Partscaster neck not aligned with bridge

chris_john

https://imgur.com/ddfsLUv
https://imgur.com/Zqg9v7R
I have a body from a Roadworn Mex Tele and a walnut neck made by a local luthier. The problem I have is that the 6th string (low e) completely falls off the board. I made a temporary fix (in the picture linked) but as you can see, the strings come over the saddles at crazy angles. The through-holes in the body are a little too far to the left. Is this something that can be fixed? I really want to keep the neck because it feels amazing.

gary_mac

Assuming that the neck is sitting correctly in the pocket, then you're going to need to move the bridge.  Have you had another neck on the body that didn't give you this problem?

GoldenEraGuitars

Is that a 52.4 spaced bridge on a 54 spaced body?

chris_john

gary_mac said:

Assuming that the neck is sitting correctly in the pocket, then you're going to need to move the bridge.  Have you had another neck on the body that didn't give you this problem?

No other neck. I bought the body and neck separately. 

chris_john

GoldenEraGuitars said:

Is that a 52.4 spaced bridge on a 54 spaced body?

It is a 54mm bridge and 54mm spacing

chris_john

Would a nut with narrower string spacing make any difference?

prowla

I guess either the screw holes in the body, or the ones in the neck are misaligned.

Given that the MIM body is a factory part, I'd go from the perspective that the neck doesn't fit the body properly.

You could de-string, loosen the screws, and see if you can push it to position (and maybe shim a side.

If that doesn't work and new holes are required, the neck ones should be easy to plug and re-do.

chris_john

prowla said:

I guess either the screw holes in the body, or the ones in the neck are misaligned.

Given that the MIM body is a factory part, I'd go from the perspective that the neck doesn't fit the body properly.

You could de-string, loosen the screws, and see if you can push it to position (and maybe shim a side.

If that doesn't work and new holes are required, the neck ones should be easy to plug and re-do.

I have the neck pushed all the way to the side of the pocket (towards the low e). I don't really want to alter the body, but I'm willing to adjust the neck. Is it possible to file it down a bit? 

lovestrat74

That bridge is not the one that would have come with the body. Have you got an ashtray bridge you could try?

chris_john

lovestrat74 said:

That bridge is not the one that would have come with the body. Have you got an ashtray bridge you could try?

I have a Wilkinson ashtray body, but it's the same result. I'm beginning to wonder if this body is a legit MIM, or I if bought a lemon

lovestrat74

chris_john said:

lovestrat74 said:

That bridge is not the one that would have come with the body. Have you got an ashtray bridge you could try?

I have a Wilkinson ashtray body, but it's the same result. I'm beginning to wonder if this body is a legit MIM, or I if bought a lemon

Upload a pic of the body (preferably without the pickguard) and "we" should be able to tell

chris_john

Here are a couple of snaps I took on my crappy phone.

https://imgur.com/VlUmpnh
https://imgur.com/agYmgfU

lovestrat74

chris_john said:

Here are a couple of snaps I took on my crappy phone.

https://imgur.com/VlUmpnh
https://imgur.com/agYmgfU

Looks legit to my untrained eyes

chris_john

https://imgur.com/xvhborD
I took some of the advice here. Repositioned the neck and installed a Wilkinson ashtray bridge. Its better, but the only way to get the low E aligned was to flip the saddle over so the groove is on the other side.

ICBM

It's definitely a genuine Mexican body, so the problem will be with the neck since the body is CNC-made.

You may be better trying a three-saddle bridge with threaded steel saddles, that allows more string position adjustment. Although not always to exactly where you want!

gavin_axecaster

Those 6 saddle bridges are pretty crap - they force the string to make an unnatural path to the string through holes. The intonation screw holes should be drilled offset to allow the strings a straight path but on budget bridges they rarely are.

I'm pretty sure with a standard 3 saddle bridge or regular modern 6 saddle bridge (Gotoh GTC201) everything would line up as it should.

Did you drill the Wilkinson for the 6 saddles? I've never seen a Wilkinson WTB bridge with those before.

EDIT>>Just noticed it is an "M Series" Wilkinson bridge. Did you get that off Aliexpress from the guy who claims licensing agreement with Trev Wilkinson? He seems to have a few "Wilkinson" products that no-one else does - I suspect he's having them made to his own design/spec. No idea if his agreement with Wilkinson is genuine.

That said it actually looks like the intonation holes are drilled offset in the pictures so I'm not so sure now...

GoldenEraGuitars

Based on this picture it also seems that the bridge pickup is off to the right and the neck pickup is off to the left.

https://i.imgur.com/VlUmpnh.jpg


A luthier made the neck, you say? I’d call him and ask him to take the guitar apart and re assemble it properly. I’d start by taking him a new bridge too 

chris_john

gavin_axecaster said:

Those 6 saddle bridges are pretty crap - they force the string to make an unnatural path to the string through holes. The intonation screw holes should be drilled offset to allow the strings a straight path but on budget bridges they rarely are.

I'm pretty sure with a standard 3 saddle bridge or regular modern 6 saddle bridge (Gotoh GTC201) everything would line up as it should.

Did you drill the Wilkinson for the 6 saddles? I've never seen a Wilkinson WTB bridge with those before.

EDIT>>Just noticed it is an "M Series" Wilkinson bridge. Did you get that off Aliexpress from the guy who claims licensing agreement with Trev Wilkinson? He seems to have a few "Wilkinson" products that no-one else does - I suspect he's having them made to his own design/spec. No idea if his agreement with Wilkinson is genuine.

That said it actually looks like the intonation holes are drilled offset in the pictures so I'm not so sure now...

It is indeed a bridge from AliExpress. I decided upon a 6 saddle type because I thought it would save intonation headache. Oh, the irony. Are the gotoh bridges made to Fender spec? I think that will sort out most of the problem.

chris_john

GoldenEraGuitars said:

Based on this picture it also seems that the bridge pickup is off to the right and the neck pickup is off to the left.

https://i.imgur.com/VlUmpnh.jpg


A luthier made the neck, you say? I’d call him and ask him to take the guitar apart and re assemble it properly. I’d start by taking him a new bridge too 

The neck pickup screws into the pickguard, and there isn't any problems with that. As Gavin above pointed out, it's probably the cheap AliExpress Wilkinson bridge causing the issue. 

chris_john

It might be worth mentioning that the neck is quite narrow (around 40mm at the nut), which is something I really like. I wonder if narrowing the string spacing at the nut would help at all..

GoldenEraGuitars

chris_john said:

It might be worth mentioning that the neck is quite narrow (around 40mm at the nut), which is something I really like. I wonder if narrowing the string spacing at the nut would help at all..

GoldenEraGuitars said:

A luthier made the neck, you say? I’d call him and ask him to take the guitar apart and re assemble it properly. I’d start by taking him a new bridge too 

Buy a Gotoh or fender bridge and take the guitar back to the luthier in question. Instead of guessing, ask him to sort the problem/s out and when he’s finished I’m sure he'll gladly run you through the issues.