Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello Paul, a quick question about "neck angle". I was reading the thread on the MG360 with neck angle concerns. I know what neck angle refers to. Is it also called neck angle on the basses with neck through design? Mark

If any one is familiar with a term used to describe excessive axial deflection between the neck portion and body of a through body bass? Mark

Mark, maybe post this in the Curmudge forum or even the bass forum. Not much traffic here since the forum realignment.

Oh hell John, it's not that big a deal. Just curious. Thanks for the heads up though. Mark

Mark, I have a pretty simple illustration I mocked up years ago that demonstrates what good and bad neck angles are, without simply looking at the bridge.

I'll try to find that tonight and post it up here for you.

Here is an illustration I mocked up some years ago.

Imagine the plane across the face of the body (the lower blue line) and the plane going across the neck (upper blue line).
These two should be parallel. If the two blue lines start heading toward each other on the right (toward the bridge), then the neck angle is bad.

Typically people look at the amount of bridge adjustment left as the indication of the neck angle because the lower the bridge, the more that top blue line (plane of the neck) is at an angle towards the face of the body. The bridge isn't always the best indicator, as some bridges (like roller bridges) have shorter saddles and sit lower, but it's a quick method.

Thank you Collin. I always appreciate the info offered here by all you guys. Truth be told though, all I was asking is the term "neck angle" used on set neck instruments and through body instruments alike? Silly question, I know. Just curious. Trying to get a fuller vocabulary in regards to these guitars and basses. Thanks again, everyone. Mark

Whoops, sorry Mark!

Yes, it's neck angle, even on through-body designs. It's not impossible to have a bad neck angle on a through-body instrument.

If vocabulary is your concern, Mark, then "neck-through" is a term preferable to "through body"...

jingle_jangle wrote:If vocabulary is your concern, Mark, then "neck-through" is a term preferable to "through body"...

Of course! I thought "through-body" sounded funny when I wrote it again.

Thank you Paul, as that is exactly the kind of info I'm referring to. Collin, again, thank you very much for that picture, and info. Mark

If there is a bit of neck bowing due to slack truss rod set up, will the angle still be parallel to the top of the body, i.e. will a straight edge hit at the nut end and pickup end of the fingerboard (with higher relief in the middle) and still be parallel to the body?

collin wrote:Here is an illustration I mocked up some years ago.

Imagine the plane across the face of the body (the lower blue line) and the plane going across the neck (upper blue line).

Neck Angle.jpg

These two should be parallel. If the two blue lines start heading toward each other on the right (toward the bridge), then the neck angle is bad.

Typically people look at the amount of bridge adjustment left as the indication of the neck angle because the lower the bridge, the more that top blue line (plane of the neck) is at an angle towards the face of the body. The bridge isn't always the best indicator, as some bridges (like roller bridges) have shorter saddles and sit lower, but it's a quick method.

Thanks for the illustration! Very handy. Do the parameters described apply to the 480 as well. I'm trying to fix mine up a bit.