Help, please! String spacing -- pictures -- what does this mean?

[reluctant-builder]

I don't know how to preface this except to ask that you please look at these photos and tell me if this is a real problem and, if so, what is causing it and how -- if -- it can be fixed. Thanks.

There's a lot more room between the low E and the side of the fingerboard than between the high E and its side of the neck. The clay dots are not centered between the G and D strings.

Top clay dot is not between the A and D strings.

Looks semi-decent at the nut:

String spacing is off over pole pieces of the neck pickup:

Spacing looks fine over the bridge pup:

 

[AutoBat]

The nut looks okay.
Prime suspects would either be the neck pocket or the Mastery bridge saddles.

I'm not sure what the adjustment possibilities are for the bridge, but I do know that Jalane has used it successfully on a Lefty build.

 

[mayfly]

What he said.  Either the neck pocket or the bridge.

Try this:  with the strings on, but loosened, loosen the neck screws.  Then use some english to move the neck to see if you can get the strings to align.  If you can, line it up and tighten down the screws.  Tune to pitch and play.

 

[reluctant-builder]

Oh ... crap.

I highly doubt it's the bridge.

I'll give the "English" thing a try ... but ... #$@%.

#$%^

I don't know what else to say. Why the hell do I get the body with the #$@%ed up neck pocket?

 

[Mor Paul]

It could just have a bit of play in it. It's leaning towards the side without a wall on it, so just pull it towards the opposite side.

 

[reluctant-builder]

What he said.  Either the neck pocket or the bridge.

Try this:  with the strings on, but loosened, loosen the neck screws.  Then use some english to move the neck to see if you can get the strings to align.  If you can, line it up and tighten down the screws.  Tune to pitch and play.

It could just have a bit of play in it. It's leaning towards the side without a wall on it, so just pull it towards the opposite side.

Trevor, Max ... thank you both. I had to set her on her side, so I could apply the pressure that would push the neck against the pocket wall and still tighten the screws, because it kept wanting to play to the open side, but I did get it much better aligned.

 

[reluctant-builder]

Thanks again, M and T for the solution. And you, too, AutoBat, for citing potential causes.

She's looking much better:

 

[Strat Avenger]

'Looks like you got it properly adjusted now. I must say though, that I'm surprised that the neck has that much "play".

 

[Cagey]

It's a long lever. It only takes a fraction of a degree of rotation to put it off. It's like a long lens on a camera or the sights on a rifle. Just a hair off at the pivot puts it several feet off at the target. The pocket isn't necessarily sloppy, it's just that very little motion there makes a huge difference in how things line up. If you think your neck/pocket is perfect, do the same thing. Loosen the mounting screws and pull the neck to one side or the other. Guaranteed you can put those strings off by at least 1/8".

 

[Strat Avenger]

It's a long lever. It only takes a fraction of a degree of rotation to put it off. It's like a long lens on a camera or the sights on a rifle. Just a hair off at the pivot puts it several feet off at the target. The pocket isn't necessarily sloppy, it's just that very little motion there makes a huge difference in how things line up. If you think your neck/pocket is perfect, do the same thing. Loosen the mounting screws and pull the neck to one side or the other. Guaranteed you can put those strings off by at least 1/8".

Quite true, but I am not so much referring to the tightness of the neck pocket as I am to the size of the screw holes. I am just surprised that there is that much movement.

 

[Cagey]

The screw hole in the body has to be larger than the screw in order for there to be clearance for the threads on the screws that hold the neck on. Otherwise, they'd bite into the body and the neck may not be pulled tight into the pocket.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Seeing the strings in relation to the dot, it reminds me of the post with the quote from a noted luthier.  When he cut and filed nuts, he did so by not going center to center but keeping the space between strings the same.  It meant that the center to center measurement on the bass strings was further apart giving it an uneven appearance compared with something that was centered, like a dot marker.

 

[reluctant-builder]

I can see how it could be the case that the strings are correct, but the dots are off ... but with the glut of real estate between the low E and the edge of the neck versus the high E and its neck edge, something was definitely amiss.

 

[Cagey]

Seeing the strings in relation to the dot, it reminds me of the post with the quote from a noted luthier.  When he cut and filed nuts, he did so by not going center to center but keeping the space between strings the same.  It meant that the center to center measurement on the bass strings was further apart giving it an uneven appearance compared with something that was centered, like a dot marker.

Right. In fact, if you get a "string-spacing rule" like this...

String-spacing rule from Stewart-MacDonald​

That's exactly what it does. It's not obvious from the picture, but each marking is a few thousandths farther away from the previous one as it progresses. That way, you end up with evenly-spaced strings even though they have slightly different diameters.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I doubt the dots are off and it sounds like it just needed a little persuasion.  I had my latest neck for a month before I noticed the side dots wax and wane.  The high and low fret side dot markers, they are centered on the binding.  The closer they get to the middle, they move away from the fretboard towards the neck.  It's like they have relief in them.

 

[reluctant-builder]

I noticed right away that the side dots in my neck are much closer to the maple, instead of centered in the rosewood. C'est la vie. I'm pretty happy with everything, besides.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Yeah, but are they even?  Mine aren't.

 

[reluctant-builder]

Yeah. They're even, horizontally, just not vertically centered.