Neck/Nut/Bridge Probelm (Not sure which it is)

[jackpax]

Hey Unofficial Warmoth.  Long time lurker/reader here.  I've enjoyed seeing everyone's projects and travails for a long time and maybe learned a little something along the way.  But now I'm hoping that the collective experience will be able to help out with a complicated problem (Well, complicated to me  :icon_scratch that I have yet to see on this forum.

I have an old Strat (72 or 73) that recently needed a new neck.  Last year I bought a Warmoth replacement neck and have been mostly very happy with it.  The original Fender neck had a nut width of approximately 1 5/8 inches (41 mm).  For the replacement I went just a tiny bit wider, not thinking that it would be very different.  The new one is 1 11/16 (43 mm) at the nut.  But I think that the extra 2 millimeters is very different.  Here's why:  The low E string is not parallel to the edge of the fretboard.  It gets closer to the edge higher up on the fretboard. At around the 12th fret it's close enough to the edge that it's getting to be unplayable.  Now, this is a very small percentage of the fretboard that's unavailable to me but it's really bugging me.  And I'm about to replace the neck once again (For unrelated reasons. The current neck is a standard thin and it's just wrong for my hand.  Recently tried out the Fender SRV signature model with a thicker than the average Fender profile and it felt like coming home).  Now that I've decided on a new neck, I don't want to replicate the current problem.  But I don't really know what's causing it.  Will the nut that's narrower by 2 mm change the angle of the string down the length of the neck noticeably?  Do I need a custom cut nut?  I'm bewildered here.  Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.  I've included four pics below.  One of the nut, one at the 12th fret, one at the end of the fretboard, and one at the bridge.

EDIT:  I made the pics a little smaller.

 

[DavyDave53]

Now we know who killed the site's speed.    :toothy10:

I believe the issue that you are having is because the neck is not on straight as you have plenty of fret on the 'treble' side and very little on the 'bass' side.

 

[jackpax]

Now we know who killed the site's speed.    :toothy10:

I believe the issue that you are having is because the neck is not on straight as you have plenty of fret on the 'treble' side and very little on the 'bass' side.

If that's true, then straightening the neck will put the high E closer to edge.  Right now the high E is in perfect alignment.  I don't want to change that.  I want both E strings in perfect alignment.  :dontknow:

 

[Cagey]

It's difficult to say from those pictures whether it's the neck or bridge, but it's not the nut. Smart money would be on neck misalignment - it happens a lot. You can't use the pickups as indicators, as they vary in pole spacing and in that configuration are dependant on pickguard placement, which incidentally also looks misaligned and is another common malady.

If you loosen the neck attachment screws a turn or so, hold the body and wrack the neck down, the strings should line up on the neck. Tighten the screws, and that's fixed. Moving the pickguard is a little tougher, as you need to fill the existing mounting holes and drill new ones. From the looks of it, the pickup poles still won't line up under the strings perfectly, but:

A: They often don't, and
B. They don't need to.

Edit: I meant "attachment", not "pickup"

 

[Pelagaard]

That definitely looks like a case to the neck not being perfectly seated/aligned.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

It is not that uncommon of a problem, a lot of people loosen the neck screws while the thing is under tension to line up that part of the neck as part of the set up.  Some times it fits first thing, others not.  Also, when you straighten it up relative to the strings, the high E will have a little less room there, but in the times I done this, I have never noticed after it was properly put in place.  Finally if it requires smaller string saddles, they are out there.  You can muscle them into place how you like it with smaller saddles.  I have not had to get to that point.  Once it is nicely centered, things just work, and everything is cool.

Which profile are you looking to get for the next one?
Patrick

 

[jackpax]

It is not that uncommon of a problem, a lot of people loosen the neck screws while the thing is under tension to line up that part of the neck as part of the set up.  Some times it fits first thing, others not.  Also, when you straighten it up relative to the strings, the high E will have a little less room there, but in the times I done this, I have never noticed after it was properly put in place.  Finally if it requires smaller string saddles, they are out there.  You can muscle them into place how you like it with smaller saddles.  I have not had to get to that point.  Once it is nicely centered, things just work, and everything is cool.

Which profile are you looking to get for the next one?
Patrick

I want to get something like the Fender SRV signature model.  It's not boat neck thick, but it definitely falls more into G territory than any Strat I've picked up.  Feels good to me.