Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi all
I hope all are well! Is the neck pocket on a tele and start flat? And am I right to assume that neck angle depends on the type of bridge used so that the action stays the same from the first fret to the last?
Thank you all!!
Mike

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Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right! - Henry Ford

Mike, I have always assumed it was. I guess if you have one you could take the neck of and measure the depth of the pocket. I made a Tele a few years back and routed it flat, and adjusted the bridge saddle height to get the action I wanted. Fender used to put in a micro tilt adjustment, that allowed you to change the neck angle by adjusting a fat Allen screw that pushed against a steel plate on the neck heel. I am not sure if they still do that. Before that I think shims were used, someone else may know better on that.
I think you will find the action will get higher the further up the neck you go, though with electrics the string height at fret 12 can be quite low. You can search for Fender factory settings to get those numbers. I like the action at the nut as low as possible without buzzing, so cowboy chords are easy to play. Good luck. GS

Yes, it is perfectly flat. Fender gets proper string height with their bridge by having a straight and level neck joint and allowing the neck
to protrude above the plane of the body by a certain amount (nominally a 1" thick neck, including the fretboard, and a 5/8" neck pocket depth, but it can vary slightly one way or another). This setup works well with their bridge designs.
Gibson uses a bit taller bridge normally, and relies on not only an angled neck, but most times a bit of an angle on the plane from the neck pickup to where the bridge is mounted. Much more complicated and more designed like violins and other acoustic instruments.
But you should have either a plan that spells all of that out, or a hand drawn "blueprint" where you have drawn the instrument out in full size, including scale length, string height, bridge height and neck angle, if any.
Just jumping onto a guitar forum and asking questions here or there without really understanding where you are going, and/or flying by the seat of your pants and building "as you go along" will cause you a world of hurt.
Get a plan and stick to it.

http://terrydownsmusic.com/Archive/tele_body_drawing_revD.pdf

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Filippo, this is a really good point because some Fender style necks have a fret board extension to add a fret to the scale. A pocket too shallow may be flimsy and look stupid, too deep and it won't go on at all. Thanks. GS

Bakers got it.
1 inch thick neck heel, 5/8th's pocket, non-angled neck. That will work perfectly with their bridge.
If you use a fretboard extension you need to allow clearance for the pickguard, so a 3/16ths thick fretboard will likely work better than a quarter inch, although if your cutting is precise a quarter inch fretboard can leave the exact 1/8th inch necessary for a 4 ply pearloid pickguard.
Fender uses the 3/16th's.
Total heel thickness remains the same so vary the neck blank according to the fretboard

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Old growth, shmold growth!

See! That's why I love this forum and appreciate all of your knowledge and willingness to help a newbie!!!
I am searching for a plan. Nothing fancy just something to get my feet wet.
Thank you all. I will try to post pics as I go.
Mike

_________________
Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right! - Henry Ford

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Mike
Thank you!! I was literally on a website about to order plans when I received your reply!
That plan is perfect. Well off to the workbench.
Thanks again.
Mike

_________________
Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right! - Henry Ford

You're welcome. Happy building.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.