High E mis-aligned

Hello:

I have a 72 Tele Thinline and I haven't picked it up for years. Now that I have, It seems that the high e string almost fall off the fretboard on the bridge end. the nut is still in good condition and the bridge piece appears fine. The neck stock is tightly butted into the body. I thought perhaps a truss rod adjustment would help but it hasn't. This fender has been in a dry basement for about 4 years. I would appreciate any thoughts on this problem.

regards;
Rob

Hm... well, most basements... although seeming dry in nature, are in fact high in humidity. Humidity being woods worst enemy (next to termites) the wood of the guitar may have expanded in a certain area. One thing that people miss when they diagnose problems like this is the fact that the body of the guitar is made of wood as well. Most people assume that since the neck isn't straight... the problem lies within the neck... Your problem doesn't sound to me to be the neck becuase you say that it's only the bottom that you see the difference. It very well could be the neck pocket of the body. Neck pockets aren't lacquered like the rest of the body... this allows a tight joint between the body and the neck and allows the woods to transfer vibrations... This however can cause problems with swelling. When the pocket becomes saturated it can cause bumps in the wood or small swelling areas that may push the neck from side to side... or even tilt the neck back and forth. Obviously... this is most prevelent in guitars that come stock with less than tight fitting neck joints. The problem COULD be the neck simply aging... wood will expand and shrink no matter how constant the humidity. over a four year period this may have just budged the neck enough to make you notice it. It could be such a thing as if you take it to a tech he may just take the neck off and reset it. But that's my thoughts... it's probably nothing too serious... but most likely a truss rod adjustement wont do anything. Truss rods are made for concaving and convexing and counteracting string tension... not by twisting or moving the neck laterally. Good luck

Over A decade ago I was lucky enough to be able to buy an All American les Paul Studio - unbeknown to me it had been fitted with a jap bridge.
Two years later, I had to spend almost a year in hospital.
During this time the 'B ' string had chewed another groove in the bridge - I had constant tuning problems as the ' B ' string moved between the two grooves during strumming - I couldn't see the extra groove, but I could feel it.
I filed away the ' Wrong groove ' and it cured the problem.