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anyone ever shim a graphite neck?

H

Hoover

Inactive
Nov 2, 2007
4,388
96
New York City
debris.rednotebook.org
#1
I've had my Modulus Graphite Quantum-6 SPX for over 19 years and in all that time I've never had to do anything to the neck: The action & intonation were fine, stable, always playable, never needed any tweaking...heck, most of the time I didn't even need to retune when I took it out of the case. But I've spent the past two or three years primarily playing other basses, mostly fretless (first a Peavey Unity neck-thru, then a Warmoth 5-string J bass, & most recently a Rob Allen MB-2).

A couple weeks ago I took the Modulus to a jam session, first time I'd played it in maybe 18-24 months, and I was shocked at how high the action was!

Now, I'm not positive anything's changed; perhaps I just got so accustomed to the super-low action of my fretless basses that I forgot what the Modulus felt like? Then again, the Modulus was my main bass for a good 10 or 15 years, you'd think I oughtta know how it plays...

So anyway...it seems as if a simple shim under the very end of the neck -- a common setup device for conventional wood necked basses -- would get the action closer to where I'd ideally want it. (It's fine at the low end of the neck, but seems way high towards the middle & high end.) I've just never heard of anyone needing to shim their graphite necked instruments.

Should I just go ahead and shim away, or should I be concerned that something more potentially catastrophic happened to my Modulus during its dormancy?
 
#2
Hoover said:
I've had my Modulus Graphite Quantum-6 SPX for over 19 years and in all that time I've never had to do anything to the neck: The action & intonation were fine, stable, always playable, never needed any tweaking...heck, most of the time I didn't even need to retune when I took it out of the case. But I've spent the past two or three years primarily playing other basses, mostly fretless (first a Peavey Unity neck-thru, then a Warmoth 5-string J bass, & most recently a Rob Allen MB-2).

A couple weeks ago I took the Modulus to a jam session, first time I'd played it in maybe 18-24 months, and I was shocked at how high the action was!

Now, I'm not positive anything's changed; perhaps I just got so accustomed to the super-low action of my fretless basses that I forgot what the Modulus felt like? Then again, the Modulus was my main bass for a good 10 or 15 years, you'd think I oughtta know how it plays...

So anyway...it seems as if a simple shim under the very end of the neck -- a common setup device for conventional wood necked basses -- would get the action closer to where I'd ideally want it. (It's fine at the low end of the neck, but seems way high towards the middle & high end.) I've just never heard of anyone needing to shim their graphite necked instruments.

Should I just go ahead and shim away, or should I be concerned that something more potentially catastrophic happened to my Modulus during its dormancy?
Click to expand...

You could inspect the neck and see if it has bowed and needs adjustment, assuming it has a truss rod. If it doesn't have any means of adjustment and it is bowed contact Modulus. A shim may help and won't harm anything to try.
 
#4
The answer to shimming a composite neck will have no adverse effect on the neck or the body. It will simply change the geometry of the instrument. It is neither usual or unusual.

The big question is whether or not any adjustment needs be made. To answer that more data will be required. String height at the twelfth and last fret on both bass and treble sides, and the amount of relief in the neck at pitch are the measurements to take.

As far as trusting memory goes, there is one thing that is sure. Memories may be faulty but data does not lie.
 
#6
I tend to like my necks shimmed as well to raise the strings off of the instrument a little and add a little more pressure on the saddles. I have not tried it with a Modulus yet but I have a Modulus 5 string neck that I plan to build a bass around in the next few months.
 
#8
I shimmied my Modulus Quantum, too. The second time now, because I couldn´t lower the strings anymore. It being a fretless neck I wnted the strings closer to the surface. i unscrewed the neck, placed som 0,6mm maple stips to fit excactly into the neck pocket and resrewed the whole deal, and, voila, perfect. so, don´t hesitate. It´s no thaaang.
 

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