I'm busy building a tele and ran in to something I've never had to deal with. Neck alignment, my e string on the treble side is almost off the neck. The neck fits in the pocket snuggly. What's the best way to approach this?
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I have a Telecaster Deluxe with this condition, and there are two ways to address the problem:
(1) Move the bridge laterally so the strings align as bets they can with the edges of the fingerboard (and pickup poles). This will require filling then redrilling and tapping the bridge mounting holes.
(2) Take off the neck and **carefully** sand the edges of the neck pocket to permit the neck to tilt to the left, and thus aligning the high E string. Often times you can simply loosen the neck screws, hold and press the neck to the left, then retighten the screws, but I would check to make sure the neck fits in the pocket at the correct angle and with minimal stress on the sides of the pocket. Good luck!
Agree with Frank, but also would ask about the alignment of the low e string. If there is no wiggle room there you might not want to do any mods to the guitar. Moving the bridge or shaving the neck could compromise the low e string. Can you get away with changing the string spacing on the nut? You wanna make sure the slots give enough space that the strings sit nicely with enough space to sit on the neck properly. Also did the nut come lose slip maybe down? I'd also check the neck, did it warp? I'm not sure there is much you can do with a warped neck.
Thanks guys, neck looks good, that was my first thought, but I'd fine too. Plenty of wiggle room on the low E. With the neck fitting very snug, I wasn't sure if I should sand on the neck or the pocket.
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I'd always sand the pocket if you went a little too far it'd be easier to shim.
You want to get a block and sand right inside the Treble side of the neck pocket towards the back of the pocket. This will allow some space for the neck to move. Though take with a grain as i haven't seen the actual guitar. Also, I'd first try loosening the bolts and seeing if you can just push the neck into alignment and then retigjtening.