Thank you for this video. You are the only person I have found that explains this angle so that I can understand. I am replacing a broken neck with an aftermarket neck (LP style) and was wanting to make sure I seated the neck into the pocket correctly.
Thank you for watching! Yeah, when I was learning all this stuff I just could not find any place where this was explained clear enough, so now I wanted to add my two cents and see if I could explain it in a much simpler way, when it actually isn't as complicated as some make it out to be :) I hope this video helps you figure out the new neck👍 but don't be afraid to ask if you have any questions
@@IPGuitars Thanks, I am working on a small gap in the front of the neck and neck pocket. The back fits good but the front gap I think will need me to sand the pocket until it fits flush before I bolt it on. I don't think it is a shimming issue but the pocket itself.
Is the gap on the side or bottom of the neck pocket? If there is a gap, then sanding (so removing material) might not be the best option, because you might remove too much material, making the gap more significant. You could try adding some veneer and then working that down to get the neck seated properly without gaps. Not really shimming the neck, but instead adding material where there is none :) fitting aftermarket necks is always a bit fiddlesome.
I mean, you could buy some, but if you have no further use for it, you could substitute that with either making your own piece of small wood or using some other thin material. Make sure beforehand how much you need to "plug up" by bolting on the neck first. Try a few different iterations of seating the neck, so (assuming it's the standard 4 screws) by screwing in the back screws first, screwing in the front screws first, or screwing in the screws diagonally (one front, then one back). See if one of those options feels more solid than the rest and minimizes the gap, then that will give you the thickness of whatever you choose to fill that gap with :)
thanks so much for taking the time explaining neck angle. I am putting together a kit prs style kit guitar where I believe the neck angle isn't quite enough. I'd like to put in a 0.5 degree shim which mocks up nicely with a TOM bride of 17mm high. Can I do this with a maple shim fro Stewmac and glue the set neck. It is a good fit on the sides of neck. Thanks again
Thanks for checking out the video. If the shim fits in the pocket and the angle is then correct, then there is no issue in gluing it all together :) It's all a matter of just double-checking before doing something you can't take apart (not easily anyway). And do a dry clamp-up as well, so that you can troubleshoot before any glue goes on.
Come through for me again! I finally decided to go spend some money on a decent piece of wood and landed on a nice chunk of mahogany. I managed to get both pieces glued together with an almost invisible seam. I’m trying something weird and attempting to make a 7 string from a PRS 22 body type. I will be using the tune-o-matic bridge (I have one on my Schecter and love it). You nailed what I was after in great detail. Thank you AGAIN!
IP Guitars You help out nonstop whether you know it or not! By the time I am done with this thing it will have to say “Courtesy of IP guitars” on the head hahaha.
Helo,nice video, For e prs tremelo style britsh where all the saddle are flat, must i first rise the saddle at the 10radius en then measuring the thickness off highest saddle? Thank's
Good question! Essentially you want to draw & measure with the saddles flat to the bottom and draw on your desired action (the string height from saddle to nut). With the trem you described I believe the measurement is around 10-11mm height. If you adjust your drawing with your saddles higher, then you need to be careful with construction so that you do not accidentally run the risk of getting your neck angle too steep. By drawing with the bridge essentially at its "normal state" you are allowing room to adjust your action as needed.
@@IPGuitars ok than measured whit the saddle completely down,the bright measured 9mm totally dawn but floats 2mm,so whit 11 or 12mm i am good then?bye prs the measured 12 mm i think ,but i won't to be sure, greetings patrick
How can I find out the angle of my set necks on an SG & Firebird to see if they are good candidates for a Maestro Vibrola. I've heard 3 1/2 degrees will give enough downward tension on the Maestro behind the bridge to work well. Not all SGs and FBs are set that way.Thanks!
Thanks for answering my previous question. I've mocked up my prs ( a second time with thread instead of yard stick ) type kit with neck C clamped to body, bridge in lowest position, nut installed and fretboard looks straight when checked with a PRS gauge notched tool. A string from nut to bridge shows 3.2 mm above 17th fret, added a 0.5 degree Stewmac shim which brought it to 2.2 mm above 17 th fret. so it looks like I need at least 1 degree shim to get under 2mm. Some have said the strings should be "kissing" the last frets . Secondly, Is there any reason I couldn't make this a bolt on neck? I'a lotexplaining
Once again, that sounds like there is no angle routed into the pocket at all, so the thicker shim definitely would help with this. And essentially it really comes down to your own preference in action. I usually do initial setup to 1.5mm from the fret to the bottom of the string with room to adjust either way. And no reason at all you couldn't make it a bolt-on :) all it requires is drilling holes and putting in screws, apart from that, the construction of the neck joint is the same.
I would love to use a grinder, but don't have access to one. I've been going about it with gauges, violin planes, spokeshaves, scrapers, and then an orbital sander. It's hard work sure, but it is also a lot of fun. (Apart from the blisters sustained at Yandles for carving a guitar top for two days straight)
Not really anything different. Just drawing it out and measuring the height of the bridge will give you the angle :) essentially you want the height at which the strings sit on the saddles of your chosen bridge. Then go from there
I tried to draw the strings according to the frets. So instead of 2mm off the fretboard, I meant 2mm off the frets. I need to go back and see exactly what I said in the video, but yeah. 2mm taking fret height into account. That gives you room for adjustment. I usually opt for about 1,5mm between the fret and the bottom of the string.
So ive tried this method ( and a few others) and I always find that if i join the bottom of my bridge to the neck/body connection point, I always have a gap between the front of my fretboard and my body. Am I correct in assuming that this gap is present on flat body guitars, but if you plane down the top of the body, you can achieve an angle that is parralel with the fretboard? (tough question to put into words...sorry)
(I got what you meant, I think. No worries :)) You are right, there would be a gap the same way. This is why, for example, Gibsons have the body planed to match the neck angle most times making the joint part of the body parallel to the fretboard, exactly as you suggested. So yes, you can achieve it :)
Safe to say it would be around that ballpark. A similar guitar I had had around 2-3 degrees. So easy enough to measure the height of the bridge accordingly and work it out from there :) never hurts to double check.
Thank you for this video. You are the only person I have found that explains this angle so that I can understand. I am replacing a broken neck with an aftermarket neck (LP style) and was wanting to make sure I seated the neck into the pocket correctly.
Thank you for watching! Yeah, when I was learning all this stuff I just could not find any place where this was explained clear enough, so now I wanted to add my two cents and see if I could explain it in a much simpler way, when it actually isn't as complicated as some make it out to be :)
I hope this video helps you figure out the new neck👍 but don't be afraid to ask if you have any questions
@@IPGuitars Thanks, I am working on a small gap in the front of the neck and neck pocket. The back fits good but the front gap I think will need me to sand the pocket until it fits flush before I bolt it on. I don't think it is a shimming issue but the pocket itself.
Is the gap on the side or bottom of the neck pocket? If there is a gap, then sanding (so removing material) might not be the best option, because you might remove too much material, making the gap more significant. You could try adding some veneer and then working that down to get the neck seated properly without gaps.
Not really shimming the neck, but instead adding material where there is none :) fitting aftermarket necks is always a bit fiddlesome.
@@IPGuitars Yes the gap is on the bottom. It is thinner than a credit card. The veneer you talk about is this made or a product to purchase?
I mean, you could buy some, but if you have no further use for it, you could substitute that with either making your own piece of small wood or using some other thin material. Make sure beforehand how much you need to "plug up" by bolting on the neck first. Try a few different iterations of seating the neck, so (assuming it's the standard 4 screws) by screwing in the back screws first, screwing in the front screws first, or screwing in the screws diagonally (one front, then one back). See if one of those options feels more solid than the rest and minimizes the gap, then that will give you the thickness of whatever you choose to fill that gap with :)
thanks so much for taking the time explaining neck angle. I am putting together a kit prs style kit guitar where I believe the neck angle isn't quite enough. I'd like to put in a 0.5 degree shim which mocks up nicely with a TOM bride of 17mm high. Can I do this with a maple shim fro Stewmac and glue the set neck. It is a good fit on the sides of neck. Thanks again
Thanks for checking out the video.
If the shim fits in the pocket and the angle is then correct, then there is no issue in gluing it all together :) It's all a matter of just double-checking before doing something you can't take apart (not easily anyway). And do a dry clamp-up as well, so that you can troubleshoot before any glue goes on.
Come through for me again! I finally decided to go spend some money on a decent piece of wood and landed on a nice chunk of mahogany. I managed to get both pieces glued together with an almost invisible seam. I’m trying something weird and attempting to make a 7 string from a PRS 22 body type. I will be using the tune-o-matic bridge (I have one on my Schecter and love it). You nailed what I was after in great detail. Thank you AGAIN!
Oh that sounds awesome! Glad I could help out again :)
IP Guitars You help out nonstop whether you know it or not! By the time I am done with this thing it will have to say “Courtesy of IP guitars” on the head hahaha.
@@aaronboyles5237 Hahaha :D Well, thank you.
Helo,nice video,
For e prs tremelo style britsh where all the saddle are flat, must i first rise the saddle at the 10radius en then measuring the thickness off highest saddle?
Thank's
Good question! Essentially you want to draw & measure with the saddles flat to the bottom and draw on your desired action (the string height from saddle to nut). With the trem you described I believe the measurement is around 10-11mm height.
If you adjust your drawing with your saddles higher, then you need to be careful with construction so that you do not accidentally run the risk of getting your neck angle too steep.
By drawing with the bridge essentially at its "normal state" you are allowing room to adjust your action as needed.
@@IPGuitars ok than measured whit the saddle completely down,the bright measured 9mm totally dawn but floats 2mm,so whit 11 or 12mm i am good then?bye prs the measured 12 mm i think ,but i won't to be sure, greetings patrick
That sounds about right yeah :)
How can I find out the angle of my set necks on an SG & Firebird to see if they are good candidates for a Maestro Vibrola. I've heard 3 1/2 degrees will give enough downward tension on the Maestro behind the bridge to work well. Not all SGs and FBs are set that way.Thanks!
Thanks for answering my previous question. I've mocked up my prs ( a second time with thread instead of yard stick ) type kit with neck C clamped to body, bridge in lowest position, nut installed and fretboard looks straight when checked with a PRS gauge notched tool. A string from nut to bridge shows 3.2 mm above 17th fret, added a 0.5 degree Stewmac shim which brought it to 2.2 mm above 17 th fret. so it looks like I need at least 1 degree shim to get under 2mm. Some have said the strings should be "kissing" the last frets . Secondly, Is there any reason I couldn't make this a bolt on neck? I'a lotexplaining
Once again, that sounds like there is no angle routed into the pocket at all, so the thicker shim definitely would help with this. And essentially it really comes down to your own preference in action. I usually do initial setup to 1.5mm from the fret to the bottom of the string with room to adjust either way.
And no reason at all you couldn't make it a bolt-on :) all it requires is drilling holes and putting in screws, apart from that, the construction of the neck joint is the same.
What method would you use to carve a guitar top shape and how? With hand tools like gauges and hand planes or a grinder and a random orbital sander?
I would love to use a grinder, but don't have access to one. I've been going about it with gauges, violin planes, spokeshaves, scrapers, and then an orbital sander. It's hard work sure, but it is also a lot of fun.
(Apart from the blisters sustained at Yandles for carving a guitar top for two days straight)
Very helpful 👌
I'm glad to hear that :)
Love the channel brother
Thank you!
I'mnot sure what you mean about needing "a block" for routing the body of 3mm or 4-5mm or whatever.
Hi, I was wondering if you can think of any extra precautions to take if you end up using a top-loaded tremolo system (like for instance a Bigby B5)?
Not really anything different. Just drawing it out and measuring the height of the bridge will give you the angle :) essentially you want the height at which the strings sit on the saddles of your chosen bridge. Then go from there
@@IPGuitars Thank you for the clearity and quick response :-)
@@evengladsrhaug6948 No problem, happy to help :)
Does this apply to bass guitars as well?
Yeap, same principle applies to bass as well
@@IPGuitars I thought so .. great. Thank you.
Hi! you put the string 2mm higher than the fretboard, and what about the height of the frets?
I tried to draw the strings according to the frets. So instead of 2mm off the fretboard, I meant 2mm off the frets. I need to go back and see exactly what I said in the video, but yeah. 2mm taking fret height into account. That gives you room for adjustment. I usually opt for about 1,5mm between the fret and the bottom of the string.
So ive tried this method ( and a few others) and I always find that if i join the bottom of my bridge to the neck/body connection point, I always have a gap between the front of my fretboard and my body. Am I correct in assuming that this gap is present on flat body guitars, but if you plane down the top of the body, you can achieve an angle that is parralel with the fretboard? (tough question to put into words...sorry)
(I got what you meant, I think. No worries :))
You are right, there would be a gap the same way. This is why, for example, Gibsons have the body planed to match the neck angle most times making the joint part of the body parallel to the fretboard, exactly as you suggested.
So yes, you can achieve it :)
So I am building a Ibanez JEM and I want to have a Floyd rose on it. Is it safe to say that the angle would be 2 degrees like a hardtail? Thanks
Safe to say it would be around that ballpark. A similar guitar I had had around 2-3 degrees. So easy enough to measure the height of the bridge accordingly and work it out from there :) never hurts to double check.
@@IPGuitars What about a recessed Floyd Rose?
Same rule of thumb honestly :) Measure and draw to double check
What are the plans for 2020?
Going to have a video coming out tomorrow on that :)
I just finished a kit with another body that I bought, with castastrophic neck problems. Anyway .... too much to say here.
Oh damn😬😬
Mindbending at midnight but thanks.
The Gibson Les Paul uses a 4.5 degree angle
Yupp, sounds about right for the bridge.
Very nice, but title of the video shoud be "how to draw neck angle". Its not helpful in practice for me.
Thanks, and yeah that was the original title for the video actually.
Anyway ..... shave the neck now, or the neck pocket .... but at 75 I'm having a ball.