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Hello,

I recently took and old Schector Omen 6 guitar body (fixed bridge design) and purchased a strat style neck for it (undrilled). I thought I did a good job of lining the neck up with the bridge and drilling the neck holes for the strings line up well and the action is really good. However when I went to start intonating the guitar I noticed it was almost a whole step sharp. After adjusting the straddle length it didn't really change at all in either direction. So I went ahead and adjusted the truss rod a little and even changed the action a bit and still no ability to adjust the inotation. Am I screwed? Is there any thing elese I can try or is this frankenstein of a guitar doom to be out of tune with itself..

Thank

First thing to do is to measure from the nut to the bridge. Or, from the nut to the 12th fret, then from the 12th fret to the bridge. It should equal your scale length. If it does not, then you are screwed. If it is close I.E your neck scale is 25.5" and it is really close to 25.5", then I would say your culprit is most likely the nut is not filed right. By that I mean that the strings are not resting on the bridge side of the nut, thence making your string length effectively longer. BTW, pictures may help.

-John

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John Thiessen
http://www.iszacguitars.com

Measure from where the strings leave the nut to where they first touch the bridge. The twelfth fret has to be half way in between these two points. (Actually a little closer to the nut than the bridge, only 1/16th an inch or so depending on the strings and the action.)
Can yours be fixed? You might have to relocate the bridge. If that seems like an impossible job to you, you would have to find a different neck whos fret spacing works with your body.
If the parts have no collector cash value, I would encourage you to figure out how to relocate the whole bridge, or make a new bridge.

Sounds like the neck pocket leaves the neck too far forward. You may be able to shim the neck pocket in front of the neck and re-drill the mounting holes, if you can measure and find out how far off the neck placement is. It's much easier to modify the neck pocket than it is to relocate the bridge. If it's harp you need to move the nut away from the bridge, which would involve taking up the space in the neck pocket with a wood shim for the heel to bear against. If it's not too extreme, say an inch or less, there will likely still be enough heel to mount the neck on the body.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Thanks guys.

Both responses are spot on.
I believe the scale is off and for some reason after I drill and mount the neck there is a 1/4 gap between the heel and the back of the pocket even though it was flush when I clamped it.
I make the adjustments and let you know.

A Schecter Omen 6 is a 24 fret neck guitar. You purchased a 22 fret neck, didn't you? You essentially shortened your scale length, which is why you cannot intonate the guitar.

SO..... either move the neck out in the pocket (you'll have to redrill, etc.)...
OR redrill to move your bridge closer to the neck (measure from the nut to the 12th fret, then double it)...
OR put the old neck back on it, and save the new neck for another project.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

good point. It is a 22 fret neck. ooops There plenty of meat in the pocket. I try to shim it to scale.

thanks

http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator

This will also tell you exactly where the bridge goes (I used it on a LP lately and the intonation is dead on)