NGD American Pro Jazzmaster in Mystic Seafoam

[mbe]

I always take out all the pickguard screws, adjust the correct neck alignment and then trim the pickguard to fit if necessary. Beats me why now one has to go Custom Shop to get this basic level of assembly from Fender.

[jdr1014]

If the pickguard is already tight against the side of the neck, then yes, you will probably need to shave or sand it slightly to allow for neck adjustment. You should be able to do this by lifting the pickguard after removing the PG screws.

edit: you may be able to adjust neck alignment by "pivoting" around the bass side neck/headstock screw as you said, but it will need to be loosened too. All depends on how much slack/clearance is available in all the screw holes through the neck, and more importantly, the neck pocket in the body and how the neck is currently positioned in it.

[papa_hotel_delta]

Nice looking JM.

I think this is a string spacing issue and I would bet that if you had a micrometer it would tell you that the bridge is around 55/56mm E to E. This is a really an all-too-common issue on many newer Fender/Squire offsets.

[jdr1014]

I think we assume this is the 55mm AmPro bridge rather than later 52mm........looks like it by the position of strings over pickup polepieces. However, the bigh e appears to be much closer to the edge of the fretboard than low e, hence the suggestion to correct neck alignment. Pretty common and easy to correct.

[whitewatersky]

I'll report back about the bridge width - was too shagged after work to bother do anything other than play it lazily while watching TV

I had a trawl around here for pickguard trimming/shaving techniques - hmmmm couldn't find anything... maybe just use sandpaper slowly if required

gotta say, that low E is always sliding down outta the groove. I guess it's due to me resting my palm behind the bridge too often. best quit doin' that !

Not as noticeable on my old JM...

[whitewatersky]

[whitewatersky]

[whitewatersky]

Seems I might have a bit more space between string and fret end. Probably shoulda taken some measurements before the adjustment. will see how it goes