How would I go about fixing this?

[Myaccount876]

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This is the first guitar I made, I love it, and it is almost perfect for one thing. The strings are a little offset from the fretboard. The high E is only about 1mm away from the edge, and it has been bothering me so I must fix it now. Thankfully there is room to move the neck because of that tiny piece of wood covering the neck pocket. Should I just hand saw that little piece off so it comes off cleanly, plug the neck pocket holes and redrill 1mm to the side? Or could I get away with just adding that 1mm to the holes? I also know what to do about finishing any newly exposed wood. Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.

This is the only downside I can think of about building your own guitars. If you mess up, you'll know about it, even if no one else can tell.

[Zerberus]

Have you tried slightly loosening the screws, pulling the neck into proper alignment, and retightening them while you hold the position (all under full string tension)? That should be the first thing to do on a bolt on with slight string /neck misalignment. 30 second fix, 10 minute intonation tweak, done.

However that string seems to be spaced slightly further apart than the rest, which would mean either your spacing adjustable bridge needs a tweak (if you have one) / your bridge slots are off (T-o-M) and /or your nut is miscut (if it`s not intentional which it rarely is).

[Myaccount876]

Have you tried slightly loosening the screws, pulling the neck into proper alignment, and retightening them while you hold the position (all under full string tension)? That should be the first thing to do on a bolt on with slight string /neck misalignment. 30 second fix, 10 minute intonation tweak, done.

However that string seems to be spaced slightly further apart than the rest, which would mean either your spacing adjustable bridge needs a tweak (if you have one) / your bridge slots are off (T-o-M) and /or your nut is miscut (if it`s not intentional which it rarely is).

The bridge is a Schaller Floyd, so can't adjust it like that, same with the nut. R2 nut on 1 5/8". I'll try the unscrew/allign/re-screw method right now.

[Chris of Arabia]

You should just need to pull the neck up a little like Zerb says.

[Zerberus]

The bridge is a Schaller Floyd, so can't adjust it like that, same with the nut. R2 nut on 1 5/8". I'll try the unscrew/allign/re-screw method right now.

Then the spacing issue was probably just an optical illusion.

[Myaccount876]

No, it was an issue because sometimes just a little too much pressure on the high E would send it off the fretboard, and I have a very light touch, so it wasn't too bad, but it still happened.

What I did is try to shift it a little first without changing anything else. Didn't work. Took off that slit of wood and re-positioned it. Perfect. Just hope I don't have to take the neck off anytime soon because then I have to align it all over again which while easy, is a little time consuming because there isn't a whole lot of wood surrounding the neck to put it into place.

If it were any other project, I'd just re-do the body, but this is my FIRST guitar I built and it was started when I was 13, finished when I was 14. Not ever leaving me.

[Bludave]

Make A new nut and pinch the two outside E strings slightly and it should give you a bit more room. The other thing you can do is shave the saddles down a bit so the strings will also come in

[tonello]

A new nut should be a cheap troubleshooter of sorts. If it's still out of line, then I'd go about plugging in the neck pocket, but get aligning that e farther from the edge of the nut should give yo a little bit of something to work with.

[Zerberus]

No, it was an issue because sometimes just a little too much pressure on the high E would send it off the fretboard, and I have a very light touch, so it wasn't too bad, but it still happened.

I meant the difference in string spacing I referred to in an earlier post being an optical illusion. Important is that the issue is solved.

BTW, those recommending a new nut and /or modifying the bridge saddles did read the earlier post stating that it has a Floyd with an R2 nut, right?

[Ball&Chain]

I think someone will need to explain to me how a misaligned nut slot would effect the alignment of the the stings so near the bridge. Looking at that photo would tell me either the neck is not straight in relation to the body or the bridge is not in alignment.

I would think in order for it to be a nut slot, the slot would have to be way off as small movements in the string placement form side to side on the nut would have the least effect on the string at the bridge side of the neck and the most at the nut side.

[kramersteen]

I know it wont help you here but i have recently started using the schaller 3d6 bridge on my builds, You would never have this problem with it because you can adjust spacing. IMO Floyds can be a major pain in the ass like a bad hair day for a women.