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I would still like to see photographs of the complete guitar. Apart from anything else, it might explain this miraculous transformation.
February 24th - fixed/hardtail bridge
March 3rd - six screw fulcrum vibrato.
In my opinion, this is the result of something fundamentally wrong with another part of the guitar(s).
Attempting to come up with a solution based on a handful of close-up photographs is the guitar tech's equivalent of the proverbial blind men describing an elephant.
I really hope this is a typo!!
You should be aiming for 0.012” or 0.3mm.
i'm in North london
fender telecaster project: no shim in neck pocket
strat project: no shim in neck pocket
The simplest way forward to get it more acceptable for now, before you get into fret dressing etc, is to 'reverse shim' the necks with a thin shim at the *outer* end of the pocket. This isn't normally a great idea and can make the guitar feel odd if it's too thick, but for this a very thin one will probably work - the shim thickness has a much larger effect on the action because of the length of the neck relative to that of the pocket.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Did you ever get a chance to sight down the neck to check for irregularities like I suggested previously? If you have the neck off it'll be even easier to spot any.
neck shim: im ahead of you, I been reading up on neck shims today, boy!! what a can of worms that is!!, hence why I'm not going to start that debate. it was interesting to note that user feedback is that fender do use some kind of shim, but on these ones no. maybe its the MIM models, maybe the US strats come with shims. I've never had to shim my guitars. if they play good, I tend to keep them at the same set up. yes I may experiment adjusting action, but I rarely do full on set ups. but its all an experience.
what shims do you use?
yes I sighted the best I could, it looked and felt solid and genuine, so It wasnt' a fake, however it just had a lot of buzzing in the middle and upper. as it was a project guitar, I knew what I was getting into. that was the risk. I didn't pay a lot for it either. I personally think the seller panicked and he put it together but couldn't get it to play properly.
the strat project:
yes the guitar was in very good condition, it played and felt well. I went for this particular one as it was a rare colour. it needed cleaning and I wanted to upgrade it. that's why I'm baffled that the set up is all over the place as I only changed the string gauge!
but the answer to your question is that I don't know if there any defects. I've got a true straight edge and it hasn't highlighted any issues when I've rested it on the neck. the necks on both guitars "feel" right. I actually have 2 other strats that are set up well and play well, so that's the reference point I have.
I am in the camp that does not believe the shim material affects the tone in any way, and that the 'full length tapered wooden wedge' type shims are pointless and may not even sound as good as a simple one across the end.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
when you use the business card or the veneer, did you experience this gapping?
Thousands of great vintage Fenders were fitted with simple shims across the end, and they seem to sound ok...
What do you mean by ‘gapping’? A space in the middle of the neck pocket? That's inevitable with any shim. It makes no difference as long as there's enough friction area to stop the neck moving about.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
There are a lot of very experienced people on this forum, and their advice is usually based on years of first hand experience, not things they once read on the internet. You could do a lot worse than to give their suggestions a try.
I would like to give you an update:
I tried the shim idea as advised above. yes it brought the fretboard closer to the strings, but still my saddles were high and loads of dead spots, choking etc.
I thought it might be a good idea to level the frets. one of the first tasks is to use a notched straight edge to get the fingerboard dead straight. well, I couldn't get it straight. from frets 12 onwards, was perfectly flat, but 6th to 10 had a gap, and also first fret. I did a video to demonstrate what I'm talking about. I've obviously stopped there. I obviously tried tightening the truss rod and that didn't work as the 12th fret onwards started showing gaps. what you see on the video is the best I can get it.
should the fingerboard be totally flat? I've read some articles on a telecaster forum saying to get it as flat as possible and as long as you have enough frets, levelling will work.
I'll throw that out there for views and opinions
https://youtu.be/Z-gltGYz8-4