ST303 - Is this Right?

GAD

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This doesn't look right to me...

FWIW the action looks high because it is. The neck needs to settle and the bridge is up pretty high. It doesn't look like there's a neck angle problem, but it also looks like the top has collapsed or something under the neck causing the neck pickup to angle neckward.

5D3_2962_1600.jpg


5D3_2965_1600.jpg


5D3_2970_1600.jpg
 
GAD

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BTW I have not yet pulled the pickup or scoped the inside of the guitar.
 
kakerlak

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Do you still have adequate break angle with the bridge lowered? I had a SF-XII that had a pretty marginal neck angle. I'm not sure whether the top has actually collapsed on yours, but I wonder, as I did with mine, if that floating fretboard construction allowed the neck to gradually cant upwards and into the guitar, even if the neck block and body structure has remained stable.

(Waiting patiently on your SF-VI pictorial, BTW ;-) )
 
GAD

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kakerlak said:
Do you still have adequate break angle with the bridge lowered? I had a SF-XII that had a pretty marginal neck angle. I'm not sure whether the top has actually collapsed on yours, but I wonder, as I did with mine, if that floating fretboard construction allowed the neck to gradually cant upwards and into the guitar, even if the neck block and body structure has remained stable.

(Waiting patiently on your SF-VI pictorial, BTW ;-) )
Click to expand...

The truss rod was completely loose. I tightened it a bit and now the neck is much straighter. A Straightedge on the frets goes where I think it should be or maybe just a touch low. I lowered the bridge (which I don't think is original) and there's still room to go.
 
GGJaguar

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I love that redburst, congrats! Hopefully as you tweak and make adjustments it will settle in, though I'm not sure if the top arch by the fingerboard extension was meant to slope that much.
 
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Totally missed the break angle question. Yes, it's quite shallow.
 
walrus

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Although I have no idea if it is an issue, I agree it just doesn't "look" right. Seems much too steep. We need another ST-303 neck pup photo to compare....

walrus
 
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Hans told me that it's the nature of the Studio design. Now I'm dying to see more!
 
walrus

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kakerlak

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It's kind of interesting to me that these evidently got a different top contour/neck joint than double-cut Starfires of the same era. I've been eyeing these pics to see if there's a certain reason why they'd have pressed these tops into a different shape. Maybe the cutaways are scooped out closer to the neck, such that they had to press a more severe slope around the neck block to keep a consistent rim width.

Sidetrack, but I've seen threads of folks complaining about the same wonky pickup angle on ES-175s on other forums. Some of those are pronounced enough that they have backwards-mounted pickup rings to try and counter the drop-off. Not really an option with flat rings like Guilds.
 
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About 10 years ago I bought an new ES-175 with P90s online-- mistake. It arrived with big finish scratches under the pickguard and a bunch of other poor workmanship issues. The neck pickup was tilted very far back. I think in large part it was the size of a big p-90 with the dog ear that made it appear so strange. I also had a 68 Yamaha SA-50 (pretty fun axe) that suffered from that to some degree but they have large pickup mounts that helped.
 
Shakeylee

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Help me understand this,please.
Does “nature of the design” mean that they were made this way, or, does it mean they are susceptible to flaw because of the design?
 
walrus

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Hans, thanks for the additional photos - very different look that is not noticeable unless you see it at the right angle. IMO, it makes the ST-303 even cooler!

Shakey, they were made this way!

walrus
 
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