Neck shim, is this ok?

[cb56]

Just did a neck shim on a recently purchased USA peavey Millennium 5 plus. Low saddle disease. It's hard to believe one thickness of business card would make the difference but it sure does. I had to raise the saddles and now have super low action.
But I do have one thing I've noticed after I shimmed the neck on this bass and others I've done. I'm able to see a gap in the neck pocket and if I shine a flashlight there I can actually see the edge of the shim. The bass sounds fine and action is 5/64ths all the way across. (yummy!) but not sure if that gap is ok. The neck screws are tight without being toqued down too much (don't want to do that!) Here are some not so good pictures.
So I guess my question is if the bass plays alright and sounds alright is this ok?
I don't have a problem with taking it apart and redoing or removing the shim.


btw the little squiggly white line is a reflection, but it does kind of point to the area I'm talking about.

[mikeldtl]

Try using a thinner shim. A piece of 320 grit sandpaper has worked for me before and passed the "gap test". You only need to shim enough to get your action where you feel comfortable.

[cb56]

I've heard of some folks using drafting tape and just adding thicknesses. maybe I'll try that. But does the gap hurt anything?

[mikeldtl]

There's alot of mixed opinions on that. The common thought is that wood on wood contact is best, and if a shim is needed use as little of a thickness as possible. If you don't notice a difference I wouldn't worry about it. Many basses come shimmed from the factory, even certain high end ones have been found to have neck shims. Its on a piece by piece basis. Try either the sandpaper or drafting tape trick and see if that's thin enough to compress down and leave no noticeable gap. A thickness of 320 gave me about an extra 1/8" of adjustment on my Geddy Lee and is certainly thinner than a business card.

[sweetwillyp]

I like to Use Penny's Either Squashed or normal. It has always worked well for me over the 25+ years playing

[cb56]

ok, removed the cardboard shim and replaced it with two thicknesses of drafting tape and that seemed to do the trick. Not much of a noticable gap yet I still can get the action down to 1/16 if I wanted to.

[pacojas]

i just used two layers of "Wonder Tape" to lower the action on my '99 MIM Fender jbass 5'er. (its that tape you use to insulate PVC pipe)
this tape measures 10mil X 2" and its made of rubber. solid bond and compresses nicely with no gaps. gl.

[JLS]

Yes.

That is the very definition of, "OK".

[Pilgrim]

Yes. If it plays right and sounds right it is always OK.

[fenderfunker]

That gap could be a problem for the people in the back row. But seriously, two of my basses are the same, and I can't detect any tonal difference. If I had an Alembic with a gap, I might be more concerned. Mind you, I'm less inclined to do the neck bending harmonics type, pyrotechnics I do on my bass with the heal sitting firmly in the pocket.

[Rickett Customs]

I've only had one bass that I set up that needed this much of a shim. Although there's nothing wrong using a business card, I made a shim out of wood (very thin slice), that fit the neck pocket perfectly, the guy who owned the bass was thrilled with it and it is still his #1 gigging bass since.