Neck mounting/placement/intonation

[neverdunn]

I'm currently in the process of assembling a batch of parts I had laying around into a beater guitar - so far it is going together easily enough. The body and neck already have holes drilled for mounting and they screw together straight and true, but..... when screwed together, the neck heel sits about 1/16" (+/-) from the deepest rout of the pocket. It's a small gap. I measured the space from the nut to the Floyd saddles - 25-1/2" and of course 12-3/4" from the 12th fret to the saddle, so I assume my intonation should be no problem, but I'm wondering how this will effect the tone/sustain with the gap. Am I missing anything or should I be thinking about plugging the holes and remounting everything so it's all tight? I gather I would compensate by adjusting the saddles for intonation.

[Bengal65]

I believe you are fine. Most folks, including myself would not notice any desernable difference in tone either way; tight against the back or with a gap. As long as your dimensions are good, I'd say your good to go.

[metalchurch79]

Yes you could do what you said, and I'm assuming that you would have the 1/16" of adjustment from the saddles to compensate.
But just to plug the mounting holes in the neck for a mere 1/16" doesn't make much sense.
I would glue a thin strip of wood to take up the gap, and then sand it to match the shape of the neck heel. It would be simpler, and no more holes to drill.
Good question though, let us know how you made out.

[Newc]

The rear gap won't cause much of a problem. Your primary contact area is the pocket/heel more than the butt, so as long as you've got a good gapless seal there, you probably won't notice any tonal difference witht he gap at the butt.

[neverdunn]

Thanks for the help. I just finished putting it together with the gap in place and it sounds fine. I have some adjustments to make on the intonation and will play with the action a little, but that's it. Somebody really needs to make one of those "key" tools for licensed Floyds. I'm not looking forward to an afternoon of tuning and retuning.

thanks again!

[metalchurch79]

Thats cool that you got it together w/ no problems!
Sometimes it can be a bitch to intonate a Floyd, and sometimes it isn't too bad. But generally I make no plans for the afternoon if I have one to mess with, cause you never know.
What are you building anyway? Like what body,neck,pups etc...

[neverdunn]

It's a cheapo Jackson JS30 body and a reverse Fender neck all set for a Floyd. I had a Floyd from the same Strat and I used a pair of EMG's - an 81 in the bridge and an 89 in the neck with the tap to split the coil on the 89. I got a little sidetracked this afternoon, so I don't have it completely intonated, but it sounds pretty good and is real fun to play. Might make a fun stage guitar! The body has a maple veneer and looks pretty sharp. It has kind of came out better than I expected.

Now on to the Firebird build I have been putting off!