I've heard of neck shims being used to help get a lower action, but how do they actually accomplish this? What do they actually do?
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Purpose of Neck Shims?
- Thread starter KingRazor
- Start date
Technically you don't use them to lower your action, you use them to improve the angle the neck meets the body if the current angle is not satisfactory. This in turn allows you to adjust the bass for a lower action.
I say it like this: if your neck has the proper relief adjustment and the saddles have bottomed-out, you probably need a shim at the neck pocket (towards the bridge) When you do that, it changes the angle of the neck, and you can then raise the saddles just enough to get a nice action and a proper break angle on the saddles.
I frequently use a flat shim to raise the neck which allows me to raise the saddles to achieve a steeper break angle of the strings coming off the back of the saddle to the string anchor.
While this can be achieved with a neck tilt or "tilting" shim as others describe I prefer not to mess with the neck/body geometry unless it's absolutely necessary.
While this can be achieved with a neck tilt or "tilting" shim as others describe I prefer not to mess with the neck/body geometry unless it's absolutely necessary.
I tried what Chunger did and use a little bit of business card underneath the bridge-side of the heel of the neck. I think this helped.
The problem was, as I was adding more and more relief in the neck to try to reduce the amount of rattling at the first few frets, the action was getting a little too high at the upper frets. This shim helped reduce that difference in height and now there's more consistency. We're talking hundredths or thousandths of inches here, but it's a noticeable difference.
The problem was, as I was adding more and more relief in the neck to try to reduce the amount of rattling at the first few frets, the action was getting a little too high at the upper frets. This shim helped reduce that difference in height and now there's more consistency. We're talking hundredths or thousandths of inches here, but it's a noticeable difference.
AFAIK, Fender has never used a flat or full pocket shim as you frequently advocate, FWIW - I'm going with Fender on this one...
- georgestrings
Odds are good that in order to achieve a great setup, it'll require a level and recrown... Really, the only time a shim is necessary is when you run out of adjustment room at the saddle height screws...
- georgestrings
Yeah, the saddles aren't quite bottomed out but they're just about. At least the E and G strings.
The frets haven't had any work and knowing the reputation of SX I wouldn't be surprised if it needed at least some spot-work on them but at least I don't have any fret buzz with this setup. The action isn't uncomfortably high anywhere and I can now play with a little more "force" and not get any string rattle.
- Aug 5, 2005
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- Endorsing Artist: J.C. Basses
I can see how it's sometimes necessary to raise the entire neck up. My 8-string bass neck sat about 3/32" too low, so after modifying the bridge slightly to get my preferred low action for the strings, a few of them rattled in the bridge (having almost no break angle at all). I had to shim the whole neck up with mahogany and then toss in another 1/32" of angling shims to keep my string from rattling and get the action I needed.
I guess I could have just strung the problematic strings through-body, but I prefer top-loading so that I can change and clean my strings without damaging them.
I started out using a flat shim for the more extreme case as you mention as I've found on more tha a few Fenders form the '70s, but I found that the flat shim also works very well for less extreme cases.
However, I still most commonly use a stairstep wedge of layers of masking tape as a shim and have for decades. (Lets see what georgestrings has to say about that one...LOL)
Ummm, that this is the 1st time I've ever seen you post anything like that - every other time, you've done nothing but push the idea of a flat shim as being better than a partial to change neck angle...
- georgestrings
Not pushing anything, just stating how I do things. If you don't like how I do things that's just too bad for you.
I've mentioned my masking tape stairstep wedge shim several times on this board. If you don't believe me, just do a search under my username and the word "stairstep" to find several.
Maybe you should do more research before you start criticizing others.
BTW, a reverse stairstep tape shim in conjunction with a flat shim has helped turn more than a few guitars an basses with a ski jump flip back into playable instruments.
Give it up, dude - only a kitchen table hack would advocate a full length shim as much as you do...
- georgestrings
LOL, trying to insult me says much more about you than it does about me.
Insults are the last resort of someone who has no argument left.
What works, works.
BTW, a "kitchen table hack" ultimately resulted in the birth of at least one famous electric guitar. Not to mention other things such as personal computers (techincally though that could be more of a "garage hack")
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Some of the SX basses benefit quite nicely from a full length shim. A full length shim is a valid option on some basses.
