VM Fretless neck pocket chisel marks!

[Nunya Biznas]

Hi folks, I have a bit of an interesting problem.

I bought a VM fretless along with a set of flats, I strung up the bass, tuned and started setting it up and I noticed that "frets" 16-18 were dead or would buzz badly regardless of how the action or neck relief was set; I decided to take the neck off and to my chagrin it looked like someone had taken a chisel to the neck pocket!

At this point I was considering taking it back but I decided to repair it myself, I blew out all of the wood chips and dust and started to sand down all the marks and try to level it but the last half inch of the pocket (toward the bridge) had a deep slope and I decided to use some card stock to shim it. That seemed to work and the buzz went away in all but the 18 fret of the D string

My question is: Is the shim alright or should I just finish sanding the pocket level?

Second question: If I do sand it level and thus lowering the neck deeper into the body how is that going to affect the bass?

For double points: Why in the name of all things sacred did someone at the Squier factory take a chisel to the neck pocket?



Thanks!

[mongo2]

If the neck pocket is too deep it can make it necessary to lower the saddles to get the action you want. If the saddles bottom out before you get your action right that can be a problem. Even if they don't bottom out it could cause the break angle over the back of the saddles to be too shallow which would reduce the downward force on the saddle and start to inhibt transfer to the bridgeplate and body.

I've used full pocket flat shims on neck pockets that were too deep.

There could be a flip or "ski jump" at the end of the neck or a swale in the 16-18 area.

I'll sometimes shim the headstock end of the neck pocket to remedy the effect of a flip (it works on some) and the chiseling of the bridge end of the neck pocket may have been an attempt accomplish the same effect. It may be necessary to dress the end of the fingerboard to eliminate it. Another option is another neck.

[Nunya Biznas]

Thanks mongo.

I closely inspected the back of the neck and it was very flat, I think for now I will just leave the shim in and dress the fingerboard.