Lespaul_matt said:
It has a deeper cut on the neck pocket so the neck sits deeper and I guess flatter. But, I wouldn’t think you can’t use a regular hardtail bridge with it. Now it looks like it has to be shimmed up which I don’t want to do.
I have also used a razor blade to slighly ramp a neck pocket by scraping it to spec.....but dont F*** up....lol :laughing7:
Hey I just wanted to chime in here and say for the record on my last Tele Deluxe build I opted for the 720 Mod and I had intentionally pre-ordered the .175 thicker Hipshot hardtail bridge and I had no problems dialing it in, so I question the Neck Pocket or Neck itself: for instance you said a luthier set this up for you, no offense but did he make any changes to either the Neck or Pocket; I only mention this as once you alter one the other is off and it all goes to whack after that... setting the bridge of course is where that all becomes apparent.
regardless please post your findings as I am interested for future reference, but it seems that not only a shim but a ramped up shim maybe in order, (thicker on one side than the other) as it would be easiest to raise the neck angle to compensate for that offset by raising the Neck heel in the pocket area closest to the body, as that will create a slight downward drop of the headstock end of the neck and this will bring your strings to line up consistently down the neck.
I would say there may have been an error along the way in altering the pocket or Neck Heel itself with all things considered, whether or not it happened prior to shipment or after I cant say but again I always use the .175 Hipshot bridge with the thicker baseplate and even with the 720 Mod I was able to dial it in no problems at all.....
I always thought the 720 Mod was a great way to bring the action down closer to the body of the guitar which means less of a trapeze act for the pinky/hand placement when picking, or to look nicer in eliminating the lip over hang of the extended fret board, but; I also found I like the traditional neck pocket better; probably because I started playing on Fenders and got used to the extra height of the setup when using the traditional pocket depth route.
If I had to shim I would use the shims Cagey is recommending from Stew Mac, or make your own wooden ones for the purpose, ramped up in the pocket toward the body to raise the heel of the neck slightly. Good Luck! :icon_thumright: