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Post subject: American Std. Strat neck pocket question
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 1:29 pm
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Hello, everyone. Thought I'd say hello as a noob to this forum and start off with a question!

I just inherited my first Strat: a '90 American Standard. It's in very clean, stock condition.

Please see this Flickr gallery for relevant images to the questions below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digited/se ... 073648882/

The neck does not seem to fit tightly. I took it apart and could see no damage; it appears to by the result of overzealous sanding at the factory. Thoughts on a side shim? My initial plan is to get a super thin veneer of basswood (1/32) as the gap is roughly 1/64. Elmer's grade school glue and light sanding to make the pocket tight. Thoughts?

Image

The mitigating issue is that of the bass to treble axis alignment of the neck in relation to the bridge. The bass side only has 1/8 of clearance while the treble has almost 1/4" Normal? I'd hate to plug and redrill the neck holes needlessly. Perhaps an adjustment to nut would suffice?

Image

As a side note, why would there be so many random holes drilled in the heel of the neck?

Image

Thanks a ton for all of your expertise!

Ted

Music is a better conduit to God for me than any priest, pastor, or church.

now:
'09 Les Paul Studio (all mahogany, faded black)
'91 American Standard Strat, Olympic w/ maple
'73 Rick 4001, Fireglo
'59 Gibson ES-125
'09 Acoustic B20
'05 Powerbook w/ Logic, Guitar Rig 3
before:
'64 Mustang, Olympic
'65 Mustang, Dakota
'73 Mustang, Competition Blue
'65 Thunderbird bass, WHITE!
'78 Gibson RD, black
'78 The Paul, FACTORY LIME GREEN PEARL!
'89 Charvel Model 4, dark teal
'75(?) Flying V, black
'78(?) Peavey T-20, black
'70s Electra Less Than Paul
Ampeg SVT 450H
Ampeg 8x10 coffin
Sunn 2x18 (!!)
Randall 200W 2x15 combo (late 70's?)
Marshall 50W 2x12 combo (80's)
Marshall JCM800 50W head
Marshall 1960 slant x1, flat x1
Fender Deluxe 85, red knob
Peavey Mark III bass head
Acoustic 6x10
'65 Kustom 50W head, w/ 2x12 RED tuck-n-roll!
'70s Big Muff
'70s SuperFuzz
'70s Small Stone
early '80s DOD Flanger
early '80s Boss OD-1
Morley Fuzz Wah[/img]


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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 2:22 pm
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This picture

Image

Shows that your neck is perfectly positioned. Dont move it. If it's out at the nut end, I'd think twice about changing it. Your bass strings need to be further apart than your treble strings, because their thicker. Spacing them evenly doesnt feel right ever.

Onto shimming the neck pocket wall. Yeah do it. Personaly I'd leave the neck on whilst I shaped the shim, the glue adds a bit of depth to the shim. You may be better off to use maple rather than basswood. It's denser/harder and easier to shape to such minute sizes.

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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 4:43 pm
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Thx, Nikininja

I'm thinking a thin sheet of stainless (i.e. a cannibalized feeler gauge tang) held in without adhesives would do it. I'll burnish the edges to prevent gouging.

Since this strat is so clean and stock, I don;t want to mod anything that's not reversible.

As for the spacing, I think the nut's the culprit, though since it's not out by much and otherwise is in good condition regarding string depth, I'll leave it be for the time being. (holy run-on sentence, batman!)

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Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 4:00 am
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i do have those early american standard, and the neck pocket pretty much like it...i wonder do all early am std neck pocket like that?

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Post subject: Re: American Std. Strat neck pocket question
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 12:37 pm
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http://www.strat-talk.com/threads/fende ... es.412896/

May be it's late, but my "new" guitar is exactly like yours.


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Post subject: Re: American Std. Strat neck pocket question
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 3:44 pm
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digiTED wrote:
As a side note, why would there be so many random holes drilled in the heel of the neck?

Attaching a piece of timber to make handling the guitar body easier when spray painting?
Image

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Post subject: Re: American Std. Strat neck pocket question
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 1:33 am
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digiTED wrote:


The neck does not seem to fit tightly. I took it apart and could see no damage; it appears to by the result of overzealous sanding at the factory. Thoughts on a side shim? My initial plan is to get a super thin veneer of basswood (1/32) as the gap is roughly 1/64. Elmer's grade school glue and light sanding to make the pocket tight. Thoughts?

]



Side space are normal, don't touch to this nice guitar,and dont put glue please :(
Holes in pocket are normal, keep it original.
Play with it and see a qualified luthier for a professional set up if needed.

Don't make mistake, know Fender guitar before you do some work. Your guitar are so nice keep it original and it don't need only to play it.


Last edited by stratele52 on Wed Oct 12, 2016 1:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re:
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 1:35 am
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nikininja wrote:

Onto shimming the neck pocket wall. Yeah do it. Personaly I'd leave the neck on whilst I shaped the shim, the glue adds a bit of depth to the shim. You may be better off to use maple rather than basswood. It's denser/harder and easier to shape to such minute sizes.


I desagree with you. No side shim are needed.


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Post subject: Re: American Std. Strat neck pocket question
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:08 am
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stratele52 wrote:
digiTED wrote:


The neck does not seem to fit tightly. I took it apart and could see no damage; it appears to by the result of overzealous sanding at the factory. Thoughts on a side shim? My initial plan is to get a super thin veneer of basswood (1/32) as the gap is roughly 1/64. Elmer's grade school glue and light sanding to make the pocket tight. Thoughts?

]



Side space are normal, don't touch to this nice guitar,and dont put glue please :(
Holes in pocket are normal, keep it original.
Play with it and see a qualified luthier for a professional set up if needed.

Don't make mistake, know Fender guitar before you do some work. Your guitar are so nice keep it original and it don't need only to play it.


Totally agree, Stratele52.

I wouldn't worry about it, Ted - or fiddle with it! Of my 5 Strats, the only ones with tight neck pockets are the CS and (would you believe?) the Special.

I actually prefer the necks exactly as per your photo! IE: With more wood/frets under the top E than the low E. So this inaccuracy of build on my 2 x '06's and '93 is actually doing me a favour, as I can have difficulty with the top E falling off the board.

Neither do I hear any difference sound-wise - the SC pickups never align exactly anyway, so it's always a compromise.

But rather like (pickup) pole-pushing, no doubt a load of insults will now follow about carrying out non-recommended adjustments etc! But I do what I find works for me (it may not suit anyone else) and this side-to-side 'adjustment' CAN be a useful feature!

Cheers - Peter.


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