putting angle to a '59 lp jr build upbow or downbow?

[Jedi Clampett]

I am adapting parts to build a '59 lp jr type guitar.
I have purchased a gluein neck and know that the ideal degree for the neck is 3.5 degrees.
I have made one bolt in guitar, but this is my first glue in.
The glue in neck is flat on the bottom. Do I take 3.5 degrees from the bottom of the neck so that the guitar upbows? I have plans, but I also have conflicting information, that some says upbow and others downbow.
It will be easiest for me to make the angle on the neck and it being a single pickup. I am laminating on wood so the area for the neck pickup is filled.
I could do this on the body, but that is more work making a slider jig for a router.

The history behind this is that guitarfetish is selling off wood necks and bodies really cheap, so that I got a lp jr body and an sg neck glue in neck, but there is not angle as stated above. So ultimately will be putting on pearl inlay and binding that is on expensive gibson models and I have some elm burl veneer (very thin) that is going on the backs and fronts of the body and will use an opaque black or brown paint on the sides. I love the idea of a one pickup guitar and I have a lace deathbucker left over from a guitar I am building for my granddaughter and so will be doing some fancy single pu wiring.

[Mark Swanson]

It doesn't matter where you add the angle, to the neck or to the body, as long as the angle is right when get the neck glued in place. Do NOT get the angle wrong! So at this point it seems like it would be a lot easier to glue a shim on the base of the neck, and work it from there.

[John Sonksen]

If I'm understanding correctly you are asking whether, when looking at the side view of the guitar, the neck angle goes up or down from where it joins the body? It most certainly angles down from the body to compensate for the elevation of a tune o matic type bridge. If you go the other way it will be unplayable for anything but slide, and will be a major flaw in the construction. Since you are using a les Paul junior, with a flat top you don't need as much neck angle as a carved top les Paul. I know SG's had a neck angle but don't know what it is.

What you absolutely have to do is have all your parts on hand and do a full size drawing of where you want the neck to be, the bridge and the string path before you actually start routing or gluing. I personally prefer putting my angle at the heel of the neck, it seems easier than routing the pocket at an angle.

[Jedi Clampett]

thanks for the answers so far, do you know if the angle should be an upbow or a downbow for the neck. I have two sets of plans, one show an upbow and the other a downbow, so wondering which it is since it can't be both?

[Charlie Schultz]

The MIMF has a plan for a '59 LP Jr and the neck has about a 2 degree downtilt relative to the body.

[John Sonksen]

thanks for the answers so far, do you know if the angle should be an upbow or a downbow for the neck. I have two sets of plans, one show an upbow and the other a downbow, so wondering which it is since it can't be both?

Right, I said down.

[Bill Raymond]

"Jedi Clampett"?? Sounds like a Beverly Hills Space Warrior! Surely a pseudonym??

[Mark Swanson]

Jedi says that it's his real name, we asked him.
Again Jedi, your "upbow or downbow" question is confusing. A bow in the neck usually means it is not straight and bent from string pull, and neck angle is what we mean when we talk about the plane of the fingerboard relative to the top of the body, ok? You must be reading one of the plans wrong, or something. If you look at a guitar from the side, you'll see what we are talking about- in order to have the strings 3/4" high at the bridge, and the strings low to the frets, then you'll see that the neck must be at an angle to the top, right?

[Jedi Clampett]

I was born over 10yrs before the Beverly Hillbilly TV show, my first name is Jedidiah which is from the bible, so when the tv show came out, I was called "Jed" as a nickname, but when starwars came out in the 70s people started calling me Jedi which is a contraction of my name.
at least it is not Dweezel!

[Jeff Highland]

The 3 1/2 or 4 degree angle is a common figure for a carved top Les Paul not a flat top junior
For a junior use whatever angle gets you the right string height at the bridge for the bridge you are using AND gives you the right clearance over the pickup (if using a dogear p90)
You should allow for a little adjustment up or down
So tape your pickup cover in place, put your bridge on a shim and use a long straight edge from bridge to first fret to simulate a string and check 12th fret action

[Bill Raymond]

Jedi, my apologies for questioning your name. I can see why you go by Jedi rather than Jed; it just struck me as a rather odd coincidence, but it's a fine name.