Carvin Bolt Plus Kit

[dtjacob]

Hi:

Built a Bolt Plus kit a couple of years ago & I have a question regarding the neck. The fingerboard is just about the thickness of the fingerboard (~1/8") above the body, is this right???? Somehow, I think that the neck pocket is not deep enough &/or the neck is too thick. My Bolt-T kit is not like this, the fingerboard is just far enough off the body so the pickguard will slide under it. The Bolt Plus has no pickguard. Also, I have to set the saddles REAL HIGH in order to get the action right. This guitar has never "felt" quite right. Thoughts/ideas?????

Thanks,
Don

[soundguruman]

The neck has to be at the correct angle to the body.
We shim the neck, by putting (example) a folded business card in the pocket.
The frets have to be leveled correctly. Production guitars rarely have the frets leveled correctly.
Until a luthier levels all the frets correctly, the action will never be good. All typical of a production guitar.
Special tools are required, and I don't recommend you try it without the tools.

You can start to learn about it here:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies.html

Setting up the frets and action, harmonics, truss rod, nut...can take hours and hours to get it just right.
Production guitars don't set it up at the factory. It would make the price way too high, nobody would buy it.
Some "really nice expensive" guitars are set up at the factory, and you pay for it, in the price of the guitar.
Like a $5000 LP custom, you expect that it was set up before you bought it. And that was reflected in the price you paid.
But my $300 Jackson, was NOT set up by the factory. I expect to pay $200 or more to have my local luthier finish the fret job that the factory started.

[dtjacob]

O.K., that's kind of what I was thinking..............there is a real good local guy here, I will have him take a look at it.

Don

[soundguruman]

O.K., that's kind of what I was thinking..............there is a real good local guy here, I will have him take a look at it.

Don

I have a neat arrangement.
I fix the luthier's amplifiers...
Then he does my frets for trade.
It works out pretty good.
He is putting pyramid frets on my LP right now. hahahahahahah!

[David Schwab]

The height of the neck (strings over the body, etc.), or if it has a neck angle (which bolt ons usually don't) is dependent on the height of the bridge. Did they supply the bridge? If hey did, they must have designed the kit for a different bridge. Wouldn't be hard to rout the neck pocket a little deeper.

Tele's often have very low clearance of the strings over the body. Strats are a little higher. If really makes no difference as long as it's not too high or low for the bridge you are using, and otherwise is a matter of personal preference.

[dtjacob]

Yes, they did supply the bridge. I have to set the saddles so high that the adj. screws are only caught by a couple of threads, which makes me think that the neck pocket has to be routed a little deeper......I have read in the Carvin forums that they had a few guitars that needed to have this done. I know of a good local luthier & I'm going to have him look at it. BTW, this is a Strat-style guitar......

Thanks,
Don