'52 RI w/neck shim

[mel_jr]

I have owned this '52ri for 5 years or so and a couple months back decided to put a bigsby on it. BIG MISTAKE. So I had it removed. In the process of adding the Bigsby the neck was shimmed. But upon removal the tech (different than guy who added Bigsby) did not remove the shim.

The set up seems fine-- intonation is spot on, action is good ,etc. But.... something is not right.

The stock guitar had no neck shim.

I swear the guitar plays differently and sound differently with the shim and I am on the verge of removing it.

Am I crazy? I will almost certain remove the shim just for my own sanity!

Thanks for your opinions...

mel_jr

[boris bubbanov]

You're not crazy for disliking the Bigsby on there. Something is really lost.

No doubt the shim needed to come back out - it was only in there to facilitate the installation and setup of the Bigsby.

I'd take the shim out without a moment's reservation.

IMO part of the reason the Bigsby left you cold, was the shim itself. Got no use for shims, except as a diagnostic tool or for short term remedial purposes.

Substantially shimmed guitars are 4 day old baked goods. I get images of trying to rehabilitate the suspension on a crippled 1950's british sports car and catching a basketfull of shims as they fall out once the bolts are loosened. Yiiiii.

[mel_jr]

Boris,

I figured the shim was the culprit. Is there any trick to removing these?

I don't really want to have a tech do it -- I suppose all that would need to happen after the shim is out is to lower and intonate the bridge.

Thanks very much!

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

You're not crazy for disliking the Bigsby on there. Something is really lost.

No doubt the shim needed to come back out - it was only in there to facilitate the installation and setup of the Bigsby.

I'd take the shim out without a moment's reservation.

IMO part of the reason the Bigsby left you cold, was the shim itself. Got no use for shims, except as a diagnostic tool or for short term remedial purposes.

Substantially shimmed guitars are 4 day old baked goods. I get images of trying to rehabilitate the suspension on a crippled 1950's british sports car and catching a basketfull of shims as they fall out once the bolts are loosened. Yiiiii.

[Twang Tone]

Originally Posted by mel_jr

Boris,

I suppose all that would need to happen after the shim is out is to lower and intonate the bridge.

Thanks very much!

Exactly. Take the neck off, remove the shim, replace the neck, and re-string (with a new set). Then lower the action to where it's comfortable, then adjust the intonation accordingly.

Thanks,

[mel_jr]

Today I removed the neck on the tele and found a little cardboard shim made out of cardboard Boomers guitar string packaging. The guitar sounds better, plays better. Nice to have my old tele back again.

Thanks for all your helpful comments.

mel-jr