that file as a rasp. Show me on a Les Paul Std. !!
Why should an LPS need a neck angle adjustment? Oh, wait. Never-mind.
Better to use a router to change the angle (not sand or file) . Set up an jig with the guitar body below. With the body shimmed on the back to get the desired angle.
It probably won't be flat if you use a file.
It all depends on your skill with a file or even chisels. What did luthiers do before electricity?
leo fender always had electricity.
Fender used shims or tilt adjust screws.
Fender used routers to cut the body and pocket. They did it with jigs.
green323turbo But shims for fine adjustment.
it looks like your routing the neck pocket to deep, to begin with. i always put a 2.0 degree when routing the pocket.
Or the customer decided to use a different bridge. 😉
@@HighlineGuitars that's possible but it's clearly evident that the fretboard is sunk too low in the pocket.. IMO
The pocket wasn’t too deep for the bridge that was originally intended for this build.
the big impact you are talking about when lowering or lifting the nut only impacts on open strings which makes the impact not that huge. and of course shimming the neck pocket affects the tone and sustain IF you shim it not with a wedge but with a constant piece on the point closest to the body. because then the neck has not the touching area with the wood as it would have if it is not shimmed. you do not need to be a luthiet or builder to know that. this is not a myth. if you make a shim on the full area pf the pocket with the same wood, then you keep the tone and sustain mostly unchanged.
I think he's using the nut only as a reference point for that end of the neck, not implying only changing the nut fixes neck angle. But yeah, not the most precise description. Cheers
I still own a xp 100
I have one doubt about this operation. Unless you are doing this to a new build, the neck of the guitar has already been screwed to the body. The screws are supposed to run perpendicularly inside the neck to keep it firmly united to the body. If you change the angle of the neck the angle of the screws will change as well, so how can you maintain a solid junction between the two parts by doing that?
Plug the screw holes in the neck with dowels of the same wood type and redrill. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
@@HighlineGuitars 😂 So brutally simple! Thank you!
There is something I really don’t understand from guitar builders and luthiers. So many neck adjustments are made to compensate for a wanted string action.Very manyof the adjustments like shimming the neck will absolutely kill sustain and structural integrity of the guitar. Remember, If you shim a neck with just a
little strip under the neck in the pocket all tension on the neck comes down on the screws for contact friction is absolutely killed (bolt-on neck).Solving the problem is a piece of cake ….Rout out a hole in the body (solid body) and lower the bridge. A lowered bridge looks amazing and sustain increases drastically.
A shim has no noticeable effect on sustain whatsoever. The clamping pressure from those 4 screws is so much, it might as well be a single piece of wood. Recessing the bridge isn't necessary; it just looks fucking dope. Same with pickup rings and control plates. I think it looks even better if the recess is like 3 or 4mm bigger than the part so it outlines it with a flat bottomed trench. I might even try it on a scratchplate some day
Why don't you just file the saddles down?
If the saddles are already as low as they can go, filing down the saddles to lower the strings, even more, means they'll have to remain in the lowest position to achieve the desired action. That's okay if the guitar is your personal instrument, but if the guitar is for someone else, it's better to leave the bridge alone and angle the neck so the owner has the ability to precisely raise the saddle height to achieve their desired string action.
Why not buy buy a guitar with a micro tilt neck in the first place ?
Which begs the question; Why doesn't every guitar ever made have a micro tilt neck?
thanks. also thanks for not miking up your drill.
I would have shimmed under the bridge. People change those.
That wouldn't work in this instance. Shimming the bridge will RAISE the strings. I needed to LOWER the strings.
Did you really say "I wanted a guitar with more mass in the saddles" and not make a silly joke? Oh wait, it's 2020, you, nobody can joke around any more..sorry, almost forgot about that. Carry on please:)
Aim small miss small
all the way from malta i do not theing you mack a good jopshim will do the jop king hop you see thes
Ummm... what?
In my opinion no matter how good of a hand you have, there is no way you can make a precise gradual angle free hand, the way to go about it in my opinion is to have a jig going with a slight angle and just rout the pocket perfectly.
yoheff988 yup that would be the way I would do it also.
that is why this solution was a mistake. if ge did tge neck heel, he would have been able to produce an accurate and flat angle.
Well for starters you don't really need to make a perfect ramp since on a bolt-on the neck is not going to be in even contact with the whole ramp anyway.
However if the point is that you can't cut an accurate surface with hand tools, that is just wrong, With wood there is normally a fast and accurate way to do things with hand tools, since those tools have been thousands of years in development. But more to the point, when accuracy is needed that is when hand tools come out. The most accurate metal working tools like surface grinders are hand scraped. You can't get behind the hand work. It is hand work that provides the base everything else is leveraged off of.
Of course most luthiers aren't really woodworker, and for that mater most of the classic electric guitars are totally influenced in design by the use of the most efficient tooling that the factories had available. So routers and jigs work great and suit the often woodworking skilless workers using them.
Really? Sure you can! Maybe not just with a rasp, but there are other tools (think end plane, sharp chisel, scraper). Or sure, go ahead and jig and route, but you'd better know what you're doing, because one sure way to kill a neck joint is to stuff it during routing, lol. But we're talking a poofteenth of an inch here, if you can't do it with hand tools, I reckon you're nuts taking to it with a router. Hand it to someone who has a clue.
@@johncougar526 Too many people overthinking things instead of actually testing them out for themselves, lots of citizen scientists who think they know all the secrets to tone but just end up sounding like lemmings spouting what they read somewhere else. It's sad to see so much misinformation being spouted so confidently, but that happens in all walks of life. If you put most people into one class of college psychology, all of a sudden they can break apart your entire personality like they've been psychologists for 30+ years.
The guitar was made badly in the first place with the wrong neck angle , just looking at the vid
it seems to much wood was taken off when it was made , the only way to fix this in my opinion
is to glue another slip of wood of the same kind in the neck pocket then use a router to re cut it
to the correct depth and angle
The guitar was fine. It was used as a prop for the video to explain a technique that others can use when they run into the same issue with their first time or kit builds.
@@HighlineGuitars If its a one off guitar project; why not make a neck with a thick enough heel to begin with so you have enough 'flesh' to shape the heel to the correct thickness - or angle ?
Steinstra 1961 what if the wood I have to use isn’t thick enough?
@@HighlineGuitars You could have glued an extra piece of the same wood on the neck blank to make for a thicker heel ?
@@Steinstra-vj7wl Or just a few passes over the bottom of the neck pocket with a file.
There just has to be another way to accurately mill a neck pocket over hand sanding in the 21st century. Enjoyed the video though.
It is called buying a guitar with a micro tilt neck in the first place .( fender perhaps)