neck shim review

jacksonknox27

jacksonknox27

New member
Last month i looked at a previous forum that discussed neck shims, and i thought maybe my jackson needed one. My reasoning was that I had the trem really deep in the cavity to make the action some what playable, and whenever i bent the bar up, it would hit the wood in the trem cavity, which wasnt enjoyable. Also, the action was still higher than i would prefer.

I decided to use masking tape, because you can increase the neck angle slightly with each peice you put on. I also read that the sound vibrations would still be able to travel thru the neck to the body since they are wood-based. I used 3 layers of tape at the high fret end of the neck, and staggered the tape so that there would be a very very small air gap.

In the end, i got to raise my trem because the action was now too low :banana: Now, the action is near perfect, the sustain is still nice, and i can do huge dime squeals with my floyd!!!

I would definetly reccomend doing this to any bolt on guitar if you notice that the action is too high and the bridge cant get lower. It made my guitar play like butter!
 
Re: neck shim review

jacksonknox27 said:
Last month i looked at a previous forum that discussed neck shims, and i thought maybe my jackson needed one. My reasoning was that I had the trem really deep in the cavity to make the action some what playable, and whenever i bent the bar up, it would hit the wood in the trem cavity, which wasnt enjoyable. Also, the action was still higher than i would prefer.

I decided to use masking tape, because you can increase the neck angle slightly with each peice you put on. I also read that the sound vibrations would still be able to travel thru the neck to the body since they are wood-based. I used 3 layers of tape at the high fret end of the neck, and staggered the tape so that there would be a very very small air gap.

In the end, i got to raise my trem because the action was now too low :banana: Now, the action is near perfect, the sustain is still nice, and i can do huge dime squeals with my floyd!!!

I would definetly recommend doing this to any bolt on guitar if you notice that the action is too high and the bridge cant get lower. It made my guitar play like butter!
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Yup, I did the same thing on all my axes. By using masking tape on various parts of the neck heel itself, you can super fine tune the neck angle as needed. The tape doesn't slip and you can stagger it so there is good coupling.

I've found that running a strip parallel to the high E really helps when you want to lower the action on the high B&E strings, but can't because lowering the saddles/bridge produces buzzing.

You can't see the difference (I can't anyway, the tape is prob 1/64" if that), but you will feel it.

Highly recommended.
 
Re: neck shim review

I use thin hobby brass sheets... buy it at model and hobby stores.. it comes in different thickness's.... i heard kitchen aluminum foil is good too!
 
Re: neck shim review

What's the consensus on that neck-tilt adjustment thingie that Fender puts in some of their higher-end models? It works well for me and is a pretty easy mod.
 
Re: neck shim review

Arkitkt said:
What's the consensus on that neck-tilt adjustment thingie that Fender puts in some of their higher-end models? It works well for me and is a pretty easy mod.
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Less wood to wood contact though.
 
Re: neck shim review

big_black said:
Less wood to wood contact though.
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Yes, but wood to metal to metal to wood instead. :laugh2:

It didn't affect the tone of my Strat at all. At least I don't hear a difference.
 
Re: neck shim review

Arkitkt said:
Yes, but wood to metal to metal to wood instead. :laugh2:

It didn't affect the tone of my Strat at all. At least I don't hear a difference.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's prolly not anything noticable.
 
Re: neck shim review

A tech i used to use 15 years ago used to remove the finnish from the bottom of my strat necks and the bottom of the neck pocket so it was wood touching wood... weather it worked better for tone or not who knows....

Godin makes a big deal about their neck joints being tight..... I do have to say my Solidac is a great guitar for of great sustain....
 
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