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neck relief on 10-16" warmoth neck

roglf1

Newbie
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I have always set the relief on a strat by putting a capo on the first fret & either depressing the string on the fret where the neck joins the body or on the last fret, depending on the guitar, & use a gauge to measure from the string to the fret at the 8th fret, which is how fender tells you to do it. I know it depends on the radius of the neck & Fender gives examples of the gap settings

Neck Radius Relief
7.25" -          .012" (0.3 mm)
9.5" to 12" -  .010" (0.25 mm)
15" to 17" -  .008" (0.2 mm)

Just curious if there is a recommended starting point for a 10-16" radius neck? I have ended up using a gap of about .007" with the string depressed at the last fret. Ended up with this just by experimenting.

 
I've never seen anything published, but ~.008" is usually where I end up. That's after some fairly ambitious fret levelling/crowning/dressing/polishing. I get the frets to where I can't get a .001" feeler under a machinist's straightedge anywhere on the neck when the truss is adjusted for it to be flat.
 
Actually mine is probably closer to .008", all I have is a .007 to go by & it is a little smaller than the gap. I am just using some feeler gauges used for spark plug gaps & I have lost the .008" Well your info helps confirm I'm in the right area. the way How I got to this is, I set the string height to where the guitar plays well in the higher register key of E then I straighten the neck a little at a time until the E on top plays the same as the higher E Key. The higher register is not going to change much as you do this & has always worked out well. this low tech way of doing this works for any guitar, I have come to find.
 
dumb question but can someone recommend the right tool / gauge to make this kind of measurement.  0.008" is not the type of distance one can easily eyeball.  I'm guessing you're using some kind of electronic gauge?  Thanks.
 
Machinists' or automotive feeler gauges:


http://www.sears.com/search=feeler+gauges?sLevel=0&viewItems=25&storeId=10153&levels=Tools&sid=ISx20140327xNonBrand&psid=21x2866977&knshCrid=2950726&k_clickID=09ebea7f-8373-a928-e22b-000077706578

 
"until the E on top plays the same as the higher E Key. "


Do you mean the E on the bottom meaning lowest in pitch plays the same as the higher E string ?

 
I splurged a couple weeks ago and bought the stewmac Nut Slotting Gauge.  I can't praise it enough, I don't think I could ever go back to feeler gauges
 
Are you talking about this unit?

Nut_Slotting_Gauge.jpg

If so, I couldn't agree more. Kind of a pricey little rascal, but the results are phenomenal.
 
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