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FR, 720 mod, recessed... confused!

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HvyMetul

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Last year I bought a 2nd-hand rear-routed, Floyd Rose Recessed Strat type Warmoth body for a really good price.  Only down-side was repainting.

Upon ordering a matching Strat neck and fit-testing i discovered a problem.
The neck pocket isn't deep enough.  It was a standard .625", allowing a little gap between fret 22 extension and the body.  Which as you may know, doesn't look good on a rear-route /wo pickguard.

Then I found out about the 720 mod, and its significance on having the fretboard level with the body.

Is this body salvageable at all?  I can't imagine Recessed FR being on the same level as non-720's fretboard.  It would probably cost a whole lot to do a 720 mod at this point.

Any advice appreciated, thanks!


 
The 720 mod is a purely cosmetic mod. You can adjust a recessed Floyd Rose just fine with a standard routed neck pocket.

If you got the skills and guts you can do the 720 mod yourself. Or take it to a luthier.

But it is only cosmetics.
 
HvyMetul said:
Last year I bought a 2nd-hand rear-routed, Floyd Rose Recessed Strat type Warmoth body for a really good price.  Only down-side was repainting.

Upon ordering a matching Strat neck and fit-testing i discovered a problem.
The neck pocket isn't deep enough.  It was a standard .625", allowing a little gap between fret 22 extension and the body.  Which as you may know, doesn't look good on a rear-route /wo pickguard.

Then I found out about the 720 mod, and its significance on having the fretboard level with the body.

Is this body salvageable at all?  I can't imagine Recessed FR being on the same level as non-720's fretboard.  It would probably cost a whole lot to do a 720 mod at this point.

Any advice appreciated, thanks!
Click to expand...


Agreed with SustainerPlayer's assessment.  You could also invest in a six-pack of beer for your favorite cabinet-maker/hobbyist, who can rout the floor of your neck pocket in exchange for same.  Make sure he doesn't start drinking until you're happy with the work, though.

 
Okay, i'm glad to hear that!

Would the height difference be compensated at the bridge level or the saddles?


SustainerPlayer said:
The 720 mod is a purely cosmetic mod. You can adjust a recessed Floyd Rose just fine with a standard routed neck pocket.

If you got the skills and guts you can do the 720 mod yourself. Or take it to a luthier.

But it is only cosmetics.
Click to expand...
 
I'll probably re-sell the body and order more traditional Strat-type body with pickguard since I wasn't too happy with my paint-job either.  Pickguard adds the benefit of hiding that gap.

I'm not comfortable with routing this myself and the visible gap bothers me.

Sounds like if I order a front-rout Strat body with pickguard, standard .625" neck pocket and recessed FR cavity I'll be alright. 

This time I won't try to paint it myself lol
 
HvyMetul said:
Would the height difference be compensated at the bridge level or the saddles?
Click to expand...

A little of both? Technically you could shim the bridge to raise it up, but really I think you'd just want to adjust the saddles.

EDIT: Actually I don't think you COULD shim a Floyd. I was thinking of a flatmount bridge.
 
Yea, I already researched that, don't quote me but  D,G are shimmed with two .2 each...and A, B are one .2 each  I believe

SustainerPlayer said:
If you want to match the radius of a compound neck you MUST shim the Floyd.

You can use shims like this: Floyd Rose shims or make them yourself.
Click to expand...
 
No - you have to make a flatter radius. So you shim the e-strings and a and b.

It is explained here: http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=1983.0
 
One thing it took me a long time to discover was that the Floyd comes with a shim in there already. This shim is making the bridge a 10" radius (to match a FR nut). Taking the shim out switches it to a 12" radius.

To do the 18.5" ish radius for a Warmoth compound neck, take the shim out and then add the new shims.
 
Jumble Jumble said:
One thing it took me a long time to discover was that the Floyd comes with a shim in there already. This shim is making the bridge a 10" radius (to match a FR nut). Taking the shim out switches it to a 12" radius.

To do the 18.5" ish radius for a Warmoth compound neck, take the shim out and then add the new shims.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it took me a few weeks to figure that out too when I got mine.  :tard:
I was starting to think I made a mistake in getting a compound radius fretboard, but after removing the shim, and getting the proper shims for the E, E, and A, B, strings, it plays great now.
 
AutoBat said:
Well it looks like I'll have to take that shim out next time I change strings then!
Click to expand...

You'll have to re-intonate the saddles when you do that. 
'Not a big deal, but don't forget.  :toothy11:
 
Street Avenger said:
AutoBat said:
Well it looks like I'll have to take that shim out next time I change strings then!
Click to expand...

You'll have to re-intonate the saddles when you do that. 
'Not a big deal, but don't forget.  :toothy11:
Click to expand...
Indeed. I have "The Key."  I might change string size whilst I'm adjusting everything anyhow.
 
Are you talking about the tremolo block shim like in the diagram?

Jumble Jumble said:
One thing it took me a long time to discover was that the Floyd comes with a shim in there already. This shim is making the bridge a 10" radius (to match a FR nut). Taking the shim out switches it to a 12" radius.

To do the 18.5" ish radius for a Warmoth compound neck, take the shim out and then add the new shims.
Click to expand...
 

Attachments

Yeah, that's the one. Couldn't find anything about it in the instructions that came with the trem, so I just left it in there. Eventually I was reading the Floyd Rose FAQ and it talked about the shim in there. It lifts those four middle saddles (A, D, G, B).

So my calculations were affected by that, as I'd worked out what shims to use based on going from 12 to 18.5, not from 10 to 18.5. I've re-done it now and it does feel "right" now.

The other thing I had to deal with was that the nut was too low. I suspect that Warmoth now err on the side of cutting the nut shelf too deep, as it's far easier to put shims under the nut than it is to re-mill that shelf accurately. And I had very big frets on the neck in question too. I used these - one under the whole nut and another one chopped in half on the treble side.

I do really hate setting up Floyds though. It's only because of the saddles - no height adjustment, and difficult to intonate (I will be buying The Key on my next StewMac order).
 
Sounds like you are still tinkering with the build.

Are you no longer using .4mm on E & e, and .2mm on A & B?



Jumble Jumble said:
Yeah, that's the one. Couldn't find anything about it in the instructions that came with the trem, so I just left it in there. Eventually I was reading the Floyd Rose FAQ and it talked about the shim in there. It lifts those four middle saddles (A, D, G, B).

So my calculations were affected by that, as I'd worked out what shims to use based on going from 12 to 18.5, not from 10 to 18.5. I've re-done it now and it does feel "right" now.

The other thing I had to deal with was that the nut was too low. I suspect that Warmoth now err on the side of cutting the nut shelf too deep, as it's far easier to put shims under the nut than it is to re-mill that shelf accurately. And I had very big frets on the neck in question too. I used these - one under the whole nut and another one chopped in half on the treble side.

I do really hate setting up Floyds though. It's only because of the saddles - no height adjustment, and difficult to intonate (I will be buying The Key on my next StewMac order).
Click to expand...
 
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