Hardtail String Height

[jeffhef]

I have a custom built hardtail Strat. The neck is a 62 RI Strat neck and the body is a Warmoth. Most of the guitar is Warmoth except the neck and PU's (Texas Specials). The problem is the strings are extremely close to the neck. The bridge saddles are raised as high as they will go. The neck is straight but the strings seem awfully close.

I've been told this is common on hardtails. Is there anything I can do to raise the action a little short of putting a slight bow in the neck adjustment?

Are there 3rd party hardtail bridges available that are better than the Warmoth?

Thanks,

jeffhef

[r-senior]

Jeff, welcome to the forum.

It sounds more like the neck pitch could be wrong. The hardtail bridge has nothing to do with it.

The first thing you should do is make sure it is properly set up, especially neck relief. Don't just start tweaking the truss rod to get the action right. This page gives reasonable guidelines and, even without doing anything, you can verify some measurements:

http://mysite.verizon.net/jazz.guitar/guitarsetup.htm

It might help if you can post a few measurements:

a. String height at 12th fret
b. Neck relief (fret first and last, measure under 8th fret)

If you sit a straight-edge on the upper frets, where does it meet the bridge. How far off the body?