Strat string alignment

925SS

925SS

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The bridge is a replacement from all parts, I think, the loaded pickguard came from a 2013 mim strat,
the neck is a licenced all parts fender replacement that I installed a graph tech nut on, so why the bad align?
Plays fine & sounds pretty good, just looks funny, what am I missing here?
The EA & D strings are fine, but after that, :wrf:
 
Re: Strat string alignment

Looks like the high "E" string is further from the edge of the neck than the low "E", try loosening the neck mounting screws just a little and pulling the neck downward just a bit so that there is the same gap on the top and bottom of the neck between the strings and edge of the neck, and tighten it up. That might bring the strings closer to centering on the pickup poles.

Al
 
Re: Strat string alignment

I see rails in your future!

Joking aside, in my '95 AmStd blackie strat, all original (I don't know how I managed that, it's my only unmolested guitar), the only pickup whose pole pieces align perfectly to the strings is the bridge one (thanks to the slant). The other two align with the D and G strings, and start going wide on both the bass and treble sides.
 
Re: Strat string alignment

mamm said:
I see rails in your future!
Click to expand...
& maybe a blackout hb for the bridge lol
I've checked it, & it has good string to neck alignment (equal down both sides of E strings).
Since it's purely cosmetic, I'll just live with it. The only time I notice it is when I'm not playing it, so you know the answer, "Quit lookin, start playin"
 
Re: Strat string alignment

Zombiwoof said:
Looks like the high "E" string is further from the edge of the neck than the low "E", try loosening the neck mounting screws just a little and pulling the neck downward just a bit so that there is the same gap on the top and bottom of the neck between the strings and edge of the neck, and tighten it up. That might bring the strings closer to centering on the pickup poles.

Al
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I think he needs to pull the neck *up*.
 
Re: Strat string alignment

downward rather...


Just means the neck pocket was probably milled a bit sloppily.

The big indicator is the space on either side of the low and high E's. they should be roughly equal from the string to the edges of the fretboard.

just loosen the neck screws a few turns, and wiggle the neck a bit until the strings are more evenly spaced, then tighten the screws back.
 
Re: Strat string alignment

925SS said:
Since it's purely cosmetic, I'll just live with it.
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if you play with compression and/or distortion you might get away with it. But if you play clean and use up-strokes in high E, i guess you might really feel a drop in output. IMHO, its a pretty easy fix, and you should do it. As a side benefit, you will be able to fret on low E without risking going out of the fretboard, if you look at your guitar the low E on the highest frets is almost to the edge.
 
Re: Strat string alignment

Just cause I can't leave sh*t alone, I went ahead & loosened the neck, gave her a little dwnwrd push, checked, tightened back up
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Didn't make much difference on pole align
 
Re: Strat string alignment

Now it looks more like a proper strat misalignment! :laugh2:

Seriously, it made all the difference. That's the alignment you should shoot for: equal misalignment on both sides (bass/treble). I think that neck could go down a little bit more (see the 19th fret dot) - but maybe that's just the angle of the camera.
 
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Re: Strat string alignment

You should have included the bridge in your pics so we can see how much play (if any) there is in the saddles. I often have to move the strings around on the flat vintage saddles, which is a nice feature, since you can scoot the E's in closer if necessary. I see six mounting screws, so I'd assume you have vintage saddles too.
 
Re: Strat string alignment

DreX said:
You should have included the bridge in your pics so we can see how much play (if any) there is in the saddles. I often have to move the strings around on the flat vintage saddles, which is a nice feature, since you can scoot the E's in closer if necessary. I see six mounting screws, so I'd assume you have vintage saddles too.
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I tried moving the string over to help with the align (as you can see, there's room), but when I play, they move back home, I guess I'll have to give them a slight notch to stay in.

mamm, I think it was camera angle, it looks pretty close to me
 
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Re: Strat string alignment

I don't think making a notch is a good idea, tiny imperfections can fatigue the string in that spot more quickly, and possibly cause tuning problems. Try raising the outter hex screw so that the string will be compelled to shift towards the inner edge of the saddle.
 
Re: Strat string alignment

DreX said:
I don't think making a notch is a good idea, tiny imperfections can fatigue the string in that spot more quickly, and possibly cause tuning problems. Try raising the outter hex screw so that the string will be compelled to shift towards the inner edge of the saddle.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't I want to raise the inner hex screw to "push" the string toward the outer side of the saddle, this would help with pole alignment
 
Re: Strat string alignment

Oh, right. I usually have the reverse problem.

Also try shifting all your saddles towards the High E, loosen all the strings and see if you can nudge all of them south.
 
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Re: Strat string alignment

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:banana:
It took a second after I read your post, then I fished out the allen wrench, & did some adjustments,
Thanks for stickin with it, this is a big improvement, now I can just sit back & look at it :laugh2:
 
Re: Strat string alignment

Well that pic (of the neck + neck pickup) looks a bit better.

I'll wager that you have a narrow-spaced strat bridge. not much you can do about that short of replacing the baseplate at the very least, or the whole bridge at most.

But honestly don't worry about it. The poles should be mostly lined up now and the difference won't cause a significant enough difference between what it currently is and what it would be if it were perfectly lined up with the strings to bother worrying about it.

play on.
 
Re: Strat string alignment

^^ yup, pups labeled "F-spaced" is for 56mm E-E wide saddles. Standard american bridges are 56mm. Some after market (Gotoh) are 54mm, and asian bridges are typically 52.5mm wide. What's yours?
 
Re: Strat string alignment

after the adj I made, I just ran my calipers, from out E to out E=54.07
 
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