actually, he's right. that's why a lot people prefer bolt on necks - because you can shim them to get the set-up you desire. graphite rods don't change that and if you have bolt on necks it is quite likely there is a shim in at least one of them.
I'm gonna guess that you have not read carefully the several posts Rabidhamster and I made on the subject of micro-tilt adjustment systems.
He is under the impression that part of every standard bass setup is dialing your neck heel up or down (or using a shim) to meet where your bridge saddle happens to be sitting, as opposed to using the adjustable bridge saddles to set string height.
He recommends that you move your neck heel up or down every time you change string gauge and/or change your strings.
He is under the impression that a bridge is for setting string length for intonation and to make adjustments to follow fretboard radius only, sorry that's just incorrect.
I have no shims in any of my basses and have not used the micro-tilt feature (that all my USA Peavey basses have) to adjust string height.
I did not say that shims are not a fact of life sometimes, I said they were, but also said that if you need one, it is an indication that the neck pocket, neck/heel, and the bridge are not all at correct specifications.
If a manufacturing company cuts a correct pocket and makes a neck to a precise spec, and chooses a compatible bridge, and the bass stays that way, then you can set a bass up correctly forever without a micro-tilt system.
The pocket and neck heel should be cut to fit correctly with the bridge when the saddles are right in the middle of their height adjustment range, then people have room to adjust the saddles to set their string height higher or lower to taste.
My comment about graphite rods was, that it is a better way to spend money at manufacturing than going to the cost of making a neck adjustment system you can dial up and down on a set screw every time you set up your bass.
The rods obviously have nothing to do with pocket/heel/bridge specs, I just happen to think it's money well spent to add support rods to make a really stable neck as opposed to making a fancy system that solves a problem that should not exist, and can be solved with a shim that costs nothing.
If you need one, a shim should be a one time thing, but it's still is a fix for a bass that is a bit out of whack in one or more of the areas I indicated above.
Does that make things more clear?
