anybody wanta talk Neck Relief?

[Platefire]

I never truly gave any detailed thought to it. I just sited down my neck and made an adjustment. I mostly focused on a straight neck. My eyesight is not as good as it use to. So I did a little research on relief and discovered the tolerances suggested for a Electric .010 and Acoustic .012 and decided to try this measurement as prescribed on the 7th and 8th fret, of course with a capo on the first fret and holding down the last fret. HUUUMM! Discovered several of my axes had no relief at all and some that did was almost nun! So now I've been doing very minor adjustment to the truss rod to put a little more relief in.
I'm discovering that just the right amount of relief can make a huge difference in feel of the neck and strings for the good to the point of being inspirational causing you to be more innovative in your playing. Also finding those tolerances are a good starting place but sometimes it takes additional minor tweaks to get that feel your looking for. Also weather changes can sometimes throw those setting off where your feel also gets thrown off. I'll be playing with this from now on learning as I go>>>

Anyway I'm glad to have learned this even at my old age. Some of my guitars that seemed to have lost their spark are suddenly feeling good again       
 

[mresistor]

Cool.  I think you are probably relieved now..   

[jjasilli]

For me either the strings buzz or they don't. If they do, I consider it a major PIA because it can result from any number of causes including neck relief.  Heck, it may not even be the strings that are buzzing. 


Anyway, Dan Erlewine prefers to start with a straight neck (no relief) and add only as much relief as may be needed to eliminate string buzz.  He claims the opposite of your findings: that a straight neck vibrates better and yields better tone. 

[Latole]

I  agree with Platefire

No relief may need a higher action.
Why all guitar builder put some relief ?
All of this is a matter of taste that is why every guitar player should know how to

[acheld]

I really respect Dan's knowledge and skills.   That said, I can not hear a difference between an appropriate amount of neck relief, and none.  I set up my own guitars according to need, and they're all different -- but all electric -- and Dan does a lot of acoustic work, and maybe that's where it really matters.

To me, there are so many variables involved -- including playing style, string tension, string mass, what tone you're going for, and others I can't think of . . .

As I gain experience, I find my string gauges getting bigger (esp the G B E strings) and action lower.  It's a slow (read glacial) process. 

[Platefire]

A completely straight neck feels strange or unnatural to me. Also I need my action a little high but too high effects my speed.What little speed I got I agree like Dan said start off with almost completely straight and then add in relief as needed because I'm finding, depending on the guitar it may take just a hair of relief. I know I'm looking for a particular feel in the strings. Really .010 relief is very close to being straight IMHO. But right in that zone + or - to achieve "THE FEEL".

[jjasilli]

For me action height is the prime directive.  I use 10 gauge strings on my electrics be they Fender, Gibson or other.  I like the action low, but not excessively.  This tends to require neck relief.  But I can't tell by playing a guitar if there's neck relief or not. 

[Platefire]

  Well I hate to say too much about it like I really know something because I'm definitely still in the learning process. Years ago i wouldn't do a truss rod adjustment as if it was a trade secret that only a very experienced tech should tackle. I guess all the info on the internet has embolden me and gave me more confidence. One thing I've learned on setting relief is to make micro adjustments, then re-tune your strings to 440 and let it set and come back like after its set up over night and check it again. It seems to me when you make an a slight truss rod adjustment, it moves when you make the adjustment but to me, seems to continue to move from the adjustment even after you've put the guitar up. I think that why they stress not making over 1/8 to 1/4 turns at a time.

I have a very good guitar tech but is about 90 miles away(180 round trip), plus the trip requires an expensive meal at a restaurant plus a trip by Guitar Center . I don't know why, I never buy anything?? Most of the time it takes a trip to deliver the guitar to him and coming back home and then making another 180 mile round trip to pick it up.
   So I've been setting up my own guitars, doing my own mods and upgrades for a while now and have got decent at it. Platefire

[G._Hoffman]

I never truly gave any detailed thought to it. I just sited down my neck and made an adjustment. I mostly focused on a straight neck. My eyesight is not as good as it use to. So I did a little research on relief and discovered the tolerances suggested for a Electric .010 and Acoustic .012 and decided to try this measurement as prescribed on the 7th and 8th fret, of course with a capo on the first fret and holding down the last fret. HUUUMM! Discovered several of my axes had no relief at all and some that did was almost nun! So now I've been doing very minor adjustment to the truss rod to put a little more relief in.
I'm discovering that just the right amount of relief can make a huge difference in feel of the neck and strings for the good to the point of being inspirational causing you to be more innovative in your playing. Also finding those tolerances are a good starting place but sometimes it takes additional minor tweaks to get that feel your looking for. Also weather changes can sometimes throw those setting off where your feel also gets thrown off. I'll be playing with this from now on learning as I go>>>

Anyway I'm glad to have learned this even at my old age. Some of my guitars that seemed to have lost their spark are suddenly feeling good again     

I would call .010 - .012 thou WAY too much.  Like, on a guitar with no truss rod, I'd be recommending a refret to get rid of that much bow!  But then again, if you are fretting at the last fret on the fingerboard you are getting a bad reading anyway, because (particularly with acoustic guitars), the end of the fingerboard will almost always fall away by up to .010".  Most acoustics, I'd fret at the 12th or even 10th for a 12 fret neck (you want the heel out of the equation, because the truss rod isn't going to have much effect at the heel), and maybe the 14th-16th on an electric.

Personally, I like somewhere between .004"-.006", and will go as high as .008" on an old Martin or something without an adjustable TR.  I'm measuring with the Stew-Mac dial indicator.  (I always did this by eye, but when I bought the tool I could keep track of things better in my computer, and make sure people get the same set up next time, if they liked it, and I can prove it to them!  I did a couple by eye, and then checked them with the indicator, and they were all within a thou or so.)

Gabriel

[G._Hoffman]

Anyway, Dan Erlewine prefers to start with a straight neck (no relief) and add only as much relief as may be needed to eliminate string buzz.  He claims the opposite of your findings: that a straight neck vibrates better and yields better tone.

I've talked to him about this.  It's only on some guitars he likes a straight neck.  Mostly old Gibson acoustics.  Now, those are the kinds of guitars he likes the most, but his approach is different with, say, a modern Martin, or a Strat or Tele.  He's also in the minority on how he likes old Gibson's setup, even within the community of people who REALLY know those guitars.  He also likes them to have bridges which are, as far as I'm concerned, too thin to be structurally sound.  This isn't to take away from Dan's experience, but just to say his expert opinion shouldn't be taken as gospel, as other experts have other opinions.  Luthiers are an argumentative bunch, but we tend to keep it friendly and respect each other's view, as long as you can do the work.

Gabriel

[G._Hoffman]

No relief may need a higher action.
Why all guitar builder put some relief ?

WELL....... SORT of. 

It's all about finding the right balance.  A really flat fingerboard and very low action can be great, if you don't need a lot of dynamic range.  And too much bow is AWFUL, because it will cause buzzing in strange places, and you just need to jack the action up to compensate.  And then, of course, you have to talk about dynamic range.  If you need to be able to play your guitar HARD, you are going to need more relief, and higher action.  If you want to play super light all the time and shred, or play new age stuff...well, that tends towards a straighter neck.  It's all a balancing act, and most people fall within a fairly narrow range, but the better the player, the more complex the balancing act. 

And not all builders build relief into their necks.  I know a couple guys who do ram rod straight necks with no adjustability.  I think they are fools, but they sell a lot of guitars, so their customers must like them.  Most of us would rather be able to adjust a neck to each customer's needs.


Gabriel

[G._Hoffman]

  Well I hate to say too much about it like I really know something because I'm definitely still in the learning process. Years ago i wouldn't do a truss rod adjustment as if it was a trade secret that only a very experienced tech should tackle. I guess all the info on the internet has embolden me and gave me more confidence.

It's definitely something you can do, and can help keep up with seasonal changes.  The only thing I would caution is, if it ever feels stiff, STOP, and take it to someone experienced.  Truss rods can break, and you do NOT want to pay someone like me to fix it.  Depending on the truss rod, you will certainly be paying hundreds of dollars, up to as much as $1,000 if I have to remove the fingerboard and do significant refinishing.  (except Ricks - the one thing Rickenbacker did right is an easily replaceable truss rod.  It barely works, but it is easy to replace!!!)

Gabriel

[Platefire]

Hi and Thanks Gabriel
I bought several cheap strat copies as projects just to learn guitar tech stuff on just so I wouldn't fear messing up my higher end guitars. Also since I'm basically a strat man, I wanted to get capable of doing a complete strat setup with floating trem.I've  done pretty good with it and my project strats play now better than I ever thought they could. However working on frets is kind of my final horizon. I seem to have "Fear of Frets". What little I have attempted fret work, I've seemed to mess things up to where I had to take it to a tech to straighten out. I do have a good tech that is very reasonable in price, to fall back on ---so that's good to know.

Regarding stuck truss rods, one of my project strats, a 1998 Affinity Squire strat kept loosing its adjustment and gaining back too much relief after I had straightened the neck. I finally determined that the nut had bottomed out and would not go any further. I added a couple of washers under the nut and adjusted it out where it temporarily held but finally lost adjustment. I kept adding washers until I'm up to about 6 now and it its holding adjustment for about a year now.
I've considered a new cheap neck for it but I only paid $40.00 for it and it plays well while it holds adjustment. Did I take the right approach?? Platefire

[G._Hoffman]

Hi and Thanks Gabriel
Regarding stuck truss rods, one of my project strats, a 1998 Affinity Squire strat kept loosing its adjustment and gaining back too much relief after I had straightened the neck. I finally determined that the nut had bottomed out and would not go any further. I added a couple of washers under the nut and adjusted it out where it temporarily held but finally lost adjustment. I kept adding washers until I'm up to about 6 now and it its holding adjustment for about a year now.
I've considered a new cheap neck for it but I only paid $40.00 for it and it plays well while it holds adjustment. Did I take the right approach?? Platefire

It really depends, but I'd usually go for a new neck, if it was that much of a problem.  But you also need to be reasonable with your expectations.  You can't expect a $40 guitar to do what a $1,000 guitar does.

[Platefire]

Thanks Gabriel
Guess my problem is I just really like this old cheap strat or it would be long gone. Platefire

[G._Hoffman]

Thanks Gabriel
Guess my problem is I just really like this old cheap strat or it would be long gone. Platefire

Time for a new neck, then...

[Platefire]

Yes, I've pretty well have come to that determination myself. Old tight wad needs to turn loose a few bucks$

[Platefire]

Well!!!  I installed four more washers. The nut tightened up nice & snug where the neck looked eyeball straight. Checked it with feeler gauge at 8th fret, capo of 1st fret, finger holding down the big E at back of neck and best I could tell it was at .012 relief. The action was really low but I was getting some fretting out. I loosened the nut about 1/8 turn counter clockwise and the strings seems to be singing pretty good at all locations up and down the neck. It's been that way a week and still holding steady and playing really good. So I hope it holds this time. I'd really like to keep this all original. I think it was the last year(1998) they had a small head stock before they went to the 70's type large head stock. Also the last year for the full size body for the Affinity Squier. Platefire

[uki]

Gotta be thoughtful when reliefing the neck/rod, it can get past the ideal point, and the bow become more than ideal, sometimes too much, specially if done while the strings are in place and tunned, this isn't always possible thou, because some necks need to be detached to work the rod. Some rod types can't be tightened back, the neck wood would need to be "biased" first.  Some rods will break if tightened too much, in most cases good bye neck..., cost too much sometimes too fix and loosing/unglueing fingerboards is no fun at all, and no less difficult when there is no fingerboard. Never tighten a rod beyond the point it does stop turning without applying strengh.
Here is a picture, example of the opposite of relief, this neck had to be biased before any action be applied to the rod. It is done with the rod loose. It had way too much bow.
I was lucky to learn this before starting doing it. Isn't uncommon non tech people tight their rods to death.

[mresistor]

Holy cow Uki  that's a significant amout of back bow.  Do tell what is your method to "bias" a neck to get it ready to use the truss rod for adjustment?

[Platefire]

Thanks Uki
I agree, that is the worst back bow I've seen. Thanks for the info. I've never had a neck apart before to see the inside so---- I have looked for pixs on the internet that would show me what my Affinity Squire might look like on the inside. I'm up to about 10 washers I've put in there over time. Some part of the neck wood where the truss rod nut pushes against the neck wood must be breaking away and the truss rod nut bottoms out on the end of the truss rod. When it bottoms out you can tell when you tighten it clockwise---it tends to want to bounce back counterclockwise. I know better than to force it when it reaches that point. It makes me appreciate my other guitars I have that the truss rods work great.

I just use this guitar as a jam around the house guitar so it's no big deal getting it working perfectly immediately. I am learning a lot about truss rod adjustment just by fooling around with it. I gave a perfectly good squier neck to my Son a while back for a project and didn't even think of using it on this ax:>) I might ask him about it next time I see him to see if he is using it or maybe this last washer job might continue to hold??? Platefire 

[acheld]

This fellow has a couple of videos detailing how he goes about creating a Strat neck:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZSDzBv_rIA

He really shows the complete process, and you can build a neck following his directions.   This is how I learned about truss rods. 

Really good teaching . . .

[uki]

Holy cow Uki  that's a significant amout of back bow. 

That is actually the opposite, there was too much front bow, it was been pushed the other way !! "Biasing" !!

Wood does work in many different ways under different conditions! Too cold or too hot isn't good for instruments.
Always keep your instruments under about the same temperature, avoid big variations, wrap a silk cloth to keep cool temperature.

Do tell what is your method to "bias" a neck to get it ready to use the truss rod for adjustment?

It is quite simple, lets see,  brute force in extreme cases, a little pressure in most cases, we do want to be gentle most of the situations, that is usually a parameter! It is usually a touch and feel thing, need to keep monitoring every few hours, sometimes take more hours in extreme cases take days. Got a picture for you of the contraption!!

I'm up to about 10 washers I've put in there over time. Some part of the neck wood where the truss rod nut pushes against the neck wood must be breaking away and the truss rod nut bottoms out on the end of the truss rod. When it bottoms out you can tell when you tighten it clockwise---it tends to want to bounce back counterclockwise.

Something maybe be off. The end of some rods are just bent like an L and put into a hole, if too much tightening is done the L open up and escape from the hole... the rod start to be pulled out of the neck slowly.
That is why a rod never should be tightened beyond the point where the sow touch the washer.

what my Affinity Squire might look like on the inside.

If you mean inside the neck, I got pictures of a Squier neck opened up!

[Platefire]

uki
 Thanks for the pictures and Explanations. The "L" on the end of the rod inserted into a hole helps me know where the anchoring point is at, I was wondering how that was done. Got a couple of questions for you;
a-That neck you are working on, "California Series". Is that one of the American made Squiers? Looks kind of rare!

b-So if I'm understanding it right, the purpose of the bias was that you had extreme backward bow and you forced it into a extreme forward bow in the opposite direction to correct the problem and did the bias work successfully??


I've been a big squire fan every since the 90's when I picked up an 1987 MIK Squier Bullet that just played and sounded excellent. A friend at work had it for sale and allowed me to take it home for a week to try it out to see if I liked it. Previously I had a very low opinion of Squiers but after that, I've been very open to Squires. IMO a great value for the $. I really like my Squier Deluxe Strat. Platefire


 

[mresistor]

Plate  that's a nice Squier for sure..  love it.  Mine is an early MIK Pro Tone that I purchased from an ebay seller.  When I got it it was great, then in a few weeks I noticed the neck was twisted near the headstock and eventually made the guitar unplayable.  I built a humidity box and kept it humidified and warmed in clamps to over compensate for the twist, in a couple of months I took it out and unclamped it and it was pretty darn straight. Mounted it back up and it was fine for a few weeks then the twist came back.   I chalked it up to wood memory.  I bought a Squier Classic Vibe 60's neck for the guitar and it fit perfectly.  And that's the way it is today. Its a great guitar and the pickups are very good. Mine has a two piece ash body and rosewood board and it's a translucent red.

Thanks UKI  sorry I couldn't tell for sure by the pic if it was back bow or forward bow,,  50-50 chance for a guess.   

[uki]

a-That neck you are working on, "California Series". Is that one of the American made Squiers? Looks kind of rare!

That "Squier" is a chinese one    the neck have a gross mistake construction. Necks with fingerboard shouldn't have the canal for the rod in the back, those have...

b-So if I'm understanding it right, the purpose of the bias was that you had extreme backward bow and you forced it into a extreme forward bow in the opposite direction to correct the problem and did the bias work successfully??

99% of the time it does work alright !

In the pics you see three different instruments, actually 2 china Squiers, the 1st in my 1st post, it just needed a neck adjust;
then a Yamaha bass, with an abused neck and cracked head stock. It did adjust about 98%, playable thou.
And then the one with loosen fingerboard. Bad glue work, it was loosing slowly.

The method is always about the same, but, Each neck is different, need different approach, the pressure is applied in different spot in each case, more or less pressure, it is always easier to work a back bow, the strings does the work, sometime the use of a shim between the strings and the fingerboard is necessary to get enough amount of pressure.     

Back bow or forward bow?! English isn't my mother language and I do not know sometimes the correct meaning of some expressions(sometimes english is backwards for me).
So just to clarify, for me back bow is when there is fretting, strings too low touching the frets;
front(forward) bow when strings are too high in the middle of the neck, usually fretting in the very end of the neck.
Is it same for you guys ?

in a couple of months I took it out and unclamped it and it was pretty darn straight. Mounted it back up and it was fine for a few weeks then the twist came back.

Wood need quite some time resting, before be used to craft a neck, specially a neck. It was probably made in a rush.
I would have waited 3-4 months or more depending on how much twist it had, @mresistor did you loose the rod sow to do it ?

[mresistor]

UKI   yes I did relax the rod.  took all stress off of the neck.  I listed it on ebay as a luthiers special for low price.  It had birdseye maple so it was nice looking and it sold. 
I made every disclosure about it. 

[Platefire]

mresistor----Heard a lot of good things on the "Pro Tone" Squiers. Too bad you got a bad neck on yours. So the CV neck did the trick, so glad to hear you got it working right now.

uki---I'm afraid I got the neck bow terminology mixed up in my post. I did a little research on neck bow terminology and it seems there is a lot of contradictory drawings and terms on the internet. Best I can tell from my research the normal bow is called "relief" which causes a valley/bow in the middle of the neck and higher on each end depending on the relief amount. The more relief, the higher the action.

The other bow is called the "Back Bow" where the bow is opposite from relief and causes a hill in the middle of the neck with each end of the neck lower. The more back bow, the more the strings fret out and action is closer. This condition would be considered a more abnormal condition caused by over tightening of truss rod or a neck problem.


If that's not right, straighten me out Platefire

[uki]

Cool we are talking the same thing !

[G._Hoffman]

One of the reasons I would never use anything but a Gibson style truss rod is how easy they are to replace, if needed.  It can be done basically invisibility, doesn't require removing the fingerboard, and doesn't require any finish work!!!!!!! 

I always tell customers, feel free to adjust your truss rod, unless it gets hard to rotate.  If it starts to fight back, bring it to me to see what's going on.

[Platefire]

I've been going over everyone's comments on this thread to kind of decipher where I'm at on measuring neck relief.I think I really know when to back off on tightening a truss rod if it's giving pretty good resistance. I'm still a little fuzzy on measuring relief because the method I used to capo the first fret, hold down the last fret and measure relief at the 8th fret between fret and bottom of string. I decided on that method after hearing that same info/method on more that one you tube videos.

Speaking of a strat in particular, Gabriel you said for electric, fret it on the 12th or 14th fret and what fret would you take your relief measurement??? and it should be .004--.006?? I'm not sure I'm reading you right? Platefire

[acheld]

This one is to alleviate anxiety: 

https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas/trade-secrets/understanding-guitar-truss-rod-adjustment/

Measuring:

https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas/trade-secrets/how-to-measure-your-guitars-action/

I know these are basic, but it's all there.

Personally, I go for a straight neck first, then start adding a little relief at a time until frets are not buzzing.  Then, it's time for a beer!   

[Platefire]

Thank you all for all your input, detailed info and links that I can refer to. I have a much better understanding on relief than I've ever had before but yet still, a lot to learn. One advantage I have to reach for is I know when the feel and action is right for my personal preference and I can't be satisfied until I reach it. So all this info is something I can reference back to, THANKS!

[G._Hoffman]

I've been going over everyone's comments on this thread to kind of decipher where I'm at on measuring neck relief.I think I really know when to back off on tightening a truss rod if it's giving pretty good resistance. I'm still a little fuzzy on measuring relief because the method I used to capo the first fret, hold down the last fret and measure relief at the 8th fret between fret and bottom of string. I decided on that method after hearing that same info/method on more that one you tube videos.

Speaking of a strat in particular, Gabriel you said for electric, fret it on the 12th or 14th fret and what fret would you take your relief measurement??? and it should be .004--.006?? I'm not sure I'm reading you right? Platefire

I do like a pretty flat neck, and yeah, .004-.006" is my preference.  That's measuring it with the Stew Mac Neck Relief Gauge (Hey, this is my job...I can afford the tools).  Honestly, the main reason I use that tool is because I like to be able to record the measurements for future reference.  Most of my life I just did it by eye, and when I got the tool I learned where my preferences measured.  The way I always used to teach it was to fret at the first fret, and around the body (say, the 11th-13th on an acoustic, say the 17th or so on a Strat or Les Paul).  around the middle of that section of string, you want to see about a playing card's thickness between the top of the fret and the string.  So, say the 5th or 6th on an acoustic, maybe the 7th on an electric).

[rake]

I usually start a setup with a dead straight neck with no strings on it.
Then add 1/8 turn to 1/4 turn to get a slight over bow. (heavy string setups get a tad bit more)
String to pitch and see where we are. On electrics I shoot for .006" max and acoustics .010" max.
With a proper level, crown & dress this is usually easily hit. Even cheap guitars can be set up to play great providing you are starting with a good neck. Remember though, you can't make a good chicken salad out of a pile of chicken poop!

[Platefire]

rake
Looks like you have A good leg up and getting necks to conform to your will but as you say, you've got to have a half way decent neck to start with. I've got to where I can adjust the neck out pretty good for my purposes butfall way short on the fret work. I do have access to a good tech that is very reasonable to take over where I fall short. I enjoy getting these cheap project guitars and whipping them into shape where they really play well. Good fun! Platefire

[rake]

It's like building a house. You start with a good, solid foundation.
A good level fretboard makes fretwork a whole lot easier.
I'm glad you've got good help in your area. My goal is always the same.
If you always strive to do the best you can do, you'll be amazed at what
you can really accomplish!

[mresistor]

Plate my Classic Vibe neck on the Pro Tone body needed a truss rod adjustment recently. Too much relief making the action too high. The guitar was strung with 9s so I loosened up the strings and went to tighten it and met a large resistance, uh oh! So, guess this neck has a problem too. So I hopped on that auction site we all know and searched for a better neck for the old girl. Like with your Strat I can't part with this Pro Tone with a 2 piece ash body and the pickups that I love. It has gold hardware too. Anyway, I'm looking for a replacement Squire Classic Vibe 60's style neck but all the newer ones have that lighter in color Indian Laurel fretboards and I prefer rosewood or ebony. So I found a roasted maple neck with an ebony fretboard that looked really nice and the price was nice too from a seller near me in Utah. I bought one and when I got it I went to checking it in the neck pocket and discovered that the string length for intonation was a tad too long. I discussed it with the seller and decided to file the pocket end of the neck down to shorten the string length. Luthier people please pardon me as I can't think of the more technical term for that. I got it filed down to where the intonation would be perfect with the saddles in the appropriate places on the bridge. It came with an unfinished Warmoth bone nut. I have some crude nut files which are nowhere near as good as the ones Stew Mac sells so I decided to enlist the services of a local luthier/music teacher and have him make me a bone nut and set the guitar up.  I just got it back and it plays fantastic. It's strung with 10's - I usually like 9s on my strats but wanted to try the 10s. The neck came undrilled so I had to drill the neck screw holes. It wasn't too hard really. I think the hardest part is overcoming the doubts we may have in our abilities and skills and just dive in and get er done. The guy said the necks were made in Japan but I think anyone searching Alibaba would conclude they were made somewhere in China. The one I got has a little chunkier profile but its pretty left hand friendly for me. Luthier said he set it up to Fender specifications for neck adjustment so it's probably around .008-010 relief. It doesn't look like it though,. but hard to tell with just your eyeballs if you don't do this alot. Any way here it is ...if you want to know where I got it shoot me a PM.    ~Jay

[rake]

Plate my Classic Vibe neck on the Pro Tone body needed a truss rod adjustment recently. Too much relief making the action too high. The guitar was strung with 9s so I loosened up the strings and went to tighten it and met a large resistance, uh oh! So, guess this neck has a problem too. So I hopped on that auction site we all know and searched for a better neck for the old girl. Like with your Strat I can't part with this Pro Tone with a 2 piece ash body and the pickups that I love. It has gold hardware too. Anyway, I'm looking for a replacement Squire Classic Vibe 60's style neck but all the newer ones have that lighter in color Indian Laurel fretboards and I prefer rosewood or ebony. So I found a roasted maple neck with an ebony fretboard that looked really nice and the price was nice too from a seller near me in Utah. I bought one and when I got it I went to checking it in the neck pocket and discovered that the string length for intonation was a tad too long. I discussed it with the seller and decided to file the pocket end of the neck down to shorten the string length. Luthier people please pardon me as I can't think of the more technical term for that. I got it filed down to where the intonation would be perfect with the saddles in the appropriate places on the bridge. It came with an unfinished Warmoth bone nut. I have some crude nut files which are nowhere near as good as the ones Stew Mac sells so I decided to enlist the services of a local luthier/music teacher and have him make me a bone nut and set the guitar up.  I just got it back and it plays fantastic. It's strung with 10's - I usually like 9s on my strats but wanted to try the 10s. The neck came undrilled so I had to drill the neck screw holes. It wasn't too hard really. I think the hardest part is overcoming the doubts we may have in our abilities and skills and just dive in and get er done. The guy said the necks were made in Japan but I think anyone searching Alibaba would conclude they were made somewhere in China. The one I got has a little chunkier profile but its pretty left hand friendly for me. Luthier said he set it up to Fender specifications for neck adjustment so it's probably around .008-010 relief. It doesn't look like it though,. but hard to tell with just your eyeballs if you don't do this alot. Any way here it is ...if you want to know where I got it shoot me a PM.    ~Jay

Jay, many times a neck can be re-educated to where it needs to be in regards to relief. Sometimes I take a neck off a guitar, loosen the truss rod and clamp it to a leveling beam with padded cauls at each end so as to force the neck into a slight back bow. If you let it sit in this "forced position" for a couple weeks many times it will hold that set and allow you to get a proper setup once again. It doesn't always work but I find it works more often than it doesn't.

[mresistor]

Thanks Rake  but I find this new neck to be more than I expected..  it has settled now and it a very fast and resonant neck..   

[Platefire]

Sorry mresistor, I haven't visited this thread in a while. Glad you got your strat straightened out. The old favorite sweet axes is hard to give up on.
It looks like on my Affinity the last washers I installed on the end of the truss rod held when I adjusted the relief.I haven't adjusted it in a long time and every time I take it out to jam it's still right. So I hope it holds from now on.BTW----have a Merry Christmas!!! Platefire