Strat Tele Neck Shims

[MetalManiac]

As an amateur assembler of Mutt Strats and Teles, I find many of them need a neck pocket shim- most to raise the neck ( shim at end fo neck heel towards bridge) , but some to angle the neck back for lower action ( shim in neck heel towards headstock). There are a lotta ways people shim necks. I have been able to make a thing business card shim work in most intances , but the best way might be to use these http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_an...itar_Necks/StewMac_Neck_Shims_for_Guitar.html shims from StewMac. They're a little pricey for what they are ($7/ea), but they look nice. You can get them in 3 different angles (.25°, .5° and 1°), and they cover the entire pocket so you don't lose any tone or sustain like you might just using a pick, matchbook cover, business card, etc. as a makeshift shim.

I'm going to be trying these out in a assembly Strat that the neck is way too high and the strings hit the frets and fret out. I do not believe in raising the saddles any more than medium height, and I do not want to raise the bridge, and I wouldn't know how to anyway. I am hoping these shims will work best. I will be reversing them, and read one review where the holes do not line up reversed, so you must drill new holes in the shim in order not to split the shim.

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

Yup, they look like the best solution for many problems. If you've ever tried creating your own angled shim from solid wood, you'll happily pay the asking price of these.

Maybe they should sell the same range with NO holes drilled, as well as the current versions ?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

the do have blanks with no holes but they also dont have rounded corners. cool option but $7 is a little steep

 

[AniML]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

the do have blanks with no holes but they also dont have rounded corners. cool option but $7 is a little steep

Agree. Thats why they put Jokers in card decks.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

but ya need those if ya play spades. a buddy of mine is a magician/card shark so he has tons of old decks and cards work just fine

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

You don't need to shim, you need to level your frets correctly with fallaway.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

You don't need to shim, you need to level your frets correctly with fallaway.

I want full meat on my frets, and definitely needs a shim, and BTW, the .5 degree shim worked perfect, if you don't mind that you can see the shim between neck and body. . Installed backwards with the thicker end towards head stock, and had to drill through the shim cause holes do not line up quite right backwards of the way usually used with thicker end towards bridge( to lower neck). I will for sure be using these again.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

I want full meat on my guitar actually resonating. I also want my frets to play perfectly everywhere.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

MM'kay hotshot- personaly, I think you are out o your tree , , and no one with any sense would spend 150 bucks to level the frets askew ( rendering thr neck uselss on any otehr guitar ) on a neckheel taht has been slightly tweaked in the heel to where it needs a shim. More power to you guitar ace.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

Sorry I didn't mean to be all uppity. But that was just my experience. I did the fret job myself and it worked out much better than shimming. There was buzz in the upper frets so instead of shimming at an angle to get the strings to clear, I leveled the frets with fallaway so the proper downward angle is in the frets.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

A full wooden shim (which is what we are talking about) is just as good as having the neck rout cut that way from the start.
Fallaway is a viable option, but WAY more time consuming and you really have to watch your precision......its much better to have fallaway sanded into the neck/fretboard than manufactured in the frets.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

True. But a full set up requires a fret level to play perfectly anyway. Why not just get it right and contour the frets so that the guitar plays perfectly without a shim?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

But a fall away is not the only 'get it right' option. And I wouldn't consider a fall away in the frets to be best option. And it takes time and precision that simply putting in a shim doesn't.
I would put that stewmac shim over a fret fallaway 100% of the time.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

But a fall away is not the only 'get it right' option. And I wouldn't consider a fall away in the frets to be best option. And it takes time and precision that simply putting in a shim doesn't.
I would put that stewmac shim over a fret fallaway 100% of the time.

yepo

 

[Mincer]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

I'd pay the $7 so I don't have to make one. They aren't easy to make...especially ones that fade to 0.

 

[Diego]

Re: Strat Tele Neck Shims

I would pay for those shims with a **** eating grin on my face.
God knows I've wasted hours trying to angle shims correctly.