Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

S

Stratosphere

New member
O.K. So I just bought this guitar (new) a couple of days ago and now I'm driving myself crazy noticing all the little defects I overlooked before...

At first I thought that maybe the bridge was crooked, because I noticed a slight variation in the space between the bridge and pickguard. After measuring the distance from the bridge to the last fret at the high an low E strings, that seems fine, and it appears that the pickguard was mounted ever so slightly askew. But, here's what's really bugging me--

Here is a pic of the string spacing at the heel end of the neck:

2gv1lk8.jpg


And at the nut:

2py10t5.jpg


See how the high E string moves slightly toward the edge of the fretboard by the time it reaches the heel, and is always closer to the edge than the low E string? Is that normal, or is something misaligned?
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

is there a gap in the neck pocket on the Low E string side? i can't tell in that photo? If so it's just a matter of lossening the neck screws slightly and shifting the neck over and tightening the screws back up
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

WhoFan said:
is there a gap in the neck pocket on the Low E string side? i can't tell in that photo? If so it's just a matter of lossening the neck screws slightly and shifting the neck over and tightening the screws back up
Click to expand...

That's the ticket exactly. Even in a relatively snug pocket, a very minor adjustment will easily get things centered properly.
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

Yup.

It'll help the alignment over the pickup poles, too.

We discussed this on a Tele build last week. I pointed out that Dan Erlewine covers this in his book, and everyone should own it.
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

Ah yes I recall the thread. I do actually have the "How to Make Your electric Guitar Play Great" book. I don't see any noticable gap on the low E side. If anything, I see maybe a microscopic gap on the higher pitched E string side.

I tried loosening the neck screws and adjusting, but it didn't help. The pickguard could be too tight. Some careful filing might be in order? (I'm looking in Erlewine's book on p. 81-82.)
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

I dont see how loosening, shifting and retighteneing the neck would have the neck come into position at any other place except its original position.
Someoen explain that please.
I always thoguht you would have to fill at elast two holes and redrill, if not all of them.
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

My Strat had the same problem when I bought it new. I just loosened the neck screws, shifted the neck a hair, and tightened it down. The neck only moved a tiny bit, but it was enough to fix the problem. This was in the summer of 2004, and it's been fine ever since.
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

At worst you might need to dowel and re-drill the neck.
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

I think on a new guitar you shouldn't have to do any of the ideas mentioned above. But, I guess that's how things are now days.
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

There are countless guitars that are like that. Try and loosen the bolts and shift it over a tad. If there's not enough room and its still not centered, exchange it for another one.
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

Stratfan said:
My Strat had the same problem when I bought it new. I just loosened the neck screws, shifted the neck a hair, and tightened it down. The neck only moved a tiny bit, but it was enough to fix the problem. This was in the summer of 2004, and it's been fine ever since.
Click to expand...

The same for me with a USA Deluxe and it looked ALOT worse than yours does, it was bugging me for months. I thought as jerryjg did.. that if I loosened the neck bolts off when I tightened them back up the neck would just move back. Well it didn't and all was fine, everything looked good... just a simple tweak. All the best.
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

i just had to reset the neck on my 99 MIM strat.... except in my case the strings were too close to the low E side... i backed off the neck screws 1 or 2 full turns, or a little more sometimes.... grabbed the neck and gave it a tug over... tightened the screws and the strings are exactly were they should be... I really get rough with this strat sometimes so i have to reset the neck once in a while...

if you do not feel comfortable resetting the neck yourself take it back to the store you bought it from... i'm sure the staff will be helpfull... and if it can't be reset there and then you can exchange it for a better version
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

I've adjusted the neck on mt MIM Tele countless times. I do massive neck bends and really beat on the guitar tho...
 
Re: Bought a new Strat... is something wrong with the neck?

Thanks for everyone's input. I ended up shifting it over slightly as described and I'm satisfied that it's reasonably symmetrical now. :)

The bridge is another story...I guess it must be off by a less than a 32nd of an inch or so..not enough to measure with a ruler but enough to see a variation in the gap between the bridge and pickguard.

:sigh:
:31:
 
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