Ibanez JEM Forum banner

New Guitar Setup Help

1K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  golson 
#1 ·
All,
I am new to this forum but there seems to be a lot of experience here. I searched for some kind of tutorial or how to on setting up a new guitar body neck and everything else step by step. Let me explain what I have.

I have a Warmoth custom built strat neck and a B. Heffner 60's Alder blank body. Callaham tremelo system, Gotoh tuners, BG PUP's and everything else to make this happen.

What I am looking for is the proper way to start setting the neck to the body and installing the tremelo system to the body and making sure the allignment is perfect with the lowest string attack possible.

If someone has some procedures and tools to get to get this neck and body fit perfectly without paying tons of money to a tech I like to do this myself. Let me know. I am open and patient...Thanks..greg
 
#2 ·
Do you have a drill press or access to one? You are going to need to use that to drill your holes for the bridge. You are going to have to measure back 25 1/4 from the nut to mark where to drill for the screws. If they are not properly aligned then you will never get the tremolo to work right. You can pickup item #1110 (template) from stew mac so your screw spacing is right. A crude but effective way of aligning the bridge is taping it to the body and running some wire up the neck like strings to align both the neck and bridge. Again these aren't ideal ways of doing this but your on a budget so you gotta do what you gotta do. The final setup will determine how low you can get your strings. Whats the radius on the neck?
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the tips. One more thing. My blank body has the routing completed for bridge, pup and electronics but I was wondering would it be best to paint the body first before I start drilling for the bridge and pickguard or have it painted first?

Additionally, My neck stil has the satin finish on the frets. What is the best materials to polish my frets without damage to the fretboard?
 
#4 ·
Depends on the fretboard type. If its maple, just let it wear off through playing.

If its rosewood or ebony, very very fine wire wool to clean the entire fretboard (do it with the neck off the body, or mask the cavities to avoid short circuits. Rub ONLY with the grain. The other way will scratch the **** out of your board.)


That'll get everything off, then use some fret doctor to nourish the wood back to better than new condition (Google fret doctor)
 
#5 ·
Depends on the fretboard type. If its maple, just let it wear off through playing.

If its rosewood or ebony, very very fine wire wool to clean the entire fretboard (do it with the neck off the body, or mask the cavities to avoid short circuits. Rub ONLY with the grain. The other way will scratch the **** out of your board.)

That'll get everything off, then use some fret doctor to nourish the wood back to better than new condition (Google fret doctor)
Should I paint the body first before I start drilling?
 
#6 · (Edited)
I always pre build a guitar before I go into the booth to paint it. That way when I go into final assembly there are no unnecessary surprises.

Now I have known others to wait until after paint to do all this. I just drill everything before paint to minimize the risk of any cracking or lifting in the clear.

As for the frets I first lightly sand each fret with 1000 grit wet sand paper on my finger. I mask off the entire fretboard before doing this to prevent any chance of water raising the grain or warping. Also note I go parallel with the frets while doing the light sanding. Then I use Stew Mac item# 5269 to polish the frets to a high shine.

I know the body came pre routed for the bridge but I suggested the template mainly for the holes that come in the template to mark where to drill.
 
#7 ·
I always pre build a guitar before I go into the booth to paint it. That way when I go into final assembly there are no unnecessary surprises.

Now I have known others to wait until after paint to do all this. I just drill everything before paint to minimize the risk of any cracking or lifting in the clear.

As for the frets I first lightly sand each fret with 1000 grit wet sand paper on my finger. I mask off the entire fretboard before doing this to prevent any chance of water raising the grain or warping. Also note I go parallel with the frets while doing the light sanding. Then I use Stew Mac item# 5269 to polish the frets to a high shine.

I know the body came pre routed for the bridge but I suggested the template mainly for the holes that come in the template to mark where to drill.
Excellent point. Sounds better to do before painting. Thanks
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top