How and Why to Install a Neck Shim on a Fender Bolt On Neck

[@dogguitarbluesman]

If you put a capo on the neck before taking it off it gives you a good insurance policy against tangled strings, saves a little time too.

[@MJQEMUSIC]

This advice was better than the entire video

[@Phillip-y6d]

You've got to be complete t....ard to tangle up strings when lifting the neck.

[@a.n.2504]

why didn't I think of that 🤦

[@MeniscoManeiro]

Just wanna let you know that you helped me fix my guitar! Used an old VERY VERY thin sheet of ply wood. The action is EXTREMELY LOW now, I was already close to the point of giving up on trying to lower it and not knowing why anything I did was working, fret leveling, nut work, bridge height...this fixed it 100%

[@arneltavas8783]

me too. Got that kind of problem dude. and thanks to this😍😍

[@Justin_Case69]

That's how I also fixed my "unfixable' Telecaster. Before the shim it was buzzing all over the place etc. One little trick and it played awesome.

[@Opry99er]

Simple, effective, efficient, and free. People get their panties in a bunch about gear, but guitars are tools, people... if it works, Rock that sh**. Thanks for the vid!

[@Beatdown-Enjoyer-Slam-Lover-02]

Holly crap man , I never got this much interest in guitars at the beginning , but later on (4 years later to be exact) I finally searched on why my guitar makes problems such as this and decided , why not try something like shimming the neck , like I have nothing to lose and it drastically changed the guitar itself ! Amazing ... I never tough something as small as this could change my guitar so much :o Tysm for posting this vid on YT and making my life easier !

[@burningkarma]

It's amazing what a simple fix like this can do for a guitar. Getting that neck just right with a shim makes it feel like a whole different player.

[@yamahajapan5351]

Yeah, how dare someone work on their own gear with tools you don’t approve of!

[@burningkarma]

@@yamahajapan5351 what are you even talking about?

[@uhMaxx]

@@burningkarma sarcasm

[@fraterfraxinus6293]

"You never hear the other side. You never hear people saying a cardboard shim ruined their guitar." That's because they've all died of shim poisoning.

[@cpsbBXCX]

they never survived to tell the tale...

[@mookytc]

😂

[@nerdly44]

lmao

[@michaeldonofrio8988]

I recently shimmed my bass's neck with aluminum soda can material and it worked really well--easy to cut with tin snips, can be stacked to form a custom incline by using progressively smaller pieces, transfers vibration across neck joint very effectively, and you can easily drive screws right through it.

[@wadepatton2433]

All mine are shimmed with THE ACE OF SPADES THE ACE OF SPADES!

[@NeuwaveSynthpop]

.. and don't forget the Joker!

[@jbrown577]

I use a piece(or 2) of masking tape on the bottom of the neck. Pro tip; when you are finished leveling frets, tape from 12th fret down and level a little more from 12th fret up(just a little, don't over do it) and you will have amazingly low action with no buzz. 🤘😎

[@Wildman9]

I've been using a matchbook cover since 1965,on any bolt on neck with great results .No problems or loss of tone! Good video bud.👍🎸

[@christopherschmitt9924]

Then why are you watching this old timer

[@Wildman9]

@@christopherschmitt9924 I watch all the guitar channels , youngster. Maybe you can learn more if you do.

[@jhonesmidtimbang]

Is it okay to use a metal shim though? I purchase a guitar neck shim online, it was made of aluminum and has 5 different size from very thin to thickest and reading these comments that matchbox covers is the best option tone wise was kinda frustrating for me because I don't know that it also has an impact on tone.

[@stringsattached67]

​@@christopherschmitt9924 That's Mr old timer to you 😁

[@kennyg-zx4sp]

How do you know he's not younger than you?@@christopherschmitt9924

[@davidpfeiffer7053]

Yes indeed, Mr. Russell. I rebuilt an old Opel carburetor and made all the gaskets from a Frosted Flakes box (worked grrrrreat!). And one great thing about that material in guitar work is that when it's compressed (neck tightened up), it's density is roughly that of hardwood. As pertains to air pockets mentioned in a comment before me, before you tighten it up, smear some of your neck/head glue (I use "Aleene's Original Tacky Glue" on neck/head/fret board and all wood/wood bonds alone) all over except the neck, put one thickness of saran wrap around the neck, put neck/body together, put the screws to it and clean up excess glue after it's tight. Glue dries and no pockets and the bonding of all parts into one will give you best possible sustain. Vibrations will travel through the body/neck joint without stumbling over variances in density, and THAT is what causes sustain loss. And that's a fact, Jack. -David, a.k.a. the ConnMan.

[@jamesemerson4102]

Putting a tiny shim in the neck pocket can drastically improve playability of your guitar. I find that a steeper neck angle on my strat allows me to get the action more even along the entire neck, and the strings are easier to bend and react quicker. It can honestly turn a boring to play guitar into an amazing playing guitar.

[@kevincoleman9855]

When you say steeper, do you mean tilted more away or towards the body.

[@lfscrazy]

I suspect tilted away more. I've found a good upwards tilt is optimum @@kevincoleman9855

[@oldgoldtopgoldtop6039]

Man I feel stupid! In 1971 I sold a '62 strat that I could never get the action right. I had kept it for slide but didn't use it much. A shim! So simple!

[@oldgoldtopgoldtop6039]

@@kennisrussellYeah, me too! I bought it for $125 in a used music store (Nicotera's). Someone had painted it black...and I mean simply taken black paint and a paintbrush! Had a nice tweed case too. I stripped it and found it had been the regular sunburst. I refinished a natural with a brown stain. Sold it and used the money to buy a Mutron auto Wah. Oh well lots of water under the dam...

[@neon_one]

100 dollar bills have an almost supernatural property that makes them by far the best shim material

[@tonespinner]

Yes, and you can say you've played with Franklin (Aretha?)

[@carlovelasco6343]

Me I use a box of koko crunch to add more crunch

[@smmyers5956]

Cal I have a couple of your shims before you cut them?

[@DatHombre]

I'm having trouble figuring this all out. Can I buy some premade shims from you? I'll give you $25 for 5 of them, I think that's more than fair. I just appreciate a good craftsman n want to show my support!

[@harrymunden7905]

“This is not rocket surgery y’all” im stealing that 😂

[@grangerousdesigns4678]

I have around 6 high end guitars and my reliced Mexican strat has a neck shim I made from a piece of maple and that guitar is one of the best sounding guitars in my arsenal. Everyone that plays it wants to buy it.If your guitar needs to be shimmed dont hesitate to shim that puppy up.Just make it with a piece of hardwood.

[@chriswallace9387]

agreed. I shimmed a neck so i didn't have to be cut up by the saddle screws... worked great.

[@jacquesd5781]

2:16 "...because with the weather it's gonna expand and contract..." Yeah, exactly like the rest of the guitar, so that's actually perfect. I don't listen to those cork-sniffers. Very helpful video sir!

[@Stratman5150]

Thanks for taking the time to post this! I’ve always wondered about the process and this gives me the confidence to give it a try sometime! Thanks again, great video!

[@Djole_NS246]

I've learned everything that was important to me. Why to shim, what you're going to achieve, and how to do that. And I especially like that you use expensive materials and top of the line tools. Thank you.

[@DatHombre]

I saw after watching this that he seems to be placing the shim on the wrong end- everywhere else I look they're placing it on the opposite side. So idk- unless each side serves a different purpose that he didn't mention, I think this vid seems to actually be misleading lol.

[@DatHombre]

Oh AND I found an article on a guitar repair blog saying that you should only use an actual shim for this, otherwise it can eventually lead to irreparable damage (obviously anything is theoretically repairable, but it would be very difficult and/or costly) since it can warp the fretboard when using something that doesn't make contact with the neck/body the whole way down the neck pocket. So yeah, just sayin- I originally just used a piece of a cereal box, but I just purchased $8 nylon shims online, and I guess I recommend you do too, just in case they really do know what they're talking about. And btw, one negative that I did notice after doing this with the cardboard is that my 12th fret on the low E has extremely low sustain- oddly enough I couldn't find any other fret that this happened to, but yeah, if you've already done this with cardboard, you should check the sustain on all of your frets. It could obviously, and almost certainly is, just the specific cardboard that I used n maybe a .1mm bump on it that's causing it, so you could be totally fine, but you should check just in case. (I guess this could have already been the case pre-shim n I'm just noticing it now, but I dunno haha)

[@DougHinVA]

A shim with business cards, all identical, works well. They are wood pulp/paper and are identical. Generally an electric will need 1-3 shims thickness. I put piece 1 from pocket rear to 1/2 the pocket length and the other 2 pieces 1/2 of the one before. So you get a wedge from rear to front direction. Mark the 1st shim rear curve to match the neck heel... You can punch the screw holes at the rear pocket area or just let the screw points eat through when the neck is re-installed. All the cards need the curved rear to be flush to the back edge of the pocket. His problem to solve is 1 in 100 at most.... nearly every shim job is to RAISE the rear of the neck heel barely.

[@ibberman]

So mine is 2 in 100.

[@MrGixxer1300r]

Take a black Sharpy to the edge of that shim an you will never notice it.

[@marcosreal11]

You left out the most important part: how do we diagnose that we need a shim, and in which direction?

[@thisisjtom]

I'm experiencing the same issue with the Strat I'm assembling. So for me, you need to shim the neck at the bottom when your saddles are the lowest possible and you still have a high action (considering the nut is ok). On my guitar, it's the opposite case : my saddles were maxed out at their highest and I was still experiencing littles buzzes. So I put a shim at the top like this dude did so it allowed me to lower the saddles and the action. But I'm still not convinced, I need to keep on trying different setups.

[@thegarage5919]

Love the way to strip out the heads of the neck screws. The reason you use a screw driver for the last couple of turns is so that you dont mess up the heads

[@dp9550]

He's actually using an impact driver a big no no , a drill with a Phillips bit on very low speed setting maybe and like you said do the last bit with a screwdriver.

[@marcelorodriguez9601]

Without ever watched this video I did a this to one of my guitar to correct neck high and actually changed the whole tone. The resonance is so much rich. I’m planning to do that to the rest of them. The piece I used is .035” approximately. I’m a CNC machinist and sometimes we add shims to heavy parts to be machined so I wasn’t randomly try to do something, actually is a common practice in aerospace industry. Bottom line that is works well

[@tater9384]

Nice demo. Two notes: 1. If you don't want to see the shim on a black guitar, use a Sharpie to blacken the exposed edge. 2. Tone... The WORST tone is a guitar that isn't played because of a crappy action. With Fenders and most bolt-on necks I would guesstimate the interface of the neck and body accounts for at most 5% of the tone. Why? Because the screws and screw plate clamping the two pieces tightly together transfers vibration quite effectively. If one uses harder shims like plastic or soft metal, vibration can often be transferred better than with cardboard. But now you are taking that 5% and dissecting it even more. I prefer the simplicity of the StewMac hardwood shims as they can be had in various angles, and are quick and effective. Shim it and PLAY it!!

[@cghbuilder86]

If someone is trying to learn from this it needs to be said that he actually shimmed this neck backwards. That’s why his action read higher lol. If your bridge is bottomed out and you need the action to be lower, you want to lower the headstock end by placing the shim at the base of the pocket. The end nearest the bridge.

[@6bender]

He didn't really explain the bridge situation very well. I have to assume the saddles on this guitar were maxed out in height.

[@markinthemix6055]

I didn’t believe what l was seeing. It wasn’t right. Surprised that we are the only 2 to notice this. The pressure of being on video messed him up. I’m sure.

[@dubh_glas95]

I want to point out (if someone already hasn't) winding your strings around the tuning peg when you have Locking Tuners, defeats the purpose of locking tuners. You only use as much string as you need for your tuning. Lock it, cut it, and tune it. The string should only really go half way around the peg, it shouldn't wrap around itself. Just a fun tip

[@50kal44]

It’s okay to leave a full turn, also allows for you to tune down half step for songs that play in lower tunings

[@reginaldbowls7180]

What about break angle?

[@jeshely]

@@reginaldbowls7180 Staggered locking tuners or string trees.

[@Dailyvids25]

When you will take the capo off your strings will be at 7/64. You don't use a capo to setup or measure strings action.

[@JimmyDevere]

Correct, you only use the capo for the neck relief. I have a feeling this setup didn't turn out to be easy.

[@f100strato2]

This whole video and comments is a perfect example of the danger of trying to learn anything important from the internet. If you are reading for anything other than amusement you are in the wrong place. If he uses a capo to set his action he probably is not the guy to teach you how or when to shim your neck. It's a good try and some of it is correct but what can I say, is "some correct" good enough for you. Best advice is watch the Stu Mac video at least they will tell you why you may need to shim, and how to do it right and how to set string height/action right etc. The capo on the first fret is for checking the neck relief not for setting the action.

[@McSlobo]

Well, it doesn't alter the fact he managed to shim the guitar which was the main point. I just wonder if he could have just raised those saddles but I don't know anything about that bridge.

[@hans-joachimbierwirth4727]

@@McSlobo His reasoning makes me question the neck relief. Usually that is the culprit for buzz at the high frets, and a shim is not he way to fix it.

[@curtrod]

yep

[@CatharticGuitar]

@@McSloboyou are correct sir. A shim would be more helpful if you want to lower the action, and your saddles are already bottomed out. Then you would put the shim on the other side of that neck pocket.

[@CatharticGuitar]

@@McSlobo from my understanding, there was a little buzz, but also the owner still wanted the action lower. I think the whole point of the shim was to be able to lower the action without adding more buzz. I would like to see the final result when he lowers the saddles like he said he was going to do.

[@williardbillmore5713]

One of the most expensive and time consuming and inevitable repairs a guitar will ever need is a neck reset or replacement. Leo foresaw this and designed it into every guitar so anyone can do it without a luthier

[@tubedude1077]

I thinned down a popsicle stick just because it was wood against wood . Maybe not a noticeable difference but it made me feel better .

[@jefflevy3557]

Good tutorial on shimming but there's a problem with that tele: the neck screws should NOT grab threads in the body, they should just slip right through the body and ONLY thread into the neck. For some reason, I've only seen this on MIM Fenders; not MIA, MIJ or Squiers. The way it is now prevents the screws from pulling the neck properly into the pocket. This is easily fixed by drilling out the body holes with a larger bit.

[@aaroncurry279]

Exactly. An 11/64” bit makes perfect sized body clearance holes for Strats or Teles for the screws to pass through. Using that drill, and having threads in the body and a shim inserted probably cut new threads in the neck and it is still probably not seated well.

[@DatHombre]

My Indonesian Squier Classic Vibe (2020) also has screws that thread into the body. Dumb.

[@westoole1]

Outstanding! I did a build and messed up a little and sanded a bit too much in the neck pocket. Neck was too low and even with the bridge as low as it would go, the action was still too high. I started researching shims and even considered buying a new neck. However, I took your advice and put some cardboard in the pocket and it’s been working like a charm! Thanks for sharing. This saved me money and I love these simple solutions!

[@freelancevt]

Hit the outside edges of the cardboard shim with a black magic marker (or a color that most closely matches your guitar body) and your cardboard shim will magically disappear!

[@dayodayo256]

Neck shims work great especially on ‘70s style Strats or Teles with the Bullet trussrods. I use plastic collar stays that go in shirt collars. They don’t absorb any moisture and remain the same height for as long as you use them

[@ctgblue]

I use plastic card stock, the size of credit cards, you can see the white, but they never compress or move

[@SleepingLionsProductions]

I made a makeshift shim for a baritone neck conversion project i just completed. The reveal was extremely high and not only that, the neck heel itself was just slightly angled downward. I had to make a relatively extreme Shim to deal with it. But now i have a functioning baritone.

[@alexm66]

The idea of using a knife to unscrew the neck is revolutionary. I'll try shimming the neck with my worn out shorts after I use my teeth to unscrew the neck bolts.

[@avhcbeaver2]

I've been a tech for almost 20yrs and I agree with neck shims. I like to use a thin piece of zebra wood veneer(no more than .030" thick). In a pinch you could use cardboard, I've used string packs as solution in the past(D'addario works great)

[@avhcbeaver2]

Sometimes people think way too much into this world of repairs. It’s not as difficult as they make it out to be

[@nick486]

I've only tried to shim a neck once, used plastic from the lid of a thing. Easy to shape, nice and hard so it should transmit the vibes OK and it certainly won't be affected by moisture. I guess you could use an old credit card but not so easy to trim the shape.

[@richarde3378]

Just the info I was looking for. Thanks, Kennis. You rock! :)

[@PsychologyWorksOfficial]

Putting a capo at the first fret is for setting the relief truss rod. He’s getting a weird reading if he is measuring the action while the capo is on.

[@ClamsAnonymous]

I don't think he really knows what he's doing.

[@edhubble]

I see a lot of guitar maintenance videos these days with people using multi tools. I think I’d feel more comfortable handing my guitar to someone who used proper tools...

[@LawGone1]

Whatever dude. Those scissors are sooo adorable

[@loopie007]

You forgot to use a black felt marker on the edge of your shim. It will really help to make it invisible.

[@justinpruett8674]

Thank you for this video. I had to shim mine the opposite way on my tele. One little strip of card stock did the trick. Thanks a bunch!!

[@rigsby556]

take a neck off a fender and run a string from the saddle across the pickups onto a peg in a vise. so now you need to understand there is no wood underneath the string once it passes over the body. hit the string and it will vibrate and have sustain, of course it will only be one note unless using a slide but the concept is to help people understand the bridge and pickups are the workhorse of tone.

[@TARAROADTRIPWITHA]

Did this just now! Super helpful. Playability has improved a lot. I used a very thin guitar pick. Thanks man! 🤘😎

[@bumblbesss]

I tried to Shim my Les Paul, but once I got the neck from the body and Shim in place I couldn't find the screws any advice?

[@bumblbesss]

@@kennisrussell I was just making a joke :-)

[@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG]

@bumbl besss I know where your screws are: You left them right next to the radiator on your '63 VW Bug...

[@LowT_jc]

@@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG right next to the muffler bearings. Should have looked there first huh ?

[@YouTubeHandlesAreMoronic]

I got the joke, but you did raise an important point about the difference with Gibson. Gibsons and other set neck guitars typically have some "fall away" built in to the fretboard, either in the wood or the upper frets, themselves. This is the slight downward taper of the frets that allows for lower action while guaranteeing that the upper frets don't buzz. Fender, apparently thinking that this no big deal, since their necks are easily (though not cheaply!) replaced, doesn't bother with fall away. In fact, many brand new Fender necks will exhibit the dreaded "neck hump" that the reverse shim in this video can correct.

[@TheVINMAN531]

@@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG good one

[@jonathanhandsmusic]

I am thinking about doing this on my Tele. Yeah it’s simple and I can understand the geometry. Good video Kennis.

[@Glicksman1]

Stew-Mac makes ready-made wood shims now so you don't need to use cardboard anymore. Shim or not, the best path to better tone is slightly higher action. The .lowest possible action will surely prevent the strings form ringing out as well as they might, open or fretted just enough to prevent the best tone that can be gotten. I'm not talking about high action, just not the absolute lowest possible action. My set-up method is to lower the action to where some notes are beginning to buzz a little, then gradually raise it until all notes ring out clearly. At this point the action is still pretty low, but the guitar is playing and responding as it should. A short story on point: A friend had a1939 non-cutaway Gibson L-5 acoustic archtop that played and sounded like a dream. I had played a few guitars of this kind, but this one responded to every slight, subtle touch of the player and rang out with a beautiful sound. It was a well known and admired guitar amongst the local musicians I knew. I asked my friend to let me borrow the guitar for a few days. I was curious to see if I could discover what made it so good. I gave it a very close inspection, played it for a while and nothing stood out in particular except that the sound was glorious. It was just a better than very nice 1939 L-5 non-cutaway. Then, in a short time the "secret" was revealed. It had been hiding in plain sight. The action was set higher than is found on most Gibson archtops. It was still easy to play, partially because my friend strung it with an .011 set, which added to the good sound IMO, but the action was distinctly higher than usual. That was it, along, of course, with it being an excellent example from that era. I learned a lot from that and I pass it on to you all.

[@uptownphotography]

Hi Kennis, Nice video and great info...I enjoyed it and learned some useful information. I'll have to start tuning into your channel now that I know about it. Hope the Tele project turned out well with the action... Phil Jersey Shore Area

[@richwallace6854]

This is why Fender made a great choice when they came out with the "Micro-tilt" necks

[@jacobsamano9761]

Thanks for the advice that was a great video. I received a used 90’s Squier Bullet Strat from a relative and the neck pocket was filled with paint from the factory. So I sanded it out but I think I did an uneven job. So I put a shim made out of sandpaper because you can choose the thickness and it works great now.

[@MrTfuzz]

the luthier I learned from taught me to use sandpaper shims..that's what I've always done with great results

[@RJW14]

Personally I've found that if you've had the neck loose, it doesn't matter how you tighten the bolts 1st time. Tune up, loosen the bolts a quarter to a half turn, and re-tighten them in a crosswise pattern like the nuts of your wheels. Found that this really sets the neck best. Of course you gotta re-tune at the end.

[@RJW14]

@@keithclark486 That is correct if the neck was actually set correctly, like with my 2000 dollar b olt on guitar. For my 400 dollar bolt on though, the neck got set in the pocket better and thus I had to retune since the neck went ever so slightly closer to the bridge.

[@RJW14]

@@keithclark486 also I think you'd have to go to 438 or 435 Herz

[@-Thunder]

This is a mental video. If you want to lower action you need to shim near the heel. To raise action shim near the front of the neck pocket - which is what he did here. At 12:10 he checks the action and it is 1/64" HIGHER. And then he talks about wanting lower action. Just buy a Stewmac maple shim imho.

[@PhillipBlanton]

He shimmed the front of the neck pocket to slope the neck ever so slightly so he could THEN lower the action without getting fret buzz on the higher frets. Pay attention!

[@GlennMarshallRocks]

I just had a Tele set up and they dropped the action from the 3/64" I had it set at to 2/64" and you couldn't bend the E, B, or G at all from around the 10th fret up without it bottoming out. I left it and told them to fix it. Got a phone call the next day saying the neck was "warped", and it had "raised frets", and was going to need "a lot of work" to make it playable, at the very least was going to need those frets sanded down for those "high spots". They insisted the neck was "warped" and was "really bad". It totally pissed me off, as I knew there was nothing wrong with the neck, so I told em not to touch it and I'd be there within a half hour or so. I brought my pocket ruler with me when I went back and sure enough, they'd dropped the action down, and yeah, that 1/64th made all the difference between every note bottoming out when you bent it anywhere above that 10th fret or so, and bending just fine and singing with nice sustain when I brought it back to where I had it originally. So, the guitar was just fine after I got it home and tinkered with it for about 10 minutes. But the whole experience got me to thinking if I did want to have the action just a little lower was I really going to need to pay someone $100+ to level and crown those frets to get a nice even drop-off to accommodate a slightly lower action where I could still bend without anything bottoming out...??? It's been nagging at me for the past week or so, coming to mind every time I pick up the guitar, which is usually a few times a day. Thankfully, I just happened to come a cross this video, and found out how simple the solution really is... a bit of a shim is all that's needed, then adjust the action slightly lower, with the shim naturally creating the drop-off with no loss of metal from the frets at all... This video also finally solved a long-standing mystery for me, as years ago a very good luthier I used to have work on my guitars fixed one of my guitars and made it play wonderfully afterward. When I asked if it had taken much work to make it play like that, he told me no, actually all that it needed was just the slightest shim in the neck. It didn't need anything else done to it, he said, and it played like a dream after he'd worked on it. I didn't understand at the time how a shim worked, and always wondered about how it made such a difference. Finally, after all these years, thanks to your video I now understand what he did and why it worked so well (as well as why the repair only cost $25... ;-) Looking forward to lowering the action on the tele now, and listening to my baby sing...! (3/64" is fine, but my favorite playing guitar neck is set at 2/64ths, so I figure why not try it now that I know the trick, and see...? ;-)

[@JimmyDevere]

It's definitely worth it to learn to setup your instruments yourself. So easy now with all the videos and books we didn't have years ago. I just tried a shim the first time and all I can say is be prepared to spend several days on your setup if you are new like me. On your two guitars, what neck relief and size frets are you using? I would think that would have a lot to do with how low you could go.

[@evanmargol3408]

Did this ever work out for you and your tele?

[@emilloffler1216]

Thank you for that. I'm hoping that can sort my Stratocastor with it's overhigh action. Taking the string saddles down as far as they can go still resulted in an overhigh action and buzz and dead notes in the strings after the 13th fret. So maybe now a shim will work.

[@BurninSven1]

What you can do is take a couple of cards from a deck of cards ( like for poker) they are stiff, thin and made out of paper = is made out of wood. If you need the shim thinner in one end you cut one card in half place it on top of the other in the neck pocket so you get a small nice drop of the inclination of the neck down towards the headstock

[@neilsmith9473]

Might have been an idea to blacken the shim with a marker pen; making it completely invisible. You can also loosen the screws a quarter turn once you have tuned up to let the strings drag the neck fully back into the pocket for maximum contact and sustain, then re-tighten the screws and re-tune. Great advice. Thank you.

[@philgraves4998]

Great video! Its probably not nessessary but I shimmed my Kramer using a business card but I cut it a little longer in the pocket then ripped a small layer off part way back so the card got thinner near the edge to reduce the gap. Worked great!

[@williardbillmore5713]

I prefer old gift cards or hotel room card keys. There are no embossed or raised numbers on them like a credit card to mess with and you can always taper them with a belt sander if need be. A paper punch will make the holes for the screws. Once the neck is shimmed and set,...try thus! Tune the guitar to pitch and loosen the neck screws a full turn then re-tighten them.This will pull the neck into the pocket with the string tension and improve sustain and tone. .If you need to re-tune, it moved a lot. Eight out of ten times you will hear a difference immediately.

[@nerdly44]

I have this exact guitar (in sunburst) with the exact same problem. I'm going to try this. Thanks!

[@JasonTHutchinson]

I'm not sure I agree with this method of shimming. A proper shim is made of hardwood, and is tapered down to nothing to allow the neck to be in full contact with the pocket. Otherwise, there is increased pressure on the part of the neck that is touching. That can cause issues further down the line. Yes, lots of people do this all the time and get away with it, but it is not technically correct. The best way to correct this issue would be to reshape the neck pocket to get the proper angle. However, that requires a skilled luthier to pull that off.

[@jburtonca]

You're right. A solid hardwood shim is the way to go. A solid neck to body connection is important to tone and sustain. I had to file down the bridge of my solid Kala U-Bass and make full neck pocket shim in order to get a low action with the Kala metallic strings. It was a lot of work but worth it. You can now buy hardwood shims from StewMac and that is the way to go, in my opinion.

[@YouTubeHandlesAreMoronic]

Yes, full contact with the neck pocket is ideal, but, if you choose the paper wisely, the difference is negligible. Remember, paper is made from compressed wood and glue, the same two elements you find at the neck joint of all set-neck guitars. When I install a reverse shim, like shown here, I use thin, dense paper stock, and layer it in stairstep fashion to emulate a hardwood wedge. Same net effect, yet much faster and easier to make precise adjustments.

[@mutiara75]

I use a normal masking tape as a shim. By layering the tape with different lengths, I can taper the 'shim' to suit the guitar. I own more than a dozen guitars, and thankfully only one needs shimming - and that happens to be my main go-to guitar.

[@jorgetrimboli]

I put the cereal cardboard shim in my guitar and worked great. Thank you!

[@christopherlafreniere7141]

I normally use blue painters tape in layers. Gives a good tone.

[@PinetopJackson]

Good idea!

[@andrewjbayliss4017]

Thanks for sharing this Ken, i have 3 electrics and thought wtf why the Buzz on them all!? almost was about to sell and go bck to acoustic till i saw this and noticed all 3 have tilt and need shimming! great video man glad i saw this..cheers

[@CatharticGuitar]

I would have liked to have seen the final product. The owner wanted lower action, and you did the shim so you could lower the action without adding more buzz. Were you able to lower the saddles and achieve the lower action without buzz?

[@Great-Documentaries]

Don't use a power drill to put the screws into a neck. Just don't. It only takes a little longer to do it in a potentially less destructive way. And it's absolutely imperative if you are going to do this to use "Fruit Loops 13 oz" box tops for optimum tone, at least on Teles. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

[@selcukatmaca1974]

Its give me a idea to rescue my old guitar. Thank you for sharing.🤔😊

[@jonasheinonen8044]

I'm looking at the string winder on the couch next to you while you tune the strings up by hand after shimming

[@Xxmeca421xX]

Anything soft will affect the surface area and change the sound to some degree but I'm about to use it cause I don't have a real wood shim.

[@2bikemikesguitartopics145]

If you put your Capo at the 12th fret before you remove the neck the strings won't be so gangly on you when you're maneuvering it

[@smmyers5956]

If you use 1 or 2 oversized pieces of cereal box, or very thin maple etc. and superglue piece(s) to the neck heel using thin superglue to make it an integral part of the neck and NO GAPS under the heel in the pocket. (For tone purists who swear shimming loses tone). Cut cardboard even with heel shape and sand edges. Sand the now shimmed heel with a hard sanding block to keep a flat surface checking often for fit and angle. Remember to drill screw holes out through the shim. Alternative is to sand the heel itself if you have adjustment room in the bridge saddles to compensate for the minor loss of height of the neck in the pocket.

[@FilippoGoriFlorence]

hi maybe this is a stupid question, bur shouldn't you adjust the truss rod before considering shimming an option?

[@emilloffler1216]

Hi, My Fender 40th Anniversary strat still has an overhigh high action even if if I take the string saddles down as far as they can go aligned with the radius of the fretboard. And I get buzz and dead notes after the 12 th fret on the high strings when I adjust the string saddles to their lowest. It seems I may need a neck shim pocket shim would you say. And then maybe the frets filed a tad lower where the dead notes and buzz is. If I get the low action recquired by shimming.

[@bryandraughn9830]

Draw a line on your workbench or a long piece of paper, and lightly draw a parallel line 1/8" above that. Pick one end to represent your saddles and the other for your nut. Doesn't really matter how long you make this layout, roughly as long as your guitar or bass. Now, you can easily visualize the neck (bottom line) and it relationship with the string (top line). You can see how the saddle adjustment, nut, and neck relief work together on this one layout. Neck shims too. After a while you will automatically visualize these relationships without a diagram.

[@oldbladderhorn949]

pull the other one it's got bells on it. sure does have that important knack for making a simple job look hard and drawn out. would love to see how you boil an egg. first gather some fresh rained H2O...🙄👉🥚🤪👍

[@JosephGallagher]

That was a pretty lengthy video for adding a piece of cardboard under the neck heel

[@allenbluestein8930]

Thanks so much - I was just gonna bring in to the local shop, but you saved me!

[@michaelbevins2405]

yeah man ,done the same thing on my parts caster ,But on the back of the pocket, used 250 grit sand paper ,not that that matters ,But worked good ,my action is bout half of mil, lower at the last fret ,its now bout a mil. and a half all the way up the neck.

[@jeshely]

Extra points for having scissors in your pocket knife and using it. My Swiss Army and Wenger both have scissors and I don’t see myself not having them ever again in my multi tool knife.

[@phaeded0ut]

Thanks a bunch, just to shim up the inside two bolts of a strat partscaster in order to accommodate a new tremolo that was thicker than the previous one. USPS boxes side fold flaps work well, too.

[@GarageBandSuperheros]

To me flat shims using cereal box cardboard/post-it note paper/printer paper, is 100% fine for 4 string bass/7 string guitars or smaller instruments. My ripoff Stratocaster has a Corn Pops shim :D For angled shims I prefer to use wood-backed cabinet strips/veneers. Easier to control when sanding for that .5~.7 degree angle. (For my 5 string jazz bass I used a piece of hardwood veneer maple. The tension of 5 string bass makes me personally feel more comfortable with a even more dense material under there. I never tried just simple piece Post-it note paper with a bass because I haven't run out of that wood veneer yet. $17 at Menards for Non Paper-backed. But I bet a cereal-box flat shim would be fine even on those Davie504 meme-style 15 string bass guitars too, once that stuff compresses, it's just solid.)

[@andrewdenine1685]

I use laminate sheets usually . Recently I had curly maple . Works fine but u have to wet it sometimes so it doesn't crack when cutting it out .

[@rexterrocks]

I've used picks for shims, masking tape and card. They all work fine.

[@johnderry7943]

When my wife, spends too much money, I cut her credit card up to use as a shim

[@unabonger777]

you might as well just use it to buy a new guitar too so you have something nice to shim with it

[@trip2sick]

Power tools, my biggest pet peeve on working with guitars

[@dp9550]

He shouldn't be working on guitars period LOL

[@stonerscancatch]

All those ugga duggas 😭😭

[@ntath]

This video just helped me. Literally this morning I was getting frustrated with a hardtail strat. Just used a thin piece of card and it has made it so much better. I used a small piece of card that I cut from genuine fender packaging too if that helps haha! Many thanks.

[@tm1180]

Curious why is a saddlexadjustment not comparable to a shimmed neck pocket (cavity) either direction

[@myyt4382]

Thanks for the video - any idea or thoughts about how to determine the right angle? I have a shim under the neck to compensate but now my bridge is really high and I think it's too high..but how to measure, verify that? thanks in advance!

[@tonyholvey9678]

You don't use a capo when measuring string height

[@davidunander6806]

Thank you,I took out 4 screws just to see what was under them, the neck fell off with a big chunk of cardboard... Then I came here.

[@glumpy6079]

After being driven crazy adjusting my damn truss rod and string height super-shim action saved the day! just a piece of cardboard. Makes ya wanna weep don't it? Now Madame Strat is starting to sound her best at last- I wonder if the shims can ever be thicker than shown?

[@glumpy6079]

@@kennisrussell thanks☺!

[@thedudeleeman]

Thank you this is what I was looking for👍👍😊😊🎸🎸! I have a Jackson that I repaired. I don't like the floating tremolo. A personal preference. I do like my Jackson alot to play Godsmack, etc. Drop D or C with heavy strings, ugh couldn't get the strings right. Thank you for sharing. Teaching myself to be a Luthier. To take care of my guitars and to work on some to pay forward! Really thanks. 🤘🤘 Let's keep on rockin in the Free World!

[@yogiblair22]

Thanks for the bed. Just changed the neck on a Strat and the strings are touching the front board. Do you think this will do the trick, or this combined with perhaps having to slightly shave down the underbelly of the neck which connects into the guitar body?

[@tomfoolery2082]

Every fender iv had , there was a small strip of sandpaper in the neckpocket already . Half of em were new . No kiddin .

[@kennisrussell]

Yes. Also many fender necks have a production sticker too.

[@polymath245]

@@kennisrussell thats such a crappy thing for fender to do to a brand new build. (leave a sticker on). i took off the pick guard on my strat, and discovered a bunch of wood shavings from the pic guard screws was trapped under the pick guard, which not only made the pick guard not fit properly, and made an annoying rattle, but it also damaged the finish of the guitar, which is the whole purpose of the pick guard!

[@caseykittel]

Weird. If your assessment for “needing and shim” is correct, how come all set neck Gibson guitars have an even steeper angle? It seems to me that the actual issue is either the frets need work or even more likely, the truss rod needs to be adjusted. Did you even check the relief before taking off the neck? If the truss rod is too loose the neck will be bowed like crazy and the strings will be too high. Then When you try to lower the bridge or saddles the strings fret out on those upper frets. Also, it’s a great idea to get an actual strait edge rather than eyeball it. A fret rocker can tell you where the high frets are. So many things to check before shimming - and I love shimming, but usually I shim the neck to a steeper angle like a Violyn or a gibson - not a negative angle. That’s my first clue that something else is going on with this guitar.

[@alanwhatling80]

thanks very much I just sorted my Frankin-strat out

[@ivanasin1268]

Thank you Konan O’Brian

[@bongnp]

did you hand tighten or just just drill? what was your setting on the drill to prevent over tightening?

[@morrisman64]

Very Helpful thanks!!