HOw straight should a guitar neck be?

[planetjimi]

Just got a new strat. Now I'm not talking about relief. I'm talking abaout holding a straight egde up to the side of the neck. I notice that the treble side is concave and that the bass side is convex. It's extremely small bend. My thinking is that it was cut straight and this is how far it bent, since manufaturing. It does not effect playability at all. I'm wondering about the possibility of it to contue to bend as time goes on? Are most strat necks not perfectly straight? anybody have a straight edge and a strat to go check?
Thanks

[electricskychurch]

if you really have a side that is bent forward and the other backward, it's not really great .
i never really checked my guitars with a tool but when i look at some of them , some are not totaly symetrical it seems (although i'm not sure about it as it's just visualy and it's very small , so it could be an optical effect due to the nut shape or anything ).
i talked about that with a luthier and he said this is not a problem as long as it doesn't affect playability.
if you can setup the action, bridge... correctly, then it should be ok.
if teh guitar is under warranty , maybe you can go to teh shop and show them.

it seems teh best for a neck is to be as straight as possible although some people need more or less relief (or are just used to bad setups) .
one thing i was told by a luthier is that it's better for a neck to be setup as straight as possible , so it doesn't take a "bad" shape .
also, it should be better for teh sound itself.
i noticed i don't need as much relief with some frets in good shape as with some that show much wear.

[fillmore nyc]

Just got a new strat. Now I'm not talking about relief. I'm talking abaout holding a straight egde up to the side of the neck. I notice that the treble side is concave and that the bass side is convex. It's extremely small bend. My thinking is that it was cut straight and this is how far it bent, since manufaturing. It does not effect playability at all. I'm wondering about the possibility of it to contue to bend as time goes on? Are most strat necks not perfectly straight? anybody have a straight edge and a strat to go check?
Thanks

Unless Im totally misunderstanding the symptom you're describing, I gotta respectfully disagree, PJ. You ARE talking about relief. What you're describing is a neck twist, which can be minor and really NOT affect playability too much, or severe, and make set up nearly impossible.
Excluding oddities like waviness or humps and dips in the fingerboard (or a super oddity like a warp running along the actual length of the neck, like a curved road), a neck (with the truss rod loosened) is either straight (neither relief nor backbow) or has relief, backbow, or twist. Twisting in a neck that HAS some relief with the truss rod loosened, is actually 2 different degrees of relief on the same neck, when defined by a standard such as a straight edge. Its almost like a compound RELIEF instead of a compound radius!! (It pays to view the neck as a fingerboard only with no frets. THEN you're really judging only the profile of the playing surface itself... PS--none of this has nothing to do with fingerboard radius.)
IF the neck is twisted, theoretically, it can have many different manifestations:
Lets say (rod loose) it has relief on BOTH sides. A twisted neck will just have less relief on one side than the other. It might have .015 relief on the bass side and .005 relief on the treble side.
Take the same neck and tighten the truss rod enough so that it is straight on the treble side. NOW it will just have a slight relief on the bass side.
If you tighten the rod just a tad further, it will now have a backbow on the treble side, and be very close to straight on the bass side.
If you tighten it a little further, you'll have the bass side backbowed, and the treble side REALLY backbowed badly.

It sounds to me like your Strats neck is slightly twisted. Like you said, it may not affect playability, ESPECIALLY if the neck has some relief on both sides with the rod loose... I had a USA reissue Firebird years ago that had a fairly substantial neck twist, and for the life of me, I could never figure out why it DIDNT have playability problems!!! Low action, no bending problems... nothing!! Just weird.

The bottom line is that a "perfect" neck has the same amount of relief on both sides, and if you tightened the truss rod enough to get the low "E" side perfectly straight, the high "E" side will be perfectly straight too.
(If I misunderstood the question, then forget all the above and lets go get a cold one!!)
/

[planetjimi]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies I appreciate your time. I guess I wasn't clear in my description. But the neck curves to the side. Not back and forth like relief. I included a pic to show the direction. Now I want to remind you that it is really slight. I can slip one piece of paper in between the neck and the straightedge. I know in theory they are supposed to be perfectly straight. But in real life how much tolerance is acceptable?

[jcmjmp]

Yeah, that should be fine, as long as it doesn't cause you to slip over the fretboard while playing.

[fillmore nyc]

(If I misunderstood the question, then forget all the above and lets go get a cold one!!)

Where we goin' for that cold one??

Yeah, that should be fine, as long as it doesn't cause you to slip over the fretboard while playing.

Actually, jcmjmp is right. The only issue I could see is if the strings on one side or the other are too close to the edge of the fretboard. It may not even be any sort of warp... it could just be an over-enthusiastic sanding job from someone at Fender prior to finishing the neck.

[yngwie308]

That's where Plek'ing has advantadges, not so much in an extreme twist of the neck, but no hand fret job can compensate for small irregularities like a Plek can..
Even with the flattest of fingerboards, you always want a slight bit of relief in the guitars neck though.
yngwie308

[fillmore nyc]

That's where Plek'ing has advantadges, not so much in an extreme twist of the neck, but no hand fret job can compensate for small irregularities like a Plek can..
Even with the flattest of fingerboards, you always want a slight bit of relief in the guitars neck though.
yngwie308

Agreed 100%...

(I just hope that advocating "Plek'ing" doesnt stir up a hornets nest... again.)
/ /

[yngwie308]

The plek'ing hornet's nest!! I wasn't much of a believer, then when Heritage guitars started using the machine on all their guitars and they are the last of the handbuilt "Gibsons". So if they went for it, it carries a lot of weight with me. The closest Plek is in LA,LA land from Phoenix that is a grind for sure!
I also learned to debunk another urban legend about the double adjustable (with wheel at south end of the board) truss rods as used on the beloved Washburn SS's of mine and the EB MM EVH guitars, as well as Ed's current Wolfgangs. The 'legend', actually started by the EB forum I believe, was if you leave these necks without tension, ie; no strings, it can warp the neck, so I was going through all the extraordinary measures to prevent this.. which turned out to be untrue.
Come to think of it Ed and me have these things in common........who would have thought. , we both like top mounted Floyds, stainless steel frets and these wheel adjustable truss rods..that's where the similarity ends though .
The ridiculous comments about these 'new' Wolfgangs, specifically the price point, ect.. is hardly surprising to me. Any 'custom' type production guitar, albeit a 'limited' one, is going to be north of $3K!!
Many manufacturers are capable of producing cool guitars for a grand or less..witness the Charvel $999 guitars, though slightly rough, they show that with a branded import, they can price them afford ably.
Many major players, including Washburn have guitars priced in the $400-600 range as well. Not just the Schecters of this world, btw the old Schecters were killer, particularly the Pete Townshend double HB Tele's, around the Eminence Front era, those were awesome, just more expensive. Schecter also produced a cool reverse headstock Strat as a tribute to Hendrix. Andy Taylor of Power Station played one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfGOGv4aock" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV5-DaI5ULg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pQJvinmsiI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzEHRaaO ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As far as HOw straight a guitar neck should be, if the neck is made of wood, not carbon fibre or composite material, then it needs some relief, due to the inherent qualities of wood, ie; humidity, moving under pressure, ect..
Much money changes hands over this San Dimas spec qualities of necks by many manufacturers today, not just FMIC/Charvel.
Even Suhr, with their highly touted Modern guitar, has a digitized replica of an early eighties favored Charvel neck.
The oil finish also is a key component of the 'feel' of these SuperStrat necks. Though the unfinished maple of the Zakk Wylde Gibsons, is just weird to me on a newer guitar. It is foreign to me for a Les Paul in those specs. A worn finished vintage Les Paul with a 'mahogany' neck is cool though.
That Washburn neck profile that I love so much, was overseen by Grover Jackson and they copied Steve's Glow Charvel pretty much.
Sorry to veer off topic slightly, but....if I was President..lol, nevermind but we all know what we like and don't like and I have been fortunate to find guitars I totally love!!
yngwie308