What material for a neck shim?

[Rich_S]

I need to shim the neck of my MIM Tele. Even the mighty Dan Erlewine admits making a true tapered wood shim is difficult, so I plan to use some thin stock, folded to make three stair-steps. So, I'll have no shim material at the mouth of the pocket, and then move up, one, two, and finally three thickenesses of my shim material at the end of the neck.

What to use? Paper seems kind cheesy, though is perhaps closest to wood in consistency. Perhaps soaking some thin superglue into it would bind the stair-step layer togther and give it a bit more substance.

What about other materials? Plastic? Aluminum?

Toss me some ideas... what's your experience? What have you gleaned from books, forums, etc?

 

[marvar]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

I don't have any more guitars with bolt on necks, but when I did, I would often use guitar picks, you can get them in lots of different thicknesses and shapes, and I would ususally cut and shape the picks into shim stock as I nedded them.
I never did the stair step thing, and I'm not sure that is the way to go- unless you need to build up the whole neck pocket over all-I just put what ever thickness I needed near the end of the neck pocket.
THis may have been all wrong- but it worked for me.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

Always use thin layers of wood that is used to make laminates...
Those are thin and well made of wood

 

[RockStarNick]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

There's two types of shims you can make.

1. A full length shim, which has the exact taper that you want.

2. Just a shim at the base of the neck pocket, which will leave a paper-thin section of "air" between the neck and neck-pocket inbetween the bolts.

I can honestly say that there is NOTHING wrong with option #2, and the difference in tone between a shimmed neck and non-shimmed neck (on both tele's that I've shimmed) is imperceptable to my ear, and I'm picky as HELL.

I like to use maple. If you go to http://www.theveneerstore.com, you can buy VERY thin sample sheets of real maple veneer in 8.5x11" sheets. This is enough to last a lifetime of making shims.

Metal is never a good idea, because it is harder than both woods, and will start digging into them. Maple is pretty much the best choice.

I usually make the shim about 1/2" thick, and as wide as the neck pocket. I will round the edges appropriately so that it sits perfectly in the back of the neck pocket. And I will usually put a small piece of double-sided scotch tape underneath to hold it in place. I make sure that the shim sits BEHIND the neck screws, closer to the neck pickup.

I will usually sand the piece of maple super thin, and I will also taper it so that it's like a razor edge on one side. The best part is that the maple is so thin, you can cut it with an xacto blade.

The amount of gap left in the middle is barely noticeable.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

Actually, Erlewine makes a really strong case against option 2 in his book. He says that by shimming just the heel of the neck, and leaving a gap underneath, the tension of the neck screws can over time bow the end of neck down, causing a kink under the top frets.

He suggests three thin shims - the thickest at the heel and progressively thinner down the neck. My stair-steps were sort sort of an adaptation of this, but less likely to get knocked out of line during assemlby.

 

[bluesbend]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

I use maple veneer.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

Eh...a kink....
Sorry but that is rubbish...unless one uses a shim that huge....
And if you need a such thick one, might as well reroute the pocket!

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

I use folded paper or cardboard.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

Eh...a kink....
Sorry but that is rubbish...unless one uses a shim that huge....
And if you need a such thick one, might as well reroute the pocket!

I knew it would get this reaction, but this Dan Erlewine we're talking about, so I give it some creedence.

 

[Boppy]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

I would just use paper, but avoid the super-glue! Just use white glue if you need some kind of adhesive.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

I knew it would get this reaction, but this Dan Erlewine we're talking about, so I give it some creedence.

So what if it was the Pope???
Rubbish.....again!
Erlewine is not the know it all....nor does he spill all the stuff he do know about.....no tech does that!

Again it depends on just how thick that shim is!
Even a very slim one can make alot of difference in the angle!

 

[BloodRose]

Re: What material for a neck shim?

ive used picks and slices of credit cards. I once recd a guitar that had a matchbook cover in it for a shim