I shimmed my neck (and the sound changed)

[bassgirls]

Hey all.

I put a .25 degree shim in my neck pocket, and now the bass sounds a lot more "quacky" (not sure how else to describe it...kinda thinner with more treble).

Any idea why this would be?

Thank you.

 

[Bijoux]

why did you put the shim in the neck pocket?

 

[MasterG]

I shaved my neck and my voice went up and octave.

 

[bassgirls]

why did you put the shim in the neck pocket?

The action was 2mm with the low E saddle down as low as it could go, so there was zero room for adjustment. I was fine with it at 2mm, but I thought that was a sign the angle wasn't right.

Now the angle is much better, and I can adjust the saddles, but the tone changed!

 

[bassgirls]

PS. I used one of those .25 stewmac shims, so there is solid contact all around.

 

[Gunga Din]

Watch out when shimming a neck. Even though the neck angle changes (allowing you to raise string height) you will sometimes get string choke up the dusty end which can manifest itself across the whole neck. Is this 'quack' string choke, I'd ask you?

 

[dxb]

I don't know how a shim would change the tone, but it sounds like you probably don't need it. Most of my basses measure 2-2.5mm on the E string at the 17th fret and 2mm on the G. A lot of them also have one or two saddles that are bottomed out. Its a common scenario.

 

[bassgirls]

Watch out when shimming a neck. Even though the neck angle changes (allowing you to raise string height) you will sometimes get string choke up the dusty end which can manifest itself across the whole neck. Is this 'quack' string choke, I'd ask you?

What does string choke up the dusty end mean?

The strings seemed to be ringing clearly, they just had a "sharpness" to them (not pitch but a quacky/trebly tone). I just went ahead and removed the shim, and my old tone is back. It is so much more pleasant! Very round and smooth. It's crazy how much the shim changed things.

Like I said, it was one of those $9 stewmac shims that fits the pocket with a taper, so I don't think it was air in the pocket or anything. That was a really weird experience!

 

[Maxdusty]

by changing the angle of the neck and raising the saddles, the break angle over the saddles also changed. That's the reason for the kind of sound you're getting, the angle is not ideal, probably too much. Here's a thread that might be of help.

Effect of tilting neck vs raising saddles

 

[elgranluis]

My guess is that now , the pickups simply need to be adjusted so that they are as close to the strings as they were before.

Every time you adjust "something" , there is something else that needs to be compensated accordingly.

 

[bassgirls]

by changing the angle of the neck and raising the saddles, the break angle over the saddles also changed. That's the reason for the kind of sound you're getting, the angle is not ideal, probably too much. Here's a thread that might be of help.

Effect of tilting neck vs raising saddles

Great, thank you. I will read that in the morning. I thought I read somewhere a steeper angle helped tone.
The strings felt "tighter" on my right hand when plucking, too. I bet that was the steeper angle.

 

[bassgirls]

My guess is that now , the pickups simply need to be adjusted so that they are as close to the strings as they were before.

Every time you adjust "something" , there is something else that needs to be compensated accordingly.

That's a good point, too. They were further away with the shim. Would them being further away create more treble/quack, though? I'd think it would mellow them out.

 

[Maxdusty]

Great, thank you. I will read that in the morning. I thought I read somewhere a steeper angle helped tone.
The strings felt "tighter" on my right hand when plucking, too. I bet that was the steeper angle.

Yup, that's what I'm thinking, I was going to ask next if the tension felt different to you after the shim. it's not resonating correctly as the tension is tighter, hence that quack. I think this is what Gunga Din's comment above alluded to, to the string being "choked".

Edit: changing one thing on a bass most often means adjusting another part to compensate, the pickups are probably farther away from the strings, and if so, it would change the output. Pickups are lowered to "tame" the sound somewhat if it's too responsive and pickups are raised if it's too quiet. it shouldn't be the reason for the quacking sound, although the tone could be affected by the sensitivity of the pickups.

 

[pht2356]

Try different strings

 

[BurnOut]

I've used aluminum foil and sometimes guitar pick, never really had a sound problem from either. Seen where people used aluminum widow screen with good results also.

 

[Jeff Scott]

As mentioned above, when putting the shim in to allow raising the saddle to get the string height where you want it on the neck the pickups stayed where they originally were but now with the shim in place the strings are higher above the pickups. You need to raise the pickups so they will be where they were before adding the shim relative to the strings. Get it?

 

[jamro217]

That's a good point, too. They were further away with the shim. Would them being further away create more treble/quack, though? I'd think it would mellow them out.

The greater the distance from the strings to the pickups, the weaker the signal due to the reduced effect of the magnetic field. Bass takes more power to reproduce than treble does, so that's where the difference is noticed first. Raising the pickups too high may result in wolf tones and reduced clarity. Ideal adjustment is a happy medium. If you want to get a cleaner, less distorted sound, lowering the pickups a hint will do that. Lowering them a bit more will produce an airy feel. Lowering them more than that will result in an anemic response. The difference in string tension due to shimming the neck wouldn't be any more noticeable than using the next heavier gauge string. That doesn't change your tone so extremely.

 

[MDBass]

That's a good point, too. They were further away with the shim. Would them being further away create more treble/quack, though? I'd think it would mellow them out.

Yes. The bass response increases the closer the pickups get to the strings.

 

[Wiremessiah]

that's a pretty steep angle as well, right? don't they start at 1 degree?

 

[rollie 55]

Hey all.

I put a .25 degree shim in my neck pocket, and now the bass sounds a lot more "quacky" (not sure how else to describe it...kinda thinner with more treble).

Any idea why this would be?

Thank you.

this happend to one of my bass's a stingray. when i it got the action was very high so had a shim fitted same as yours sort of rattle'y treble sound i raised the action a bit and it kinda worked