Neck joint angle problem ?

[JakFT]

I own a Musicman JP6, and I've noticed that the neck is not perfectly aligned with the body. At the 24th fret, the neck seems to protrude more from the body compared to the 19th fret, where it appears more recessed. As a result, the neck is slightly angled backward. When I adjust the string saddles, I have to raise them quite a lot, and the screws inside the saddles are almost not long enough to do so. Is this normal? fThank you!

 

[nervous]

Quite possibly not a 'problem', at least in the way you may be thinking. Have you had the neck off to check for a shim? Guessing not. That would explain both the saddle heights and the angle you see. If there is a shim in there removing it would bring those saddle heights back in line but you wouldn't know how everything else will set up and play until you test that out. Pretty basic set up stuff. If there is no shim then there's a different conversation to be had. And if there is a shim it looks like it might be a bit excessive in it's thickness for whatever they were trying to accomplish when they put it in. Curious what you find.

 

[beej]

+1

Also- you can buy longer (or shorter) grub screws for the saddles if need be.

 

[DrKev]

I agree. Tthat angle is normal, and it's only a problem if you cannot adjust the saddles to get the action you want. If you can, you're good, rock on!

If you really need to get teh saddles higher and cannot, removing the neck shim (for a smaller one or entirely) is the way to go. If there is no neck shim, placing a new shim closer to the top of the neck pocket will fix it.

 

[Vadauco]

We put neck shims on guitars to achieve that exact effect.

 

[JakFT]

Thank you all for the advice. I tried unscrewing the neck to check what you suggested. There was no shim between the neck and the body. However, I noticed that the black paint extended slightly over the contact area, creating some thickness. I tried sanding it down just in that spot, and now the neck has straightened a bit. It's not perfect, but it seems to be quite good. If needed, I will now get some longer screws for the saddles. Thanks for the advice!

 

[nervous]

Thank you all for the advice. I tried unscrewing the neck to check what you suggested. There was no shim between the neck and the body. However, I noticed that the black paint extended slightly over the contact area, creating some thickness. I tried sanding it down just in that spot, and now the neck has straightened a bit. It's not perfect, but it seems to be quite good. If needed, I will now get some longer screws for the saddles. Thanks for the advice!

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After all that what is the string height measurement at the 12th fret and how if that relative to your regular preference? Doing what you did should have actually raised the overall action a bit so if you were to now need to lower the saddles a bit that would play perfectly into solving your adjustment screw 'issue'. This is all also assuming correct relief is set first

 

[JakFT]

You were right! I took the photos right after reassembling the neck. In the following days, I checked the action as you suggested and had to lower the saddles. This way, the problem with the saddle height was partially solved as well! Thanks for the advice!