Tutorial - How to Shim Your Guitar Neck and Nut

Welcome to Crimson Guitars kzbin.info...
In this episode, Ben, explains how to repair a kit guitar by putting a shim underneath the neck and another under the nut. He discusses whether or not this is a good idea and the history of 'shimming'.
If you have any questions about this repair or any other repair you are undertaking, or have any suggestions to improve this repair, please leave a comment below.
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:01 The background of shimming in the Fender franchise
2:44 Looking at the guitar - shim or recess?
3:17 Off with the strings
4:02 We find out what's wrong with the nut
4:36 Off with the neck
5:36 Maple veneer for the shim, cut, file, and create an angle with levelling beam
12:54 It is a perfect fit
13:21 Marking the holes in the shim
15:17 Removing the nut
16:57 How to shim a nut
20:38 Gluing the shimmed nut onto the neck
20:50 Putting the guitar back together
22:31 New strings
24:45 Adjusting the bridge to get more height on the strings
25:21 Using the under string radius gauge to find the radius
26:00 Using the Crimson Guitars fret rocker to check the frets. And they are not level!
27:44 Shimmed nut too high now so Crimson Guitars nut slotting file comes into play
30:20 Conclusion
______________________________________________________________________
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Stay tuned and stay awesome!

[@AnthonyMonaghan]

A little tip that I found helped...drill, or make the holes in the shim before sanding it down. Less prone to splitting the finished shim. Thanks.

[@arbnag5006]

great idea!!

[@scillyautomatic]

The Super Glue / masking tape method was worth the price of admission. Learned how to shim at the same time. This was a good day.

[@arbnag5006]

wonder if double sided tape would work also??

[@DTGuitarTech]

@CrimsonGuitars Ben, you are an absolute hero. Use used this method today to make a tapered neck shim 1mm down to zero. 0.77 degrees. Absolutely fantastic. Worked a treat. I even worked out the trigonometry.

[@nunoandrademusicspace7590]

Super video about the shim. I researched online, and it's the best video about it. I used your idea to make 2 shims already and great results. I did cut the veneer with a strong Xacto knife and a straight piece of wood as a ruler in a few passes, then fine tune it with a sand block (a straight piece of wood sanded on a piece of window glass for straightness, then glued sandpaper over maskingtape). perfect. thanks

[@CaelM8000]

He's the only luthier I'd ever want working on my guitars.

[@MrWopwink]

I followed this on a Squier I just bought and it worked great, so thanks for that.

[@vangogle1]

Love watching you work. Bought some tools and neck holder from you couple years ago. I used to be a finish carpenter and we used to cut our own shims to install doors. Used my 12" Dewalt compound saw. Take 2x4 about 8 in long and set in against back fence parallel to saw blade. Set blade angle to 1/2, or 1 or 2 degree, etc angle. Cut shims 8 in long at what ever angle you set. They go down to feather edge without having to do any sanding at all. If 1/2 degree isn't small enough, you can just angle the wood a bit to get however thin you need. In you case use a piece of maple as thick as the width of the neck pocket and just a little longer than you need but long enough to hand on to it while cutting. Could make several different angled shims at a time.

[@MakeSomething]

I love the masking tape trick!

[@joebob344]

I never thought of using veneer. Here I am rough cutting a small piece of scrap with a hacksaw then making the outline of the neck with a pen, then hand sanding forever. Glad I saw this video. Thanks!!!

[@CrimsonCustomGuitars]

Here are the exact times when Ben talks about different things in the video, enjoy: 1:08 - The background of shimming in the Fender franchise 2:44 - Looking at the guitar 3:15 - Tutorial begins 4:02 - We find out what's wrong with the nut 5:36 - Marking out veneer for the shim 6:21 - Tidying up the shim 9:44 - Creating the angle of the shim using a plane 9:59 - Creating the angle of the shim using a file 10:10 - Creating the angle of the shim using a levelling beam 13:10 - Drilling the holes in the shim 15:17 - Taking off the nut 16:52 - How to shim a nut 20:36 - Gluing the shimmed nut onto the neck 20:50 - Putting the guitar back together 22:12 - Taking a look at the once we're done shimming it 22:29 - Putting strings on the guitar 24:44 - Adjusting the bridge to get more height on the strings 25:18 - Using the understring radius gauge to find the radius 25:59 - Checking how level the frets are using the Crimson Guitars fret rocker 27:51 - Adjusting the height of our newly shimmed nut using the Crimson Guitars nut slotting file 29:18 - Accurately testing the action of the nut

[@mathewdavies6472]

Hi Ben, I have a few bolt on neck guitars and a few require a shim just to raise the neck height as the saddles are bottoming out on the bridge plate. The bodies on both guitar are Alder with Maple necks, I have access to wood veneers of many species so would there be a difference in sound with an Ash shim compared to an oak shim or would it not matter, many thanks, love the videos

[@ciri151]

that stringing method is really cool!! I'm learning something from you everyday :D

[@jasont.9559]

A paper punch is awesome for making the holes. Works great.

[@budude2]

Wow - perfect timing - I just picked up a poorly put together kit guitar and for whatever reason the builder had taken *out* material from the inside of the pocket leaving the action at about 1/4" or so... I will use this to fix the silly thing - thanks!

[@rym5225]

Holy hell my brain was just shattered by your restringing method. briliant. also love your neck shim making method. I'll never curse the heavens again while tediously sanding one on the disc sander!

[@lion39]

Excellent instructional video Ben! Love learning new tricks and techniques. Cheers!

[@chrisstolle5664]

The masking tape and half pencil trick are genious!

[@pipercub45]

What a great way to put on strings! Thanks for that lesson. It is also nice to see that you are not perfect when making guitars i.e. not checking for fret rocking. Your presentation is as fun as ever.

[@CrimsonCustomGuitars]

Nobody is perfect :) when I'm filming the distraction of that process does sometimes mean I completely forget basic steps at times, infuriatingly it's on camera :( thanks for your support.

[@spelillo]

Hi there from Spain, first of all, I have watched a lot of your videos, and I love them all! I am learning a lot from you so, thank you very much! One thing I realized in this one is that when you are adjusting string heights with the radius gauge, first you check under the strings, but then you move over to adjust G string. That is incorrect, you have to do this allways with the gauge UNDER the strings!! This is a thing that I have been working on recently, I drew in CAE software the strings, and when you have a prefect radius under the strings (the one that really matters) over the strings you are never going to have anything similar to a radius between all 6 strings, just because individual string gauge is not increasing to adapt to that radius. Sorry if it´s difficult to understand and sorry for my poor English! I have checked that several times! Just imagine you swap the G string by a low E string, if you adjust the radius underneath the strings, over them this new 3rd string is going to be higher than all other 5 strings!!

[@zwip778]

Super relaxing to watch your work, thank you.

[@arkkupitkanen1073]

I used angle saw machine and cut different angle shims from piece of maple. Took few seconds. A piece of tape and a bit sanding. You can drill the holes first to the wood block.

[@AliBuchan]

Your videos are a joy to watch and a work of art. Thanks.

[@willkupers]

Thanks, this video comes in just about the right time. I have to shim a telecaster and was thinking about it to do it this way, by making a wedge shape. Because I don't like the idea with the credit card, Same reasons you've said in the video, I just didn't know how to do this, and how to make the wedge, That masking tape trick is genius. Thanks again.

[@stevepethel6843]

Great story on Leo collecting business cards as shims. You definitely go 1000 percent to please your clients . the care you have taken on this neck shim shows highest quality skill ...you have made the highest quality shim on earth . You go beyond the good repair to ZENITH

[@WoodesosGuitarMods]

Really enjoyed this video. Super fun looking guitar there also:-) I see some new tools I need to order immediately from your store. So far, I'm super pleased with them all!

[@ErnieLeblanc]

Geeze! Showing the actual "WORK!" - Jolly Good Job!

[@cvanhetkaar96]

Love your “tape trick” to hold the shim-to-be down to the workbench!!

[@philfyphil]

Thanks for doing this Ben, you did a great job and the guitar now plays as it should. Although the frets weren't great, the build quality and feel of the neck is superb and after your fix it is now a great guitar with nice low action. It was also great to meet you and have the tour of your soon to be finished new workshop (very impressive). I may well see you again soon on one of your build a guitar workshops as building one from scratch is my ultimate dream. Whilst building and finishing a guitar from an unfinished Warmoth neck and body requires a lot of work and care, it's still not quite the same as doing everything from scratch. I have a Les Paul, Strat, Line 6 Variax and another self build more traditional Telecaster, but this is my most played guitar now. Cheers, Phil.

[@CrimsonCustomGuitars]

It was our pleasure, I'm glad she's all better now :) I appreciated the chance to work on a repair for a change.. Christopher being off ill meant I couldn't delegate as I'm 'supposed to' and this video was the result. You are more than welcome back for a course.. Studio 2 will be up and running in about a month and it will be awesome :) the post of a discount still stands as well!

[@phlopalopagus]

About how much was that kit. Its really nice and I love Orange so I was shell shocked. Very classy.

[@philfyphil]

Phlop Alopagus it was about £1,000 for everything. I could have purchased a USA Telecaster but the point of it is I always wanted to make my own guitar (I actually made two) and I did all the finishing as well. It also has 2 custom mini humbuckers to make it a little different, and it sounds and plays beautifully. :-)

[@phlopalopagus]

Ive never seen any stock tele for a grand look half as nice as your kit. That was the far better option I would say!

[@philfyphil]

Phlop Alopagus thanks very much! :-)

[@ChungasRevenge]

Thx... The masking tape trick works extremely well!

[@James-fu8fj]

When I have to shim a neck, I have went to now strips of mahogany to full pocket size mahogany shims I have them tapered different thicknesses. I have quarter halves and all different thickness with a little marker. I put what the caliper tells me the thicknesses are and they are very, very hardto cut out I don’t know it’s my stupid thinking, but it makes me think the car guitar has a lot better sound neck body to me I don’t know. It’s probably just like I said my stupid thinking. Good luck guys.

[@jmanzemail]

You do such a nice job with all those tools... I LOVE your workshop it's AWESOME! 😎

[@GuitarLava]

Just what I needed for my project guitar! Thumbs up

[@dp9550]

Thank you at last!!! ,, all I see on you tube is people putting pick's, little pieces of wood credit cards tinfoil , tape... you name it they put it in there , what pisses me off is the people that leave comments are following by example.

[@augustwilke4262]

I used a leather punch to punch the bolt holes worked great without any tearout

[@blazingday8596]

Sir, I applaud you. Good work and very educating.

[@richarde3378]

Just what I was looking to learn! Thanks, Crimson Guitars! :)

[@budandbean1]

This was really great, thanks so much! Cheers Ben.

[@infiniteandroid]

Thank you so much !! you saved my SG!!

[@erikjoven2388]

Little late to the party here - but that tape/super glue trick is excellent. Solves a lot of problems - nice one Ben!

[@thomashall2418]

Thank you Ben for the information and the tutorial. Much appreciated

[@jessicahux9443]

I was so happy to see you make a wedge shim. I have been preaching for years about that way of shimming. Why go to th trouble of getting a nice tight pocket and then turn around and ruin it by using a business card for a shim. I bought a Schecter 5 string in a pawn shop that the neck was in a bowed condition and the truss rod would not adjust. I removed the neck and put it in some clamps to remove the memory and tightened down the truss rod. After a couple of days I reinstalled and set the relief and intonation. This one is a six bolt neck so my shim was longer than the one you made. I used a sander to shape mine and it worked quite well. I only use this guitar at church as I play in a Praise and Worship band. It plays and sounds great and it only cost me $160 for the guitar.

[@fusion-music]

You arre right about fender. It has taken artist's like yourself to shake the up a little and think about craftsmanship.

[@clicks59]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Great explanation.

[@bobwarnerjustwetwomusic1146]

a very interesting and informative repair.....well done and thank-you...much enjoyed!!!!

[@bassfishingwiththeantichri2921]

The pimp who owns that guitar will be so happy he'll probably have Ginger take care of you around back. "Chicka bow wow!"

[@jakethebard]

I love this video by the way. In fact I just decided a couple days ago that I needed to shim the neck on my guitar. And as it turns out i'm fresh out of veneers... Looks like a trip to the woodworkers shop for me today! (Because you know you REALLY have to twist my arm to drive to heaven on earth haha)

[@chuckHart70]

I thought I subscribed dang it...... You sir are great. That string changing method was simply brilliant. I thought I wa using a good method till I saw that!

[@blackjackmcgack]

Handy!! Nice work Ben!!

[@metaloutlander]

I just bought a warmoth also. Like this warmoth the fret job was so bad, I went and got it plek'd. Works way better now.

[@johnroberts838]

Brilliant Video, just Subscribed! Melbourne, Australia.

[@ThePedroDB]

I know this is a 'repair' video but I can't help thinking that beautifully made shim (great method BTW!) looks rather 'fugly' when installed and viewed from the side. Putting a slight angle on the neck heel would have provided a much cleaner finish. The nut shim on the other hand was pure genius and pretty much invisible

[@toolguyslayer1]

2401 yeah and the old luthier told me that one day he did two three four turns on each one and would wind up with seven turns on the last one basically taking up all the space on the peg relative to his size cool video

[@PinetopJackson]

Great video, and great story about Leo Fender and his business cards!

[@drzainnas]

Hi Ben thank you for another educational video and exciting. Regarding the old strings what do you think about recycling them and even making a profit toward a new goals!! Thank you Ben again and please keep doing what you do because you are leaving your prints for generations. Kind Regards from ENGLAND 👍

[@VAdu56]

bravo ! c' est très bien pensé, expliqué et filmé !! on comprend bien la subtilité du scotch, et de la colle qui, évite le double face !

[@ebikes2xs159]

I bought a new USA Kramer and it had a piece of sandpaper for a neck shim. I used pre made maple shims; stewmac and others make tapered ones with holes already in them in various thicknesses.

[@deweyoogwey]

i do that as well with my jim root strat. wasn’t a fan of the big headstock and replace with the modern style fender headstock with one piece of sandpaper as a neck shim. without it, it sounds like having dead frets or a fret buzz or a sitar.

[@TheJesterboy1969]

Wow! This was great!

[@sper]

awesome! best i've seen on youtube!

[@KyleMonizMusic]

That guitar is so sick

[@walterrider1612]

thank you Ben

[@demondik]

I string my guitars the same way! It's so much faster than winding the whole thing!

[@freeelectron8261]

Love these CG tuts. I'd love to have Ben setup my guitars but alas I live in a land down under. I'll just have to watch and learn to do it myself.

[@yukomko]

Many thanks! Very useful video!

[@karol_p]

Thanks Ben, I just made a neck shim for my crappy Squier Jaguar using your instructions and it's no longer crappy:) Best video on shims. Stewmac thing is way to pricey.

[@CrimsonCustomGuitars]

My pleasure! Glad she is no longer crappy! B

[@walterkersting9922]

Guitar string clippings make exellent probes for cleaning out power washer nozzles or carberator jets.

[@wildbillhackett]

The Graph Tech nut is probably tusq. What I'm doing right now is gluing the bottom of a tusq nut to an old tusq saddle (laying on its side). It seems the perfect solution.

[@SisupalanMartin]

if you could fix a bit of cut string in the nut hole it will protect further digging in to save the nut groove for long term

[@fusion-music]

The other way is the put in a "micro tilt" which is my preferred method and it doesnt affect the "fender" tone. The 4 bolts and socket for the neck plus the micro tilt contact give plenty of connection to the guitar for tone. Old steel strings by the way should saved whole and used to make the snare for a cajon. At least now we can recycle our strings rather than them going into landfills. I thought you would have put some glass paper on the bench to do your shim sides. Dont think id like to clean out wood from the fret file. Great video Ben.

[@johnwiltse7869]

I put the handle of the file in the vise and move the piece I'm working on. I feel that it gives me more control on small pieces

[@blackfender100]

I have glued a coffee stiring stick to the bottom of the nut the wood is very easy to sand works like a champ.

[@kbth7524]

+Joe Dov Ice cream sticks are good too, its beech and pretty hard. They are also handy for much more so I collect them so I have a handful in stock.

[@blackfender100]

yes I have used them for other things also.they sell a package of them at Wallmart very cheap.

[@viktortulbya2107]

hey Ben, a few seconds into the question and i thought why not sand the back of the neck a little? at an angle and give it more relief? id return a guitar like that.

[@faynemilner1786]

One can also use a pen removed from the outer shell to make the drilling marks on the shim. Looks good.

[@stevenleek1254]

Take all guesswork out of determining neck-shim thickness at the front (I've done this only once so far) I string the two E"s lightly. With loose and protruding neck screws I do a before and after measurement of the distance between a front screw head protrusion and the body. All the while I'm holding the neck in the pocket with one hand and tilting the neck to whatever angle puts the strings at the height I want. Then, with some magic, I measure the new distance which will, of course, be less than before. The difference between the two measurements is the thickness of the shim at the front of the pocket. You can now buy pre-made shims from Stew-Mac by giving them your first born.

[@jeffter2471]

great vid.

[@richardjagger6920]

To stop the split place a small amount of super glue to stop the splitting and put masking over after drying and the before drilling.

[@bigthewig9624]

great video . Ben could post some basic measurements of the working device you have clamped in your vice. I want to make one. thanks

[@brucetaylor8973]

I bought a flying V guitar kit and the neck angle is too shallow. it's a set neck and I need to do the same thing to make it playable. I'm going to glue the shim to the body then glue the neck to that. Thanks, this is exactly the information I needed on how to make the shim, the masking tape and glue trick is brilliant!

[@CrimsonCustomGuitars]

Glad we could help, and I am sorry you had to fix what shouldn't have needed a fix in the first place, some kit builders have no shame! B

[@DeVivoCarlo]

Hi Ben, greatings from Italy here. Thank you a lot for all your great lessons and tutorials. There is only one question I would like to ask you. You've put a shim under the nut and it ended up being too high, to resolve that problem instead of shaving down the nut you made the string slot a lot deeper. I always thought that strings must pass through their slots the least possible to avoid tuning issues. Is that correct or isn't it that important? Because at the end, the strings are so deep in the slots you can't even see them on the top of the nut. Thank you

[@phlopalopagus]

I find it odd that you never run your drill in reverse. It makes a cleaner hole and doesn't chip out. Give it a try next time your drilling something as thin as that shim.

[@jonq8714]

That would be a gorgeous guitar if the sides and back were black or really dark... that orange just doesn't do it for me, especially against the gold hardware. As always, fantastic walkthrough... thanks to your channel you've given me enough knowledge and confidence to be dangerous, I am currently underway with my first build, in fact I am priming it for paint right now!

[@ReverendHellbilly]

I always thought of warmouth as the best of the best. Very sad day for me. Cheers great vid

[@KozmykJ]

My oh my!! The things one learns on the Interwebs. My go to material for shimming my bass necks has long been TDK Cassette Case Insert... not an easy thing to find in this day and age. Luckily it hasn't needed doing often. Hard cardboard (self tapering) ;^) But tapered maple veneer... very posh. One does indeed approve.

[@anthonycongiano8890]

Brilliantly well done ! Could you do a video on when and why it becomes necessary to shim a neck? As in, after a set up, after lowering the action, and insuring the all the frets are level, and adjusting the truss rod... what issue do you run into that necessitates the need to shim? At what point is a truss rod adjustment and fret leveling not doing the job?

[@scottashe984]

Shim it written everything else is where it should be. Truss adjustment is a curved shape. Shims are flat. Neck pockets are sometimes not cut properly.

[@Axen5986]

I need to shim my nut. I liked your idea of using a piece of ebony but, you did not say where to get the wood. Fortunately I found something that should work even if you need to shim a nut of lighter color. Stew Mac has binding that is.080 thick. In all sorts of shades. You can shim a lot of nuts with one strip of binding.

[@briankillebrew]

Excellent instruction Ben! But man that pearloid plastic everywhere is just terrible

[@iainholder8785]

I can't believe I've never thought of putting the strings on that way! Far quicker. While you have the pencil there, do you ever rub the pencil in the nut? I've always done that because I was told that the graphite acts as a lubricant and the strings would be less prone to snapping.

[@coyotejohn3101]

That was probably a graphite nut.

[@isaacbeckett1499]

Love how he says, “...maple. Which is of course what the neck is currently made of.” Like that’s about to change.

[@CrimsonCustomGuitars]

you make a good point.. I'm going to turn this water into wine, just watch! :) B

[@chrisgroom333]

Great video and really informative, shame about the comment about Fender shimming all their necks, Fender have had MicroTilt for years so there hasn't been a need to shim necks with it for decades.....

[@JamesWalshBristolKids]

Hi Ben. Old strings are now recycled by D'Addario. Check the Players web site.

[@MrWopwink]

And a good way to thread strings

[@MaxRiley]

I watched 30 minutes video and the end job was cut out.. I would have liked to see the action after all that..

[@dis.infectant]

Totally. Zero payoff.

[@joepipino]

I have the same guitar and am in the process of fixing it and am looking for a bridge for it 12 string.

[@chucknowakowski6676]

I've seen people use a small block of wood to knock out nut, seems less damage potential to nut.....

[@strangersun7721]

Great video. Lots of helpful stuff here. Is the nut shim strongly recommended by you? I haven't heard of that being done in my limited research on neck shims.

[@covinhas87]

did you finish this nut adjuster prototype? Looks something interesting for my tools.

[@Bad_Phil]

I have never seen that stringing method before! Does that help with slippage after they are stretched out perhaps?

[@MrFrenchHarp]

Is there a way to measure the neck or body to check the angle of the neck to determine if it needs to shimmed or not? I mean, other than the reason you used a shim in this video ( which was a great reason ) I just wonder when you should determine the bolt on guitar needs shimming and how to use a tool or measure to gauge things to determine how much against what should be perfect. BTW, using a means of measuring this amount, what is considered the correct angle on say a Strat guitar? Is it ONLY when you are running out of room with your saddles?

[@jayscanlan2775]

nut slots should be cut to the same angle as the headstock

[@stevejones4618]

Any tips for getting an even slope? Done a few testers and seem to have trouble - tend to be a similar width to the middle and then drop off to the end rather than smooth from end to end. Using a levelling beam with the shim tape and glued to a wood block as in the video.

[@Freedom89984]

Super nice vid, precision work as ever... I made a shim the same way but used some piece of plastic I had. What I found out, I had to put it out for a few times because it was to thick. Half a millimetre shim makes a lot of difference, as you can see with the Taylor shims that are in a lot of sizes. Keep up the good work!

[@kwstikas82]

how can you tell in advance the angle of the shim that you need? I guess you go for a "universal shim" and then you calibrate with the action adjustment (bridge & nut)?