Neck too high in pocket

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sstroud98

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I have a Warmoth strat body with a 16mm deep neck pocket, and a Warmoth strat neck which appears to be standard 1" thick (25mm), the neck height without the fretboard is 21m. The neck fits very nice and snug, but when fully seated there is about 5mm between the bottom of the overhung fretboard and the body, instead of the 3mm advertised, it just seems a bit too high. It has a vintage tremelo 6 hole route and I am waiting on the trem to arrive, but i do think it is going to be a problem with the neck like this. My pickguard is about 2mm.
Is this too much of a gap? What are my options to lower it 2mm? shave the neck or route the pocket? I have read about shims, but still don't think that would solve for the strange look of it sitting so high.

Any suggestions would be welcome!

thanks!
 

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yes that looks too high. Your best bet is to lower the neck pocket with a router. Actually, if you are in the US and you have not drilled that body, your best bet is to contact Warmoth and tell them to exchange the body or fix it.
 
Is this a DIY finish? Check for finish in the corners of the neck pocket. The tiniest amount can keep things from fully seating.
 
FWIW… I have a USA Strat with a 16mm deep pocket. The perfectly fitting Warmoth Strat neck measures 20mm from the bottom of the heel to the bottom of the fretboard. The custom pickguard is 3mm thick.

Definitely not an expert, but I would think that eliminating at least 1mm from the bottom of your neck’s heel would be all you need to do. Unfortunately, I do not know how to accomplish this with precision, based on the tools (and skills!) that I have.
 
mayfly said:
yes that looks too high. Your best bet is to lower the neck pocket with a router. Actually, if you are in the US and you have not drilled that body, your best bet is to contact Warmoth and tell them to exchange the body or fix it.
Click to expand...
Yep, I am contacting Warmoth, unfortunately I already did some work on the body, but maybe I could send it to them to modify. Not sure how my skills with a router would be! thanks for the response!
 
bonesofwrath said:
Is this a DIY finish? Check for finish in the corners of the neck pocket. The tiniest amount can keep things from fully seating.
Click to expand...
good to know. no finish yet on this though. I am going to double check that there is nothing causing an issue, but I think the neck is just too tall. thanks!
 
Are you sure the neck is fully seated? 1-2 mm further might be possible if it's not.

If it is fully seated, can you get accurate measurements of the neck pocket depth and the neck thickness? If either wasn't manufactured to the correct spec, you might be able to get it replaced.

If that's not an option, for example if you've voided the warranty of the part that's off spec by doing your own work on it already, then I'd recommend fixing (or having repaired by someone with the right tools and experience, if you don't have these) whichever part is not at the right spec. If the neck thickness is correct, I wouldn't shave anything off the heel b/c then it'll only fit this body. Instead, routing the body will enable it to pair with this or another neck. Likewise, if the body's neck pocket is correct, I wouldn't route it out further b/c then it'll only fit this neck. Instead, shave the excess off the neck heel.

Good luck!
 
My own view is that Warmoth are not responsible for the precise fit of the neck pocket to the heel of the neck. That is a job of the builder. AFAIK, if the neck and body are on the same order, they normally make an effort to check the fit. However if they are ordered separately it is typical to find the neck is oversize relative to the body so it requires work to create a fit that is precise, but not too tight.

When a finish is applied around the neck pocket it will make the fit tighter. The idea is that you can always sand, file, or chisel some material to create clearance, but it is not as easy to add it back on. I don't recommend using a power tool such as a router on the neck pocket because the wood is normally quite soft and it should only require a small adjustment to get a precise fit.
 
From the photo (close up below), it does not look like the neck is fully seated. As others have said, check for finish etc in the pocket that is stopping it from fully seating, and use a sharp blade or sandpaper as appropriate to remove it.

1689569683985.png
 
yo i had this first thought too when i got my only modern-vintage neck after having a modern and a bar-conversion. the vintage modern has a thinner fretboard so yeah there will be more space under the fretboard. the tippy tops of the frets will be the same regardless of construction, tho. the difference is made up in the shaft wood since all necks are gonna be the same thickness at the mounting heel. the big Dub should make that clear online tho, fr fr

thicker fretboard = less shaft
thinner fretboard = more shaft to make up the difference

this is all assuming yo body's neck pocket is the standard depth, natch. now u will excuse me, my boss just walked by and said "have a good day, rob" so I'm gonna go home lmao
 
I think Rob is on to something here. The V/M necks have truss rod access at the headstock. Take a look at the photos of the neck construction: https://warmoth.com/guitar-neck-constructions

The V/M truss rod nut is just under the fretboard. I'm guessing Warmoth makes the V/M fretboard a little thinner, and the neck blank a little thicker, to get better truss rod access. The "3mm overhang" that OP mentions might only apply to Modern necks, not V/M.

The two Warmoth necks I have on hand are both Modern construction, so I can't provide any direct insight.

OP, is your neck Vintage Modern? You confirmed it's 1" thick, so really, there isn't a problem with your neck. You could route the neck pocket to be slightly deeper, however, if you do so, you will be changing the geometry of the guitar slightly. You'd have to be able to set the saddles lower in order to get good action, or else you'd have to shim the neck pocket to keep the same string height at the bridge.

JohnnyHardtail said:
My own view is that Warmoth are not responsible for the precise fit of the neck pocket to the heel of the neck
Click to expand...
Agreed, precise fit on a newly built guitar is something that's addressed during assembly/setup. But Warmoth and Fender both have standardized specs for their parts so I think it's entirely reasonable for OP just to verify the overall dimensions.
 
Grab a feeler guage. If you can get more than the tip (1/64”) of a .003 guage in there, it’s not fully seated.
 
Sorry guys I was unable to respond sooner. It looks like both the Vintage/Modern neck I have has the thinner fretboard, and thus a larger neck body, and it was actually not entirely seated. However even when properly seated it still rides high in the pocket. i placed the bridge and got an approximation of where the strings would be and think there may be some adjustment in the trem that will make it work...at least that is what I will try before routing out the pocket.

thanks for all of your help and recommendations I'll let you know how it turns out!
 
Do you have any pics of the inside of the neck pocket sans neck, and the part of the heel that meets the body?
 
That is weird. If it’s seated properly then Either the neck or body is off. Most likel, as pointed out it needs to be seated better. The issue with altering the neck pocket on the body, is it might eliminate the option of switching necks in the future. It depends on how high/low you bridge saddles are now. Measure both body pocket and neck (with a caliper if possible) . See which one is off, if that is the case
 
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