Found a shim under the neck of a 50's classic player.
Why?
Seems to have plenty of room for adjustment and good set up without it.
I'd rather have wood on wood , than wood on shim scenerio.
Sounds better.
Found a shim under the neck of a 50's classic player.
Why?
Seems to have plenty of room for adjustment and good set up without it.
I'd rather have wood on wood , than wood on shim scenerio.
Sounds better.
Fender's been shimming necks for over 60 years. I doubt there's any real affect on tone. Nothing you'd be able to pick out without knowing whether or not the neck pocket has a shim in it.
Shims were common on vintage Fender instruments but I haven't yet seen one on a modern-era Strat. I doubt that it's unheard of though. Likely it'll have no effect whatsoever on the neck/body interface. Remember, even modern Fender's with the micro-tilt adjustment are designed to the same principle.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
If the guitar can be set up without one, why have a shim? Should I always leave it in and set it up, or set it up without it?
What situation determines a shim?
An incorrectly-routed neck pocket.Originally Posted by bluespower
If you can properly set up the guitar without the shim then discard it and proceed accordingly.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
I scraped excess paint out of the pocket edges to smooth it out, it's just fine, plays great now with no shim. I guess at the factory it's faster to add a shim than clean the paint out of the pocket.
With the precise technology they use today to cut and route the neck, bodies and pockets, I would be surprised to hear of errors. But what do I know? I'm assuming that the paint residue (about the thickness of the shim) that was left in the pocket was the reason for it.
I did all this to discard the shim and then thought I heard a better tone.
Psychological trickery ?
They're made of wood. The tolerances are high. I'm sure Fender has a standard setup. If it can't be met, a shim would be added.
Changing strings, the change in pickup height, "psychological trickery" and other factors... all add to tonal differences that would be larger than removing the shim.
just mere act of re-setting the neck and using the "right amount" of torque on the screws are what makes or breaks the sound of a strat.
I like to shim some because I prefer the saddles to be higher off the body.
Just wondering. what do you consider to be the "right amount" or tourque? Just snug, or tightened way down. (obviously, not loose..)
I'm struggling a little with this MIM 50's player. It's nice and very "purdy" in shoreline gold, but I can't seem to get it 99% to the sweet spot. Maybe the MIM has something to do with it.
OK, started over.
Since I couldn't get it to sweeten up, I reinstalled the shim and reset everything accordingly. It seems to be playing better now.
I guess I should have never taken the shim out in the first place..
thanks for all the help.
Just snug. Not enough to bend the corners of the plate or sink it into the wood.
The "right amount" I put in quotes because there are subtle bits of magic in that amount of torque. I think that the amount depends on the guitar.
I even have ways that I think help out how that joint sits having to do with which screws are tightened first.
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