Vintage V6 Tremolo Bridge Alignment

SlopeSoarer

I recently picked up a Vintage V6 Icon at what seemed a very reasonable price of £110. I didn't take to it immediately as the relicing wasn't to my liking so did a bit of my own subtle stuff and felt happier with it but there was a more obvious issue in that the tremolo bridge wa slightly off 1.5mm but it had a bad effect and really bugged me,



I'm not afraid to have a go and so out came the bench drill and dowel. Flippin 17 holes drilled and plugged.







I was pretty happy with the end result but it took me quite a while to get it right (95% right). The guitar is so much better as I'd been pushing all the strings towards one side of the saddles to get them correctly positioned on the neck. Now it looks and feels right. The sustain has improved so much. Also I now feel I'll never get rid of this guitar... proper bonded with it.

Now there is a Vintage V6 Thomas Blug on Gumtree and it has a similar problem though the strings are out in the opposite direction to what mine were. Seems Vintage maybe having a few issues (which is a shame as otherwise I love their guitars, especially the necks), is this a problem which other guitar makers suffer from?

Funkfingers

How tight is the fit of the neck into the pocket? 

SlopeSoarer

Mine was fairly tight and still is.

When I stripped it down I did wonder whether or not it could be realigned by shimming the neck pocket. For future reference is that a route that could be considered if the pocket wasn't a tight fit?

DrBob

SlopeSoarer said:

Mine was fairly tight and still is.

When I stripped it down I did wonder whether or not it could be realigned by shimming the neck pocket. For future reference is that a route that could be considered if the pocket wasn't a tight fit?

It’s not uncommon on Fender type guitars to be able to sort string alignment issues with a carefully considered shove on the neck to move it over a bit 

Funkfingers

DrBob said:

It’s not uncommon on Fender type guitars to be able to sort string alignment issues with a carefully considered shove on the neck to move it over a bit 

This is what most of us mere mortals have to do - not being in possession of a bench drill and all that Jazz.

SlopeSoarer

DrBob said:

SlopeSoarer said:

Mine was fairly tight and still is.

When I stripped it down I did wonder whether or not it could be realigned by shimming the neck pocket. For future reference is that a route that could be considered if the pocket wasn't a tight fit?

It’s not uncommon on Fender type guitars to be able to sort string alignment issues with a carefully considered shove on the neck to move it over a bit 

Is there a danger of cracking the neck pocket doing this?

Is it fairly common to see misalignment around the bridge?

Maynehead

I must admit the first thing I suspect when I see the strings too close to one side of the neck, is that the neck has shifted in the pocket.

Ever guitar that I’ve owned that had this issue I’ve been able to correct by slightly loosening the neck screws and manuvouring the neck into alignment. If the neck doesn’t stay in place then a couple strips of sandpaper at the front and back of the pocket will keep it stable.

SlopeSoarer

Maynehead said:

I must admit the first thing I suspect when I see the strings too close to one side of the neck, is that the neck has shifted in the pocket.

Ever guitar that I’ve owned that had this issue I’ve been able to correct by slightly loosening the neck screws and manuvouring the neck into alignment. If the neck doesn’t stay in place then a couple strips of sandpaper at the front and back of the pocket will keep it stable.

I'll keep that in mind as it is definitely an easier option than what I went through, though I really don't think there was any room for adjustment in my case as it took a few light taps to release the neck.... maybe someone with a bit more experience than me may have used a little force and managed to correct it.

Thanks for all the input, yet again I've learned something: )