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Shim The Neck


Hobbayne
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I cant get the saddles on my Nate Mendel P Bass any lower. Its not a Badass bridge, (I think they were only fitted to the early models) but a Fender type.
I cant get the truss rod set and the action set together. Would a shim be my best bet??

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[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1489753736' post='3259469']
I cant get the saddles on my Nate Mendel P Bass any lower. Its not a Badass bridge, (I think they were only fitted to the early models) but a Fender type.
I cant get the truss rod set and the action set together. Would a shim be my best bet??
[/quote]

Possibly. If you do shim then you are better off getting one of the StewMac full pocket ones so there's no risk of ski jump later on, and you don't lose any contact between neck and body. They do .25 .5 and 1 degree as a set for a P bass pocket size

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I got a set of shaped and unshaped ones - they really are very good. Needed a little bit of tweaking with a sharp blade to fit my P absolutely perfectly, but its solid as a rock and I've noticed absolutely no difference between shimmed and unshimmed. Often, you notice a big difference, I find. I used the Shaped .25 degree and it raised my saddles by about 1.5 - 2 mm.

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[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1489761160' post='3259594']
I have a similar problem with my MIM Fender Geddy Lee Jazz, so these suggestions are useful. Where would one get these shims of which you speak?
[/quote]

Stewmac in the US.

They have a shipping to the uk deal on at the moment.

Edited by Bridgehouse
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[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1489788634' post='3259967']
I used an old credit or membership card. Cut that down and shimmed using that. Worked alright for me and cost nothing 😁
[/quote]

The issue is that all of the neck plate doesn't contact the whole length of the pocket. There's a step. As the wood is under tension via the screws it can warp a bit over time. Some say you lose a bit of sustain at the same time.

It's not definitive, but it is a risk. And losing some sustain is certainly possible - after all why have through necks at all? ;)

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[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1489837743' post='3260199']
I've never noticed any difference in sound or sustain using a shim of card, on either basses or guitars.
[/quote]

I definitely have.

And I've played a few old ones with a shim that have had a definite ski jump above the 14th fret..

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1489843398' post='3260265']
I've mentioned this before and it upset some owners but most musicman basses come with a factory shim made of plastic, at the same time I've never heard of one having the ski jump neck issue, then they do have six bolts spread across a larger area than fenders.
[/quote]

Dunno if 6 bolts makes a difference, but it might.

To be fair most 70s Fenders came with a factory shim.

I guess I'm reluctant to shove a bit of old plastic in the neck pocket when I can get one that fits and is made out of a decent tonewood.

Placebo? Maybe. To me it's noticeable. For the sake of 10 quid I think it can't do any harm.

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[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1489849582' post='3260320']
Surely it's not beyond the wit of some UK manufacturer to produce shims equivalent to StewMac's? And at a reasonable cost, too.

G.
[/quote]

Presumably the margins are very slim? (Ha ha)

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[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1489860972' post='3260422']
You could swap out the bridge for a standard fender bbot that would give you a bit more play unless I have read it wrong lol
[/quote]

Yes, that is another option I,m thinking of.

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