Is it safe to sand the base of the neck?

[rstiltskin]

I've attached my Warmoth neck to the new strat body that just arrived and discovered I have to raise the bridge saddles an extreme amount to get the right string height. I double checked to make sure the neck was seated all the way in the pocket. Is it safe to use a block sander to sand the base of the neck down a bit?

 

[BigSteve22]

First check the neck pocket on the body to be sure there's no finish build up that's angling the neck up at the base. Strat neck, on a Strat body, shouldn't need any sanding.

And, BTW, welcome to the forum.

 

[rstiltskin]

The neck pocket is raw wood except for a warning sticker about the contoured heel that I removed. I have another strat body (not a Warmoth) that I used this neck with and there were no problems.

 

[Cagey]

A neck heel needing sanding would be bizarre and likely ruin the neck. I'm with Steve - be sure there's not something else in the pocket causing a tilt. If not, deliberately cause a tilt with a thin shim like one of these...

At least it's reversible.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Have you measured the depth of the neck pocket?

 

[rstiltskin]

The depth of the neck pocket is just a hair over 5/8 inch. I don't see how putting in a shim would lower anything.

 

[Cagey]

Those shims are cut at various angles. You don't raise/lower the neck, you change its mounting angle. If the headstock is angled forward, it has the effect of raising the strings, and vice-versa.

 

[rstiltskin]

So any recommendations about what size shim I should use?

 

[Cagey]

It's difficult to predict. At the risk of sounding like captain obvious, start with the smallest one first, and go from there. Might need some patience going that route, waiting on repeat deliveries, as well as paying extra for the repetition, so you might buy the first two smallest sizes at once, and if the larger of the two isn't enough, perhaps combining them will get you there. Past that, I'd seriously start questioning what in the hell was going on.

 

[TBurst Std]

Also, what bridge are you using?

I recall there are some bridges that can cause this. 

 

[stratamania]

Or use some card or something to shim with and once the thickness is determined then order one of the ones that Cagey mentioned from Stew Mac.

 

[Cagey]

Those don't come in a "thickness", they come in different angles. If theres a way to experiment with thickness to find the angle, that would be good, but it would also be tough to do.

 

[stratamania]

Those don't come in a "thickness", they come in different angles. If theres a way to experiment with thickness to find the angle, that would be good, but it would also be tough to do.

Determine angle then. But they must have a thickness even if not given in the specs.

 

[Cagey]

Well, they certainly have substance. But, they're shaped like a wedge, so you buy them by the "degrees" of angle to the wedge. Makes for a nice, full-contact shim with no air gap between the neck and pocket.

 

[stratamania]

Well, they certainly have substance. But, they're shaped like a wedge, so you buy them by the "degrees" of angle to the wedge. Makes for a nice, full-contact shim with no air gap between the neck and pocket.

Yes, I agree.

 

[Bob Darby]

I have used the stew mac shims in the past for the opposite problem. I think I would go over some of the other suggestions to make sure is not something in the pocket or the bridge height that may be causing the problem. I personally would go the shim route before sanding. I have used the .25 in the past and it did the job. I would order one .25 and one .50. Just aware of how you want the angle to go to raise the strings. It would be reversed compared to the problem I had which was the bridge barrels were bottomed out. Hope this makes sense.

 

[BigSteve22]

Those don't come in a "thickness", they come in different angles. If theres a way to experiment with thickness to find the angle, that would be good, but it would also be tough to do.

Simple trig function to figure the angle when you know the thickness of the shim. tan(x)=Opposite/Adjacent. Therefore: Opposite, (thickness of the shim), divided by Adjacent, (by the length of the neck pocket), equals the tangent of the angle opposite the elevation. Find a thickness that works, divide that value by the length of the neck pocket, look up the result on a trig table.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

That doesn't look like core math to me. You don't even mention the shepherd's sandal size!

 

[BigSteve22]

That doesn't look like core math to me. You don't even mention the shepherd's sandal size!

Not "Chicago Math" either. (Nobody stole the shepherds sandals!)

 

[stratamania]

Mathematics, go figure  :laughing7: