Problem caster

[MallonMusic]

OK so this is a long story! But i'll keep it short. So i bought a Capece tele body. It was pre drilled for a modern bridge but i put a ashtray style bridge on it. The bridge is from all parts, but to get the action low enuff (but it still is not low enuff) the barrels are flat down and the adjustment screws are way to high! So why is this? Is it the bridge? Or is the neck rout deeper than standard? And then there is the neck. I first put some no name neck i got off a parts guitar from a yard sale. I then last month at a guitar expo in Pa bought an all parts tele neck. BUT! When i went to put it on i found it to be way to narrow! It wasent even close. So why would a reel all parts neck not fit? Any way i hope i made at least a little sence?! But any way i have built a hand full of strats with no problems! But this tele build is making me rethink teles!

[Warren Pederson]

Just shim the south end of the neck pocket. Maybe only one, maybe two thicknesses of business card. You should be golden.

[Telenator]

Wood shrinks this time of year. The neck size issue is not uncommon.

The problem isn't with Teles it's with experience. You're beginning to see why some builders get a little more money for a guitar build that has been properly executed.

As Warren Pederson pointed out, your just a shim away from a great set-up and proper saddle height. Just part of the learning process that makes this all so much fun! Enjoy!

[FSJazzGuy]

Originally Posted by Warren Pederson

Just shim the south end of the neck pocket. Maybe only one, maybe two thicknesses of business card. You should be golden.

Which end is south? I'd have thought he'd want to insert the shim where the neck heel exits the body, thereby raising the nut end of the neck. What am I missing here??

[Weazel]

If he raises the nut end, the action will become even higher. Maybe you misunderstood:
Quote: "the barrels are flat down and the adjustment screws are way to high!"

[FSJazzGuy]

Originally Posted by Weazel

If he raises the nut end, the action will become even higher. Maybe you misunderstood:
Quote: "the barrels are flat down and the adjustment screws are way to high!"

Yeah, maybe, I read that as the barrels are flat down against the bridgeplate (and he needs them even lower) and the screws are therefore sticking way up exposed. I've had to deal with this as well so am interested in the suggestions he's offered.

Maybe the OP will pop in and clear it up so's he can get the right advice.

Rethinking this and now I'm really confused. Maybe he needs to shim the whole neck pocket, thereby raising the neck but not changing the angle so he can raise the barrels some?

[Brendo]

No, I think the shim in the body end of the neck pocket will work. The OP asks if the neck route is deeper than standard, which indicates that he can't get the strings low enough. Shim the body end, it'll lower the nut, and he'll need to raise the barrels to get the action 'butter' like.

How is a guitar like butter? I never got that bit.

[FSJazzGuy]

I think I can see how that would work now. Thanks for the additional explanation. Hope I didn't add to his dilemma.

[Beerfish]

Hey bro how deep is your neck pocket should be 5/8thdeep 2"3/16 wide and 3" long the allparts neck should be correct .are the allparts and the other neck the same thickness at the heel

[MallonMusic]

Thank you for your help! The all parts neck is 2 3/16 but the heal is more like a strat heal width, yet it is square like a tele heal should be. Besides not fitting all the way back, it actually fits a strat body very nice. So i have no clue what the deal is with that neck. But the crappy neck i have on it now has a shim that goes all the way across the pocket, plus a guitar pick closest to the bridge side of the pocket. And the depth of the neck pocket is 3/4 and the thicknes of the neck is 1 inch. But like i said the barrels in the bridge are all most all the way down and the adjustment screws stick up over the sides of the bridge, and don't feel so great on the hand. So any way?

[Telenator]

2 3/16" wide at the heel is correct for the neck. If that's what your neck measures and it fits real sloppy in the body, then the neck pocket in the body is too wide.

[lespauljr]

Why is everyone only suggesting a shim at one end of the neck pocket? Won't that angle the neck? Why not shim the whole neck pocket?

The neck pocket on my own body is three fourths of an inch deep instead of five eighths of an inch so I fear that I will also run into this when I try to assemble a neck and bridge to my own body.

[woodman]

sounds like what you have there is a Project. ... all i can think of is, keep building up the neck pocket by trial and error til it's within range, then shim as needed. what i'm seeing is an unhappy marriage between body and neck.

[Warren Pederson]

Originally Posted by lespauljr

Why is everyone only suggesting a shim at one end of the neck pocket? Won't that angle the neck? Why not shim the whole neck pocket?

The neck pocket on my own body is three fourths of an inch deep instead of five eighths of an inch so I fear that I will also run into this when I try to assemble a neck and bridge to my own body.

To give it a little angle. About 3/4 of an inch wide strip right close to the body. The screws can go right though the shim.

[TELE_BLUES]

Welcome to school.To take a heap of mixed parts and have them actually fit togther properly is quite rare.Take some time and learn how to shim your neck ,trial and error is a painfully slow way to figure things out but it's something that's likely to stay with you.Won't be too long when you look at tele that need to be adjusted you'll see what the problem is.A tele is a simple beast but getting the setup just right can be tricky.

[Runn3r]

Originally Posted by lespauljr

Why is everyone only suggesting a shim at one end of the neck pocket? Won't that angle the neck? Why not shim the whole neck pocket?

The neck pocket on my own body is three fourths of an inch deep instead of five eighths of an inch so I fear that I will also run into this when I try to assemble a neck and bridge to my own body.

indeed

if ya shim the neck too much at one end there will be an appreciable (significant) angle formed by neck and body when they are supposed to be PARALLEL

not to mention doing all sorts of trauma to the neck screw holes which once might have been perpendicular but after such shimming might start going at an angle not perpendicular to bottom of neck

some sort of flat metal piece covering the entire area of neck pocket tht is the thickness tht ya wish to raise the whole neck will prob do the trick and if you want to be fancy ya can always glue on a flat piece of similar wood and re-rout to correct depth

check yer neck thickness ...if it is way thinner than 1" then perhaps work on the neck rather than body cos the neck is prob too thin for 'standard' bodies ...only if u handy with all this dirty sweaty manual work....

ie add wood to neck rather than body