KV2 action problem...

[Newc]

Of all the USA Jacksons I've had with recessed Floyds, they were not all consistent as far as how low you could go with the trem. On my War Angel the top of the baseplate is actually a hair below the surface of the body, and the action is sweet.

On my Warbird Warrior, the top of the baseplate is about 1/8" above the surface of the body, and again, the action is sweet.

Of course that's bolt-on vs neckthrough, so there's the possibility of a shim under the WA neck (haven't taken it off).

On my 3 Floyded NASLs, the top of the baseplates are between 1/16" and 1/8" above the body, and the action on those are equal and optimal IMO.

And of course we can't count the Halford Warrior in this being it has a swapped neck that I shimmed to perfection - flawless action and the baseplate top is dead even with the body.

I'd say get the thinner rings, but first be sure the pickups actually have enough cavity to go further down into, otherwise the string will bottom out on the bobbins. Not to mention the intonation issues the magnets will cause from being too close to the strings.


However, I should ask, is this the first/only KV2 you've had? Is there any way you can compare yours to someone else's? Might be inherent in the design, since it's basically a Floyded KV1. You'd think it would be an easy transition - just put a Floyd on the KV1 instead of a Kahler - but where humans work, things get f'd up

[RobRR]

Yeah this is my first KV1... but not my first Floyded USA or Floyded neck-thru for that matter. I did some closer inspection earlier and where the neck binding meets and continues over top of the body, is considerably thinner than all of my other neck-thrus... almost like the binding is recessed into the body if you will. Something was definitley off when this guitar was made, weather the fretboard is considerably thinner or the angle is somehow off... im personally betting on angle, or lack thereof.

EMG's are in in, so the bobbins wouldnt interfere with the strings... Im considering my options... I may just pull the studs, rout 1/8" or so off of that shelf, drill the stud holes a bit deeper and call it a day. Ill probably end up having to get thinner pup rings, which kinda sucks because I really like the brushed stock Jackson rings. OR, I can call FMIC, send the guitar away and wait a couple months for another one... again...

I dont know what to do though, I could do this no problem, Ive got the equipment and even a Floyd template... but do I REALLY wanna go cutting into this guitar? If this was an import this would have been done and done already... but were not talking about an import (which Ive NEVER had any problems with lol), were talking about a damn near brand spankin new KV2 BGF.

What would ya'll do?

[Newc]

I'd say find another KV2 nearby to compare the details to, especially that "recessed binding" issue. It could be the angle wasn't correct, or it could be that the KV2 is designed that way, meaning any KV2 you get will have the same neck angle and the same issue.

Does anyone who's responded to this thread have a KV2? Is yours the same as Rob's?

Where's Stuka? He's got one.

Maybe a photo-comparison is in order?

[ulijdavid]

Here's my two cents.....
It could be the fretboard is slightly thinner than normal. I don't believe there is any neck angle on the recessed Floyds - the recess was intended to get the bridge closer to the body and elminate the need to angle the neck. But most likely it is a combination of tolerance stack ups that went the wrong way.
Add slight tolerances for all of the following:
1. Thinner Fretboard
2. Thicker body which makes the top recess shallower than normal
3. Slightly shallow recess route
4. Aggressive fret level
All of these together could create your problem.
I see a couple of things to help your situation.
1. Have a professional re-route the recess - Expensive and paint issues
2. Have a refret with the largest frets available - Expensive
3. Buy an extra set of Floyd Saddles and have a machinist try to machine off the correct amount to bring the action down - good call Metalchurch!!
Method three is the cheapest method that could get you fixed. Method one would be the correct fix if money were no issue.

Icidentally, I have two KV2's and an RR with recessed Floyds and do not have any of these problems. Let us know what you decide.

[Torgreen]

Do you have any PICS of the current setup so we can see the problem you are describing...

[ulijdavid]

Also, I believe Jackson use to apply a veneer on the top and back of the guitar to eliminate the chance of seeing glue seam lines over time. If they still use veneers, and the veneer was thicker than usual, the fretboard would be lower than normal in respect to the body and Floyd.

[Spivonious]

So the strings are about to hit the pickup rings and the action is still too high? I would think that the strings would fret out well before that. Can you post some pics?

[RobRR]

Yeah once the baby wakes up, Ill go grab the guitar and get some shots. Dont wanna wake her up or there will be hell to pay for me.

[RobRR]

Ok, here are some pictures. I was apparently mistaken, the pup ring wont get in the way... it will be close, and the pup will have to be flush with the ring, but it wont interfere. Right now how its set up, the bridge isnt 100% down but its damn close, the the movement is VERY limited. Any lower and there would be no movement.

Oh and mind the dust, because apparently taking pictures is the only way to see it considering I cant see it with my naked eye. I just cleaned the thing last week and havent played it since. And no, the board isnt dry... I oil them once a month and just did this one last week as well.


In this shot, you can see that the neck is almost at a negative angle, as well as the action on the bass side:


Here you can see that the studs are pertty much bottomed out along with the bridge:


Here you can see the bridge lower than the body:


Here is the sloppy back rout... Ive never seen it done like this before with that extra little shelf, and yes it is factory because you can see factory paint bleed and factory masking lines throughout:


Here you can see the rediculously high action on the high side:


And another shot of the action:

[Spivonious]

Wow that is pretty high action. I'm wondering if there are some shims under the nut that don't need to be there.

As far as the bridge height, that's looks about normal for my recessed-Floyd guitars (top of the base plate is just about even with the body. You should still be able to get plenty of pull-up range though.

Can you take a photo looking down the neck so I can see any neck bow?

[RobRR]

No shims under the nut, the action up top is fine actually, its down low as you can see where its pretty bad. As far as neck bow, only enough relief to fit a businiess card in when strings fretted at 1 and 24... thats how I always do my setups. Unfortunatley, theres very little pull up range as you see the bridge set right now.

[Spivonious]

Well that's very strange then. I know it's a pain, but I'd go back to FMIC for this.

edit: Just had another thought. The action looks fine for the middle strings. Do you see any twist in the neck? The necks on those are pretty thin, so it could have warped.

[ulijdavid]

Well that's very strange then. I know it's a pain, but I'd go back to FMIC for this.

edit: Just had another thought. The action looks fine for the middle strings. Do you see any twist in the neck? The necks on those are pretty thin, so it could have warped.

I thought the same thing. It looks like your High E is higher than the G and B. You might want to check the saddles. If someone took the Floyd apart for cleaning or whatever and did not put the saddles in the correct order, your strings are not going to follow the radius of the fretboard. You should be able to verify this by eye.

[RobRR]

The saddles are in correct order. I think what you guys are seeing is the string thickness making them look lower to the board. The neck is not warped in any way. The guitar is literally 100% aside from this issue.

[Newc]

Here is the sloppy back rout... Ive never seen it done like this before with that extra little shelf, and yes it is factory because you can see factory paint bleed and factory masking lines throughout:

Sloppy?

That shelf shouldn't be a problem, though none of my recessed-trems have it (USA and import). The SoCals do, as did the Shattered Glass Star I had, so again we're back to the idea that the KV2 is a Floyded KV1, rather than "designed around the Floyd".

Anyone else have a KV2 that they can take the same pics and compare?

I'm really thinking all of them will be like this, as different people have different notions of "low enough" action.