Model 2 with a WEIRD problem. Help.....?

[PowerTube]

I sure hope someone can help me figure this one out.

A couple of years ago, I got a wild hair to attempt a "bolted steel" paint job on my Model 2. The paint job was mixed results, but here's the real problem. When I put it back together, I was suddenly having to raise the bridge adjustment screws WAY high to get the strings to clear the fretboard. This was with the original JT-6 trem. I had no idea what was wrong, but I left it unassembled for a couple of years.

Then the other night, I decided to put it back together because I now have a JT580 that came off of my DK2M when I replaced it with an original Floyd.

Same problem:



As you can see, I have to jack the trem to the sky to even get the strings to not fret out. I know it wasn't this way before.

So my first theory is that the neck pocket has changed somehow. But nope:



I really want to get this guitar back together.

Ideas?

[Axewielder]

Did the neck pocket get magically shimmed somehow? :think:

[plon]

Model 2's had an angled neck pocket for a top mount trem with rearward movement. I've seen some that high before.

[plon]

http://www.jacksonfanatic.com/for-sale/charvel-jackson-model-2-guitar-jt-6-tremelo-original/30265/

[plon]

Here's an old Jackson bolt on I used to have. Same deal.

[Alvin_Wilson]

Did the neck pocket get magically shimmed somehow? :think:

Paint in the neck pocket?

[MetalMedal II]

My first thought was a shim too. Specifically, could there have been a small shim that fell out unnoticed when you first unbolted the neck that had the neck at your original angle? What goes against that theory though is that I have never seen a shim in a Model series neck pocket…and I’ve owned quite a few over the years. As suggested, paint in the pocket may create a shim as well. The pic of the Floyd posts don’t look too far out from what I remember though.

I prefer the Floyd pretty far from the body like yours, but you can always place a shim in there to get your preferred neck angle.

[xenophobe]

Maybe you're just not used to non-recessed trems?

The post height and height of the bridge off the body look fine.

[PowerTube]

My first thought was a shim too. Specifically, could there have been a small shim that fell out unnoticed when you first unbolted the neck that had the neck at your original angle? What goes against that theory though is that I have never seen a shim in a Model series neck pocket…and I’ve owned quite a few over the years. As suggested, paint in the pocket may create a shim as well. The pic of the Floyd posts don’t look too far out from what I remember though.

I prefer the Floyd pretty far from the body like yours, but you can always place a shim in there to get your preferred neck angle.

Thanks for the input, everyone.

I actually thought about the above theories. Yes, I did paint inside the neck pocket, but it was sprayed and very thin. I also considered that maybe there was a shim before, but I sure don't remember seeing one. Plus, if it had been shimmed before, wouldn't the neck have not sat flush in the pocket? I have some old photos from when I first got it. I don't have a clear angle but I'm pretty positive that it wasn't this high before.

[Axewielder]

It doesn't take much of a shim to throw off the neck angle. Maybe you can try scraping all the paint in the pocket off?

[PowerTube]

It doesn't take much of a shim to throw off the neck angle. Maybe you can try scraping all the paint in the pocket off?

Hmmm..... There's a thought. I never should have painted the pocket in the first place, I guess.

But the scraping idea bugs me because I might have a "mishap." Is there a cleaner and safer way to remove it?

[conker2021]

I've heard of factories, specifically Fender, slipping tiny pieces of paper in the neck pocket to get the perfect angle. Try that perhaps?

[PowerTube]

I've heard of factories, specifically Fender, slipping tiny pieces of paper in the neck pocket to get the perfect angle. Try that perhaps?

But if I shim it enough to change the neck angle, even slightly, won't there be a visible gap in the neck pocket?

[DonP]

Take a wide chisel and carefully take some material away from the BACK of the neck pocket, closer to the bridge.

Or do like I did back in 1990 and take a router to it. You'll need to make a jig. I sunk the neck pocket because I don't like a neck that "pokes out" way high above the neck pocket. I like just the fretboard and a little of the neck above the face of the guitar.

[PowerTube]

Well, I guess this will be my next project. If I can get it back the way it was, I'll be happy. Maybe spraying the neck pocket is what caused this.