W fretboard is sitting on the pickguard of USA strat... common problem? halp.

[AprioriMark]

It's an aftermarket pearloid w/b/w pickguard and a maple/ebony standard thin neck on a USA Fender body.  It's just *barely* too tight, so the action is *slightly* affected.

Do I:
a) Shim the neck somehow
b) File away the pickguard under the overhang (no idea the best way to do this)
c) File away the bottom of the fretboard overhang

Advice from you wonderful guitar ner... people(!) would be greatly appreciated.

-Mark

 

[Mor Paul]

Pics?

 

[AprioriMark]

I can't.  It's pink.  It's visually just sitign on the pickguard and not obviously bending it.

-Mark

 

[dbw]

First of all it's totally acceptable to call us nerds  :sad:

See if you can slide a piece of paper between the fretboard and pickguard.  If not... hmm... do you have calipers?  How thick is the pickguard?

 

[nathan a]

Personally I would sand the pickguard because it is the cheapest part implicated! Probably just take some rough sandpaper and go at it till the PG under the overhang is plenty thinner, then go to a fine grit and smooth everything out and call it a day!

This fix is perhaps the least professional and the most messy, but also the easiest, simplest, and safest. So there's my vote.

 

[line6man]

I am guessing that the body was originally mean for a 21 fret neck, so they did the 720 mod thing with it.
I paired a Warmoth Jazz bass neck to a Squier body that was originally not supposed to have a pickguard.  When i put a 21 fret (the original neck was a 20 fret) neck on the body with a pickguard, the extension on the fingerboard clamped down on the pickguard.

I tried to sand away the area of the pickguard underneath the extension, but i sort of had a little accident with the dremel drill and the pickguard melting and everything, so it left me with an embarrassingly misshaped pickguard.
(visible in this picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrkdesimone/3513259567/in/set-72157616932207171/)

If i were to to this again, i would take an exacto knife and score around the fingerboard on the pickguard to give me a clean guide when i am sanding. I would then saw off some of the pickguard so there is less to sand, and then very slowly and carefully sand out the contour of the pocket to match the knife marks. You have to be careful sanding because the plastic melts really easily.

 

[Alfang]

How much of a gap do you have when you bolt the neck on without the pickguard?

This is the most important piece of info to determine what to do. If the gap is real close to allowing the pickguard to slide into it, I would Shim the neck, or look for a thinner pickguard.  If the gap is small and the fretboard is almost on the body I would cut the pickguard.

A 3rd option would be to use a router with a flush bit, and remove the fretboard extension.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I am guessing that the body was originally mean for a 21 fret neck, so they did the 720 mod thing with it.

It's a Fender body.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Also, you could get a thinner pickguard.  Some of the Warmoths are .060 instead of .090.

 

[line6man]

I am guessing that the body was originally mean for a 21 fret neck, so they did the 720 mod thing with it.

It's a Fender body.

I know. I am not sure what else to call it other than "720 mod thing".

 

[Funky Phil]

I replaced the neck on a USA Fender Standard Strat a few weeks ago and had the same problem.
Looks like Fender sometimes uses other dimensions than the usually quoted ones...?

 

[AprioriMark]

Man, I've been too much of a wuss to try shaving the pickguard down yet, but I'll do what line6man suggested and score it first.

-Mark

 

[Sinistar]

I had this same problem with a non-Fender, non-Warmoth guitar, and I sanded the underside of the fretboard extension so that I could just slide the pickguard under it with the neck on the guitar and tightened down.

I wrote up a long explanation of what I did, but the forum logged me out automatically while I was writing it, and I lost it.

Something I noticed was that when putting the guitar together, the pickguard has to be on the guitar, then the neck has to be dropped in.  Attaching the neck and then trying to slide the pickguard under the fretboard extension to install it will cause the little horns on the pickguard that hug the neck to dig into the finish.  This is because, seen from above, the neck is wider at the body end than at the headstock end, so the tips of the horns are slightly too small to slide around the neck.

I used the tremolo block as a sanding block with some medium to fine sandpaper (80 or 120 grit, I forget which) and I was very very careful and test fit the thing several times.  I used the "butt" end of the pickguard (with the neck installed) to draw a line on the neck to show how much material to remove, since there is a nice, non-beveled edge there.  And I used the same end for the tests to make sure I had taken off just enough material but not too much.

Pretty soon I hope to have a web page up with the whole story of putting the guitar together, with lots of pictures.

 

[stubhead]

I tend to agree with the notion of modifying the cheapest thing first, but in this case I think I personally would do what Sinistar did. If you're only looking to remove a few ten-thousands of an inch, there's enough wood to bear the loss, and it's an EASY job - tape off the butt of the neck, get some little blocks, some 220 - 320 - 400 grit sandpaper,

BE CAREFUL - GO SLOW - CHECK YOUR FIT etc.

If I were going to lower the pickguard, I would score the marking, tape off the part I didn't want lowered and probably shave it with some resharpened X-Actro knives, rather than try to sand to an exact edge (though the tip of a small metal file would work too). If you might be putting this neck on another guitar sometime, it seems like you're consigning yourself to a lifetime of pickguard-shaving.

It largely depends on your skill level, both wood and pickguard material have the little quirks. I see no excuse to break out the power tools here, though Warmoth would love to keep selling you more stuff....