Neck sits too high in pocket! Options?

gjbassist · #1 09-03-2011, 04:47 PM

Picked up a Squier VM Jaguar body last week. Put an SX J bass neck on it. Noticed the neck pocket on the Jag about one inch thick. On the other bodies I have it is about 1/8" inch thinner. With the neck attached and the bridge saddles all the way up the strings are almost resting on the frets and the bass is unplayable.
What are my options for removing some wood from the neck pocket. Obvious answer is with a router but I'm not sure I feel comfortable doing that and I don't have a neck template. What would be the next best tool to do the job? I know I might be able to get away with a shim at the top of the neck pocket to angle the neck forward but I would rather lower the entire neck.

WilliamSandoval · #2 09-03-2011, 04:50 PM

Do you plan on keeping the neck on there forever? If so, the only way to get around it without a router would be to sand the neck down itself. Some people may disagree with that...

Marton · #3 09-03-2011, 04:55 PM

Buying a bridge with a thicker plate would be the easiest option.

darkstorm · #4 09-03-2011, 05:22 PM

Id opt for returning the sx neck and getting one that fit better. You'll prob also find other neck has better fretwork and harder frets anyway. Sx frets are on the soft side.

gjbassist · #5 09-03-2011, 05:41 PM

Well I have had the neck for a while and already had it on another bass so returning it is not an option. I had no issues with it on the previous body because the pocket was deeper. As for the thicker bridge plate option that's out too. I picked up a Babicz Full Contact bridge last night and put it on the bass today. I really like it and don't want to look for something different. IMO increasing the neck pocket depth is the best option, just trying to figure out the best way to do that.

mongo2 · #6 09-03-2011, 06:00 PM

You could cobble a "booster seat" of wood for under the bridgeplate.

praisegig · #7 09-03-2011, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gjbassist

IMO increasing the neck pocket depth is the best option, just trying to figure out the best way to do that.

If you have a router and a pattern bit with the bearing on top, then route 1/8" of the bottom, following the sides of the cavity with the bearing.

JLS · #8 09-03-2011, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by praisegig

If you have a router and a pattern bit with the bearing on top, then route 1/8" of the bottom, following the sides of the cavity with the bearing.

^^^^

Your best bet.

gjbassist · #9 09-03-2011, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by praisegig

If you have a router and a pattern bit with the bearing on top, then route 1/8" of the bottom, following the sides of the cavity with the bearing.

That is probably what I will end up doing. I was just looking for other options as I'm a bit afraid of doing more harm than good with a router in the neck pocket!

SurferJoe46 · #10 09-03-2011, 07:19 PM

Problem #1:::

You're going to have to support the router squarely on the top of the bass body to keep the pocket walls parallel to the already cut pocket - a big problem when the body doesn't stand out longer than the body itself.

Here's a pix of what I do when I am cutting a pocket - maybe you can understand from this:::

This IS a Jaguar profile and you need to have some parallel support for the router - which is gone now since the pocket is complete on your bass.

You CAN manufacture a support that is level to the height of the bass and parallel to the pocket to hold the router square and true. A complicated, but not impossible job.

You can see here what is needed unless you want to build a full-on jig for this one-off job:::

The end of the body will be at the arrows I drew, but you need the support out beyond the heel pocket - is that easy enough to understand?

This might be a little more help to understand the dynamics of what you need:::

The pen line is where the actual body will end which is not where the pattern/jig needs to go.

Problem #2:::

Since the body is formed and curved and there's not a lot of flat and square surface on it for indexing the router or the pattern, you CAN build an over-the-top support and pattern where the router sits over the body, not touching it at all.

For that you need to suspend the router from a framework that it can slide on and follow a pattern - in this case you already have an existing heel pocket that the bearing on the pattern-following cutter can trace, but you'll will have to buy a longer router pattern-following bit.

This last idea needs a longer router bit that can reach through the holding device you have to make (it's not available at Wal-Mart of Lowe's) and those longer pattern-following bits, besides being somewhat expensive are also kinda rare and hard to find.

A hammer and a wood chisel begins to sound good right about now.

I made the mistake once in not cutting the neck pocket out at the right time - a big mess and lots of re-engineering and trying to figure out just how to do it ensued at that point.

I got it done but I had to make a one-off support bracket that sorta worked - just barely!

gjbassist · #11 09-03-2011, 07:30 PM

Great info. I hadn't thought of those factors. I'm thinking the first option is the way to go.

testing1two · #12 09-03-2011, 09:20 PM

You may also consider a visit to your local machine/fabrication shop. This could easily be done on a mill in 30 minutes or less with great precision.

Turnaround · #13 09-04-2011, 08:26 PM

Before you go routing the body or sanding down the neck, try changing the neck-to-body angle with a shim the thickness of a business card in the end of the pocket furthest from the bridge. You say that the strings are almost resting on the frets - it won't take a lot of shim to improve that situation immensely.

After you have tried the shim you can make a decision if you want to permanently change the angle with a router, or just live with the shim.

SurferJoe46 · #14 09-04-2011, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turnaround

Before you go routing the body or sanding down the neck, try changing the neck-to-body angle with a shim the thickness of a business card in the end of the pocket furthest from the bridge. You say that the strings are almost resting on the frets - it won't take a lot of shim to improve that situation immensely.

After you have tried the shim you can make a decision if you want to permanently change the angle with a router, or just live with the shim.

He said it's the depth, not the angle.