rogerzilla Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 The taper is incredibly hard to make yourself. I believe one method is to attach the full-thickness shim to a thicker piece of wood with some kind of non-permanent glue, then sand it, but it's a lot of work and you probably still won't get an even angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 5 hours ago, rogerzilla said: I have used these shims on Teles. They are tapered, they absolutely do the job (allowing you to raise the bridge without also raising the action) and they can't be ply if they're that thin - think about what plywood is. The edges usually need a bit of sandpapering to get them to fit with no overlap. I think they are a compromise Strat/Tele fit, and the pockets of these guitars have different corners. The advantage over a piece of card is that you get full body to neck contact with no gaps, and no risk of a kink in the neck over time. If you've used tapered shims, you haven't used the ones in the OP. And I don't know why you've mentioned plywood, I don't think anybody else did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerzilla Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Just now, tauzero said: If you've used tapered shims, you haven't used the ones in the OP. And I don't know why you've mentioned plywood, I don't think anybody else did. The OP says "some sort of ply". Without a photo from the side, I wouldn't know if they really weren't tapered, but I would be surprised if they weren't. It's not easy to see a 0.5 degree angle (the most commonly-used shim) by eye - the difference in thickness is only 0.5mm from end to end. The thick end should be upwards if you hold one so you can read the printing. Anyway, I bought the eBay ones, have used them on two Teles, and they tilt the neck just as you'd expect. They just need a little trimming/sanding of the edges, as they're too wide and overhang the pocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 6 minutes ago, rogerzilla said: The OP says "some sort of ply". Without a photo from the side, I wouldn't know if they really weren't tapered, but I would be surprised if they weren't. It's not easy to see a 0.5 degree angle (the most commonly-used shim) by eye - the difference in thickness is only 0.5mm from end to end. The thick end should be upwards if you hold one so you can read the printing. Anyway, I bought the eBay ones, have used them on two Teles, and they tilt the neck just as you'd expect. They just need a little trimming/sanding of the edges, as they're too wide and overhang the pocket. I checked the two I had left with digital calipers, and they weren't tapered. For whatever reason, the first one did the job on the bass I used it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerzilla Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Just now, tauzero said: I checked the two I had left with digital calipers, and they weren't tapered. For whatever reason, the first one did the job on the bass I used it on. You must have different ones to.mine, then. Mine are branded Muspor (no, me neither). The 0.5° shim measures 0.93mm at one end and 0.52mm at the other, which is reasonably close to 0.5° given these are made from wood (trig says the difference should be 0.66mm and it's 0.41mm). The shim I have is definitely one piece of wood as the grain runs through to the other side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted August 19 Author Share Posted August 19 Speaking as the op, I did measure them with mitutoyu vernier calipers and they definitely weren't tapered. The seller refunded me without requesting I return them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 6 hours ago, rogerzilla said: The advantage over a piece of card is that you get full body to neck contact with no gaps, and no risk of a kink in the neck over time. 54 minutes ago, rogerzilla said: You must have different ones to.mine, then. Mine are branded Muspor (no, me neither). The 0.5° shim measures 0.93mm at one end and 0.52mm at the other, which is reasonably close to 0.5° given these are made from wood (trig says the difference should be 0.66mm and it's 0.41mm). If the thinner end doesn't taper away to nothing then these shims offer no advantage real or imagined over a piece of card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 4 hours ago, rogerzilla said: The taper is incredibly hard to make yourself. I believe one method is to attach the full-thickness shim to a thicker piece of wood with some kind of non-permanent glue, then sand it, but it's a lot of work and you probably still won't get an even angle. Truth is, shims are a little like snake oil. I'd wager that there's many guys on Basschat, that for one reason or another have needed to shim a neck; better playability/action, saddles too high/low. In most cases you can probably just use a (single) piece of a cardboard cornflake box or maybe just a playing card between the screws and end of the neck pocket, although some would undoubtedly advocate that a full size shim will improve tone/sustain and so forth. Reality? There's absolutely no necessity to line StewMac's pockets for the sake of a plywood/wood shim. Reckon there's loads of you out there with bolt-on neck basses that haven't got a clue what's lurking inside the neck pocket. The neck wood isn't going to flex or bend if there's a playing card in there and it's not going to make the slightest difference tonally Remember also that Fender experimented with a tilt adjustment on their 70s Jazz basses; that was just a three screw neck plate...loosen off one of the screws, make an tilt adjustment (a bolt goes against a circular plate attached to the heel) and tighten everything up. These are probably viewed as vintage classics now. . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted August 19 Author Share Posted August 19 I think an earlier comment referenced that tilt screw, and the users who neglected to slacken the bolts before tweaking it. My 70s P boasted a shim, and like you say it wasn't a tapered wedge, just a lump at the end of the pocket. There was about half a metric inch space between the edges of the heel and the pocket, another key indicator of Quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerzilla Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 There's an actual photo here of what can happen if you shim with just a piece of card or wood at one end. https://hazeguitars.com/blog/the-perils-of-bad-neck-shims 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted August 19 Author Share Posted August 19 I'm very sceptical about that, maybe if the neck was made of plasticine... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obrienp Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 My local luthier just uses bits of credit card. I got the tip from him. His view is that it is more likely that the shim will make an impression in the neck and/or neck pocket over time, which will lead to the need to shim again. I guess if the body is made out of a softer wood like basswood, or obeche this could be an issue. I can’t really see it happening with a maple neck, or an ash body but I guess the neck screws are exerting a lot of pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 I have shimmed necks and I have had guitars (mostly) and a bass with shims. I never saw any issues caused by it. If you want some fancy wooden slanted shim then fine, knock yourself out, I would never critisize for taking precautions, but having played strats that have had shims in them for 40 years and seen no issues, its not something I am going to worrry about 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Don't tighten the neck screws like Desperate Dan? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 When I shimmed one neck with a brass shim, I put it over the two neck bolts closest to the bridge rathe than between them and the end of the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 2 hours ago, rogerzilla said: There's an actual photo here of what can happen if you shim with just a piece of card or wood at one end. https://hazeguitars.com/blog/the-perils-of-bad-neck-shims Nope. The heel joint is like 1/2" thick, the article is nonsense from that perspective. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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