Is this neck seated properly [photos included]? Plus hardtail soloist question.

solmaz

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After 5 months, I finally completed putting together(hopefully) my soloist from a Warmoth neck and body. The guitar is absolute perfection, never played anything like it. The fretwork is absolute perfection  :guitarplayer2:.
Only thing is that I am not completely sure if I have seated the neck correctly. With my other guitar, the neck pocket is totally loose so it drops in and I can wiggle it around, but with the warmoth neck and body I  put the neck on top and pushed in while keeping it level, it has zero movements after that, absolutely perfect fit which is fantastic.

The gap between the bottom of the fingerboard and top of the body at 22nd fret is 5mm (see photos), which is 2mm more than what is shown in the "will it fit page" here: https://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/faq2.aspx
Now the top edge of the fretboard is 9mm from the body on the side, which matches the picture in the link above. So I am thinking the neck is seated correctly just the overhang is thinner, right?

I have set the tremolo with a tiny gap above the body and floating with a slight angle. This required a neck tilt on my strat, but with this guitar, it works perfectly fine even the saddles seem to be on the high side (see photos).

So the first question does this seem all good? or should I look into my neck seating?
I reseated the neck after putting the guitar together, pressed the neck in putting one palm where the neck plate is and another on the neck where the middle of the heel is. Ruined a good set of new strings but feels to be seated perfectly well. Photos of the neck/body contact below.

This guitar looks and plays amazing, so much so that I want to put together a hardtail one with similar specs, but finished transparent red by Warmoth. So my second question is, does the same body type (soloist), work well with the fender standard flat-mount bridge without having to raise the saddles to maximum? The reason I am asking this is that looking at my current setup, seems like if the bridge is set flat on the body the saddles might have to be maxed out or close to it to get them high enough. Do you suggest another bridge, I also like the recessed tune-o-matic.

Cheers


 

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It does seem a little more than it should be.

What is the measurement of the neck overall, it should be 25mm (1 inch) deep overall and 19mm (3/4") from the bottom of the neck to the bottom of the fretboard overhang.

If the neck measurements are correct, is the neck pocket 16mm deep (5/8")?

These measurements can be checked at the link you posted. Measure them all as that may reveal where there may be a difference from spec.

Is it also possible that there is finish build up on the neck or in the bottom of the neck pocket of the body?  Is so take a sharp blade and remove it.
 
stratamania said:
It does seem a little more than it should be.

What is the measurement of the neck overall, it should be 25mm (1 inch) deep overall and 19mm (3/4") from the bottom of the neck to the bottom of the fretboard overhang.

If the neck measurements are correct, is the neck pocket 16mm deep (5/8")?

These measurements can be checked at the link you posted. Measure them all as that may reveal where there may be a difference from spec.

Is it also possible that there is finish build up on the neck or in the bottom of the neck pocket of the body?  Is so take a sharp blade and remove it.

Measured on the side of the heel, it is exactly 24.5mm from the bottom of the heel to the top edge of the fretboard on the side. However, from the bottom of the neck to the bottom edge of the fretboard overhang is 20.5mm.
The fretboard overhang is about only 4mm but I measured on the side, from the picture I can't tell if the middle curvature is included in the measurement or not. Mine is a vintage-modern one-piece neck so it might just be that the overhang is not as thick.

The neck pocket depth is 15.7mm and the neck has no finish on the heel, very smooth and flat. I also checked the neck pocket when I reseated the neck, it was clean with no finish or any debris on it. The bridge is exactly 1mm from the body if set parallel to the body and from the bottom of the saddles to the surface of the bridge plate is 3mm. String action is 1.5mm on 12th fret and there is a hair of neck relief. Does the saddle height look ok?

Thank you

 
That would seem adding together the measurements  from bottom of the neck to the fretboard overhang is 20.5mm and also the neck pocket depth being 15.7mm versus 16mm that would give a total of 20.8mm versus 19mm which would give 1.8mm potentially that the neck is sitting too high from the body.

Why not try lowering the saddles and raising the bridge.
 
this question sure comes up a lot. yeah that gap is normal. on any body that uses a pickguard, that's where it would slide under. but u gots a soloist, so there's no pikgourd to fill that void.
 
BroccoliRob said:
this question sure comes up a lot. yeah that gap is normal. on any body that uses a pickguard, that's where it would slide under. but u gots a soloist, so there's no pikgourd to fill that void.

Hi, thanks for the help. Yes, what I am asking about is the amount of the gap, but more specifically the amount of the gap, which is 5mm as opposed to 3mm shown in the image on https://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/faq2.aspx
Looking at that I was thinking maybe the neck isn't seated in the pocket properly, but it does look like it has. Looking further into this I am seeing that the overhang shown in the image lines up with below the side dots, but on my neck, it lines up with below the side dots. So might be the overhang. Could you please measure from the top of your guitar where neck is seated to the top edge of the fretboard on the side of the neck and let me know? If that is the same then the neck is seated correctly it would just be the overhang that is thinner.
If the neck seating is correct then the build is done.

The other thing I am thinking is that would the American standard flatmount bridge have good saddle height adjustment height on a rear routed soloist, or would you say I should go with a recessed tune-o-matic?

stratamania said:
That would seem adding together the measurements  from bottom of the neck to the fretboard overhang is 20.5mm and also the neck pocket depth being 15.7mm versus 16mm that would give a total of 20.8mm versus 19mm which would give 1.8mm potentially that the neck is sitting too high from the body.

Why not try lowering the saddles and raising the bridge.

That's one great thing with this type of bridge, I can raise the bridge and have more adjustment room with the saddles. However, what I am thinking is how this body type works with the hardtail version of this bridge. If you set your bridge flat on the body, do you have to raise saddles much?
Measuring the side of the neck at the heel where it sits in the pocket, overall the edge of the fretboard is about 9mm from the body, so it seems the neck is not sitting higher just the overhang is not as thick as the picture. This means the seating is probably correct (attached photo), is this correct, or should the edge be lower?
 

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if its a vintage modern the gap will be bigger cuz they have thinner fretting boards than modern. i think the image on their page is of a modern. they shuld probs have 2 photos.

if u do end up doing the hard tail dont be like me and forget the string ferrules. theyre the nostrils of the guitar, after all
 
For your hard tail you could also investigate the 720 mod which lowers the neck pocket and see whether that may be worth considering.

My suggestion is to research parts and how they fit with the different Warmoth options and pick the parts that work together prior to ordering. Warmoth sales are helpful if you need advice on parts.
 
BroccoliRob said:
if its a vintage modern the gap will be bigger cuz they have thinner fretting boards than modern. i think the image on their page is of a modern. they shuld probs have 2 photos.
That is the correct answer.  My strat with vintage/modern neck has around 4.7mm gap, which is very close to what you have.  With a Modern construction neck its probably going to be 3mm as shown in the website.  I have a Modern construction Warmoth neck on another guitar that is almost touching the pickguard.  That one is on a Fender hardtail body.

I don't remember exactly, but I probably would have taken 0.1~0.2mm off the neck pocket depth (near the back) to fine tune the neck angle for a hardtail bridge which sits lower to the body.  I do that because its my preference after initial assembly and setup check, although it may not be essential. 
 
JohnnyHardtail said:
BroccoliRob said:
if its a vintage modern the gap will be bigger cuz they have thinner fretting boards than modern. i think the image on their page is of a modern. they shuld probs have 2 photos.
That is the correct answer.  My strat with vintage/modern neck has around 4.7mm gap, which is very close to what you have.  With a Modern construction neck its probably going to be 3mm as shown in the website.  I have a Modern construction Warmoth neck on another guitar that is almost touching the pickguard.  That one is on a Fender hardtail body.

I don't remember exactly, but I probably would have taken 0.1~0.2mm off the neck pocket depth (near the back) to fine tune the neck angle for a hardtail bridge which sits lower to the body.  I do that because its my preference after initial assembly and setup check, although it may not be essential.
Modern Fender neck pockets are cut to 1-11/16" deep. The vintage bodies are 1-5/8" like the Warmoth bodies.
 
Thank you very much for your help.

I took it to a luthier for final setup and just to be sure. He just tightened the claw screws very slightly, tuned it, played it a bit and put it back in the bag. Didn't even charge me.
He said it is perfect. I'm surprised how easy it was to put this together, or I might have gotten lucky. The only things that were nontrivial were bending the jack plate to form and finishing which took some patience. I might join the guitar of the month contest with this one. I have played custom shop guitars, none of them had such a fantastic neck.

Now I will be looking out for a lightweight soloist body with recessed tunomatic to show up on Warmoth website, preferably one piece depending on my patience :blob7:
I am thinking they have designed the recess with their neck height in mind so it would be perfect, plus a couple of high output pickups for a chunky metal tone. :headbanging:
 
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