You have the neck radius gauge, now what ?

[essexbasscat]

Interesting thread knocking about here recently where everyone shared their thoughts about checking neck relief. While the subject of checking necks is still fresh, I thought I'd ask a question about something I've been mulling over for a while.

A short while ago, a new set of neck radius gauges hit my doormat. On inspection, it's difficult to really tell much difference in curvature between gauges of 9.00, 9.50 and 10.00 or 14.00 and 15.00 etc.

When a gauge is placed on the neck, I find it quite a challenge to verify that one gauge is a closer match to the radius of the neck than another. In short, how do you tell which gauge is the correct one ?

Additionally, do people check the radius of the fretboard or the frets ? or both ?

Thanks all

EBC

[BassBus]

I look down the neck and if I see any light under the radius gauge then I know it's not the right one. When I find one that has no light under it that's what I go with. As for frets or fingerboard. Think about it. The frets follow the radius of the finger board so it is not going to make much difference which you check. It is going to be easier to hold the gauge against the finger board though, rather than trying to balance it on top of a fret. Equally there might be some wear on the fret which could give a false reading.

Edited July 12, 2013 by BassBus

[ikay]

Shining a light/torch behind the gauge can help to show up whether it's a fit or not (same as using a straight edge to check flatness of a fingerboard)