neck pock depth and angle?

I am building about five teles a month now and wondering what the best combination of depth and angle is to obtain the best action, I currently shoot for 11/32" deep and 7 degree angle of the neck I sand both the pocket and the neck stump. Let the discussion begin!

What's wrong with flat and 5/8"?

What's wrong with flat and 5/8"?

Leo would agree.

When evaluating/discussion action I always do so with the guitar capoed at the first fret (to eliminate the nut.)

That said, pocket depth and pocket angle (if any) merely combine to determine the location of the first fret relative to the bridge plate (another fixed data point) and therefore to the bridge saddles.

Quite simply, the location of the first fret in relation to the bridge plate determines where you will have to locate the saddles in order to place the strings in a suitable location relative to the fretboard.

All of which is merely an exercise in geometry (ie. there are multiple combinations of depth and angle that will yield the exact same final solution.)

So then the question becomes, how important is saddle height to the issue?

If it is not an issue then there is no one answer, because all you need is a 'middle option' - one that will allow you a decent range of saddle adjustments suitable for fine tuning the action. (Which not surprisingly, will be close to Fender stock.) And I lean towards no angle because it keeps the butt of the neck more squared up with the body - better contact.)

If you have very strict saddle height requirements then you can adjust either pocket depth or angle, but with Fender style bridges typically dont need to do both.

If you are using a very high bridge (like a TOM) then the pocket is angled in order to allow the pocket to remain a decent depth. Which is primarily an asthetic consideration because otherwise the pocket would be so shallow as to make the neck appear to be riding on top of the body (tone coupling may be a factor too, but that is more open to conjecture.)

Wow thanks Keyser, that helped a lot! Makes sense..

I am probably not hitting 7 degrees I really don't have a way to measure I just eyeball for a little angle and then yea the saddles have to come up. But there does seem to be a sweet spot as they are not all setting up exactly the same? I can tell the difference it's small but a pro player can tell the difference including myself... I really appreciate this discussion though :)

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