What a huge difference a shim makes - neck position

Hmmm....Where, in the pocket, was the shim? Which end?

 

Yeah, it doesn't take much.

 

Yeah man geometry is a hell of a important thing.

 

I made the same discovery recently messing around with shimming.

I've tried everything and just can't tame this buzz I'm getting around the 10th fret on just the A and D strings. Messed with relief like crazy and tried a few different thicknesses of shim to achieve different neck angles, I just don't get it.

 

A .020 - .030 taper/angle from the front of the pocket to the back makes a large difference at the bridge. That's usually all that's needed regardless of which way the angle needs to be adjusted.

 

Everytime i start tinkering with a bass i end up taking it to a tech to fix it.

 

Shims are great for improving the action on a few of my vintage basses where the actions seem to have been set higher back in their day. I used plastic because it does not compress over time like paper will and I can find just about any thickness I need around the house. Set the truss, set the shim, set the bridge and I get a nice consistently spaced action along the entire fretboard with no buzz.

More basses now how an adjustment screw that acts as shim. My Peavey T40 has it and is something I wish more manufacturers incorporated into their necks.

 

I've always been amazed at how much one thickness of a business card can tilt a neck.

 

I am not a fan of using shims at the front of the neck pocket. Are you sure you can't get it set up properly without it?

 

1/16" times 30" adds up

 

I would only change neck/pocket angle if the bridge/ saddles cannot be adjusted far enough up or down. Pickup adjustment comes after.

If chosing to shim or taper the pocket, if it's needed in the front or the back- doesn't matter: it's what's req'd.

 

I bought a yard sale p bass for $13 recently. The neck was so weak and flimsy, that I had to use the truss rod to bow the neck back words a lot to withstand the string tension. So much in fact, that I had to shim the neck at the outside of the pocket bringing the nut foreword a huge amount. Thus, lowered the saddles to minimum and created a playable instrument after all the crazy geometry. Shims can save an instrument.

 

Do the neck screws slide through the holes in the body, or do you have to 'thread' them through?