Will a shim fix this? trying to install a tremolo

Hello all,

I'm working on putting together my first partscaster, and i was hoping to put a tremolo on it. this one in particular:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Xtrem-Top-Mounte-Vibrato-Roller-Bridge-Combo-Chrome-Finish-_p_4417.html

a friend fit the neck to the body because there were issues beyond my abilities going on, and he sent me some pictures. First, this is what it looked like with the standard bridge on it:

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u429/doofbanman/804.jpg

looks pretty good. However, once he put the roller bridge for the tremolo on, this happened:

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u429/doofbanman/97.jpg

He suggested a shim. I felt bad asking him to do more work on it, so i settled for just the standard bridge for now. Does anyone have any suggestions? Much appreciated!

This is what I'd try.Take a piece of veneer if you have it or business card/cereal box/ posterboard card stock and cut it into a few pieces 3/4 wide by 2" long or so. Loosen the strings and unscrew your neck so you can tilt it away from the body. You can cut the corners off at a 45 degree angle or so if you want. Drop the piece of shim in, push it back all the way, and tighten it all up again.

Trial and error will determine how many of these you'll need to pitch the neck up at the end so the action is good. I bet 2-3 pc's would be pretty good.

You can also make a wedge to fit in the neck pocket out of wood, but for now the cardboard will be good.

If you don't like neck angle, you could make a piece of wood the size of the neck pocket to elevate the whole neck some.

I try to avoid shims. I like to have as good a coupling between the neck and body as possible, and shims don't facilitate that, unless they're solid wood, glued in, per guitar builder's second suggestion.

If the roller bridge is properly installed, not adjusted way high, and if the neck is fully clamped down, and level in the neck pocket, I'd say the bridge/whammy bar assembly you've got is crap, and a poorly designed product that's supposed to fit a Telecaster. I'd send it back. Anything that far off from stock Tele configuration is going to be trouble for you, IMO.

Nice looking Vee in your friend's shop, BTW, and Guitarbuilder, I think your "click here" link is broken. Nothing happened when I did.:shock:

Two ways of approaching it:
1) shim the neck
2) set the bridge and trem into the body....

since the body looks finished, the first may be the route you want to go with

basically what you have is a neck set for a traditional tele bridge and your bridge is more like a Gibson, hence the elevation issues

I like how the picture of it mounted on a guitar on the guitar fetish site shows that the bridge is lowered all the way.

sweet, i'll experiment with shims and see what i can do. While the body is finished, it's far from perfect condition, so even if i have to drill holes to mount the trem, shouldn't be a big deal. thanks everyone!

P.S. this was my 100th post! not that anybody cares haha

sweet, i'll experiment with shims and see what i can do. While the body is finished, it's far from perfect condition, so even if i have to drill holes to mount the trem, shouldn't be a big deal. thanks everyone!

P.S. this was my 100th post! not that anybody cares haha

To echo what everyone else said, stick matchbook covers & business cards in there 'til you find the angle you need, then make a tapered shim that does the same thing.

And 100 posts makes you a Tele-Meister! welcome to the club!