Measuring the neck set angle (with or without frets installed)

[Steve G]

I have a question about measuring the neck angle.  Let's assume the straightedge is not notched, and the neck is adjusted flat before the measurement is taken. Do you compensate for the thickness of the frets when making this measurement and look for the end of the straightedge to be a little higher than the top of the bridge since the straightedge is riding on top of the frets and not the neck itself?

[Peter Poyser]

No.

I look for the Straightedge.

To land flat on the Top of the Front Edge of the Bridge.

 

 

P

[William F.Eden]

Steve the straightedge on top of the frets should clear the front of the bridge by 1/16th .Thats the way I do it anyway.Bill...........

[Hesh Breakstone]

For a new instrument under construction with no frets installed, yet...., I like to see the straight edge (and a real straight edge too not just a steel rule) just skim the top of the leading edge of the bridge between the center two pins or, in other words, in the middle of the leading face of the bridge.

For a fretted instrument I want the straight edge to be above the bridge approx. the height of the frets, respectively.

There are exceptions and it's a case by case thing with an example being a Gibson with a saddle "chassis" that may not be capable of being lowered to an ideal saddle height, the neck may be slightly over-set on these again depending on the limititations of the individual instrument.  There are other exceptions too but this covers most instances.

Or, in other words, what our friends Peter and Bill said.;)

[Frank Ford]

I just cut a .040 notch out of one side of my straightedge where it encounters the bridge.  Notch up works with frets, notch down works without.

[Steve G]

Thank you all very much.  Frank, does it mean the straightedge lands right on top of the bridge *with* the frets, and .040 below the bridge without?  This is different from what Hesh said ( top of the bridge without the frets, slightly above with)

[Frank Ford]

No, the notch is at the bridge, and is .040 deep and about an inch long.  With the straightedge on the naked fingerboard the notch just grazes the top of the bridge.  I turn the straightedge over for use on a fretted fingerboard so the notch is up, out of the way.  Then, the straightedge again just grazes the top of the bridge.  No brilliance here, just a simple little gauge.  The straightedge itself is a simple aluminum bar, no fancy tool, not worth any serious cash or anything.

[David Collins]

There are a lot of variables here that make this question less simple than a single universal goal. Are we talking about a radiused Martin belly bridge, or a flat top Gibson rectangle bridge? A pyramid bridge with the pins <1/4" behind the saddle, or a J-200 with the pins set way way back? A new build or a broken in and somewhat more settled reset? How stable are the top and rims - do they flex notably under load, and what kind of leverage can the top/bridge support?

Judgements are often adjusted to a case by case appraisal of an instrument, so it shouldn't come as a surprise if blanket answers may differ a bit, each potentially being perfectly appropriate depending on what kind of instrument the responder has in mind in their reply.

[William F.Eden]

Well David  you have hit the nail right on the head .It dose make a lot of differens so you have to take each Insturment on it's own.Bill...........

[Peter Poyser]

Quote: "There are a lot of variables here that make this question less simple than a single universal goal."

Quote:"Judgements are often adjusted to a case by case appraisal of an instrument, so it shouldn't come as a surprise if blanket answers may differ a bit, each potentially being perfectly appropriate depending on what kind of instrument the responder has in mind in their reply."

 

 

Absolutely Beautifully put Dave!

I was very interested a while back to watch this item just below

About 3/4's of the way through this Movie you see them use a Straight edge at the Bozeman factory to determine the Bridge.

Actually, I bought a Gibson Guitar earlier this year and tried about Seven different ones over a period of  five hours, that the Manager of the Shop, who is a good pal of mine, spent with me.

A lot of people suddenly became very interested in buying Gibson Acoustics,  and I found myself sharing with all of them the History of certain Models, why they were made a particular way, Banner Gibson's, The Girls and the History of the Company, and I quite enjoyed that.

But I took a very accurate  Precision Straight Edge with me for Neck Set Appraisal and a 64th Rule  for Action measurement, and every Guitar I tried, was actually spot on in respect to the manner in which they set this at the Bozeman Factory. I was quite thorough, and it was great to have so many people come up and talk, and make themselves known to me, while I was in the Shop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCABWL4RF_Y

 

I have a lot of different Scale Length Notched Straight Edges, but for this I used a Simple but very long Straight Edge accurate to 1,000 of an inch. They were all dead on, no matter what the price of the Instrument.

All in all it was a great day for me!

 

 

P