neck re-set question

[telemania]

I have been playing in some more dive-y bars and decided to put together a number two tele, one that wouldn't make me cry if it were stolen.

got a "deal" on ebay (asian make, basswood body, decent look and feel) replaced the cheap plastic nut, put my Torres p'pups and super midrange in it and a 5 way switch. I'm liking the tone.

I am NOT liking the action - and here is where i need your help. I just bought a Wilkinson 3 saddle brass bridge. It appears the relief is too strong. I had a tech do some work and he said it was poor fretwork that caused him to need to leave the action so high. The saddles are raised about 80% as high as they can go. The rosewood top to the fretboard is resting on the pickguard, and the string height is about 2X as high at the 12th fret as at the nut.

So, on a bolt on neck can I improve the relief? If I am to shave the neck pocket, what is the advice? I am a fan of fairly low action, need some help in getting this guitar there.

[Strawfields]

Shim?

[Goluphi]

Adjusting the truss rod should be a fairly painless way to adjust neck relief.

[DrewB]

I thought the problem was poor fretwork. If the tech's correct about that, shimming the neck or straightening the neck isn't going to do any good. The frets would have to be levelled and recrowned to solve it, again, if the tech's assessment is correct.

[boris bubbanov]

I'd set that neck aside and get a much nicer one.

If you're not careful the cost of this second is gonna get way out of hand. Tommy at USA Custom Guitar has maybe 6 necks on webspecial; check one out, the prices will surprise you.

[winny pooh]

Buy Dan Erlewine's guitar repair guide so that there is an understanding of how the mechanics work and what to do. Better than relying on a tech for everything.
Your problem could be fixed with a tighter rod, but if the frest are very uneven you will still have limitations to how low th action can go. I can't put "why" without writing a few pages.

[Vizcaster]

+1 on the Erlewine books. I'd recommend the thinner book, entitled "How to make your electric guitar play great" which is a good primer on setups and adjustments. The larger volume entitled "Guitar player repair guide" goes into a lot of detail on how to rebuild and repair acoustics and electrics which might be too much information to wade through if you just want to be an informed customer for your professional tech. You will get a better idea of the difference between terms like "relief" and "action," and you'll gain a sense of when to find a different tech!

To answer your question (or not) you can shim or adjust where the neck sits in the pocket of a bolt-on neck, and it allows you to bring the saddles down a bit, but it won't change the fact that the strings buzz. Did the tech indicate that a level-and-crown (sometimes glibly referred to as a "grind and polish") would help and how much it would cost?

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by DrewB

I thought the problem was poor fretwork. If the tech's correct about that, shimming the neck or straightening the neck isn't going to do any good. The frets would have to be levelled and recrowned to solve it, again, if the tech's assessment is correct.

Correct toe Mundo +1

[telemania]

buying the book. i have played long enough to know what i like. i started on a fender strat with decent enough playability, then moved on to a Melancon (and thier necks are wonderful), the tele I put together had a top notch neck from Warmoth. I have been blessed for twenty years of either decent playing or excellent playing instruments.

I have to belive the problem lies in the fretwork too. I have some buzzing on the d string high on the frets, so as high as the action is right now it didn't releave all the buzzing.

the question remains, spend the money on a new neck (about $60 higher) or recrown and polish the frets on the old neck. I think most of you guys would agree to spend a bit more and get a quality neck.

this kind gets like build vs. buy in computers used to be you could build your own and get way more than buying off the shelf...no more.

so, i'm in for the guitar for $110, p'ups I had but I did pay around $100 for those, call it $100 for a new neck when you factor in selling the existing neck, $75 for better pots/nut/bridge. So, we are almost at $400 - and there are some nice teles for $400 off the shelf...

but, i get the satisfaction of putting it together, having a quality piece when i am done, have more attention to tone then you might get otherwise get (with the selection of p'ups, 5 way switch and a super midrange tone control).

gee, at $100 i wasnt afraid of anyone stealing this..but at $400 i'm gonna have to keep an eye on it.

boris, thank you for your referal to usa custom guitars. i was quite happy with the warmoth neck i purchased - but i went a lot fancier then... usa's prices on good quality but not fancy necks are better than warmoth's, and i suspect with a smaller operation they might score better on customer service.

[WildTele]

Warmouth makes great necks. BTW: Sometimes you'll need to shim the front of the neck pocket to get the action set nicely and to lower the neck relief--covered in Dan's great book--worht money for anybody who likes to noodle around with their instruments, or improve them!

[Martinp]

<Quote>
"The rosewood top to the fretboard is resting on the pickguard, and the string height is about 2X as high at the 12th fret as at the nut."

Is the end of the fingerboard actually resting on the pickguard?
that can screw up the geometry pretty good. if it is, take the pickguard off, and snug down the neck screws.
I had a similar problem with a partscaster that had a warmoth neck. I had to trim the pickguard - works much better now