Question on shimming neck?

[Tele The Truth]

I have a guitar that doesn't have any run away towards the heel. If anything, it's actually tilted the other way therefore making me have to raise the saddles to an uncomfortable height just to address string buzz on the upper frets. I would like to slip a small shim in to tilt the neck slightly forward to address this issue. I was thinking about just taking off the strings and loosening the bolts that hold the neck on just enough to slip in a home made "credit card" shim. Does this sound like a plan, or a recipe for disaster?

[Rich Rice]

Take the strings really loose, and remove the neck from the pocket. There may already be a shim in there. Sometimes it is necessary to shim at the outside end of the pocket, but it is pretty rare. Make sure your truss rod is adjusted properly, that your nut is cut correctly, set your saddles again, and be sure that your neck is completely seated in the pocket. Generally, this is all that is required to get a good result. Shimming the outside of the pocket raises red flags to me that there is a different problem/combination of problems at work. If it needs to be done after you do everything else right, then go ahead... it won't hurt anything, but it looks sloppy, and is an extreme measure. Make sure your pocket is cut to a consistent depth, and your neck heel is seated all the way. Chances are it is a combination of the other problems, though.

[Tele The Truth]

Thanks for the insight Rich. If I take off the neck as you suggest, are there any issues I may have with putting it back on and aligned correctly. My reason for wanting to losen the screws enough to slide a shim in is because I've never taken off a neck before.

[Rich Rice]

No, not usually. It's pretty simple, actually. I started doing it when I was about 12 or 13 years old, and after you've done it once or twice, you will think nothing of it.

[Tele The Truth]

I guess I'll take the neck off then and go from there. Thanks Rich, you've been a great help.
8)

[Bob Mc]

I bought a Tele thinline from City Lights Guitars (New Brunswick NJ) a well known dealer at the time (80's).
The owner Skip wanted to show me matching date codes so he said he'd just take the neck off real quick.
The kid next to me shouted;
"WHOA! Take my word for it, you need to detune the strings really low first!!" The look on Skip's face was priceless.

Just watch for any gaps when tightening the screws, I usually keep my eyes on where bass side of the neck touches the body. And I tighten them in an X patern
a little at a time (top right to bottom left, etc.) not sure if that's necessary.

[eryque]

Here's a trick I picked up from Fuzzy:

When re-mounting the neck, push the screws in and then turn them slowly backwards until you get that little thunk and the screw drops down a bit. That means you engaged the old threads in the wood and won't be messing them up.

And it's really no big deal at all. Before you give those screws a final tightening, take a look to make sure things are lined up right. But as long as you don't have much slop in the holes in the body or neck you won't have any problems lining them up again.

[Tele The Truth]

Thanks for all the advice. I took the neck off last night, but there was really nothing I cound do. There were no shims, and I sure wasn't going to take my chisels to the pocket, nor sand the heel of the neck down any. So basically, I tried a few different shims at the outside of the pocket until I came up with a liveable amount of fall away. The truss rod had a limited amount of adjustment in it, so I unscrewed the cap, added 2 washers and torqued her a little. Over all, it ended up significantly better than when I started which is a good thing. 8)

[Rich Rice]

Glad it worked out for you. :D

[Rich Rice]

(HEAD) I-------NUT Problem--------I------Truss Problem------I-------Saddle Problem-------I (BODY)


The location of the buzzing can usually be adjusted out by following the above. Divide the neck into thirds, and determine where it is buzzing. Take appropriate actions. This can not be used as an end-all answer, as the buzzing can also be from fret wear, excess warping or twisting of the neck, setting the action too close, bad strings, or other factors. However, it is good to understand this general guideline in order to achieve maximum playability.