Neck shim advice

It is fine, but you do want to cover the entire width of the neck pocket. You want the edges of the neck supported by the shim.

Your neck screws should never be tightened hard enough to warp maple. The “kick up” that happens fairly rarely at the end of the board is something that happens when people crank their neck screws way too damned tight

Angled shims are nice from a craftsmanship point of view, but the real world reality of the situation is that they are not necessary structurally or tonally.

 

I don't see any issues with a plastic shim. If the neck is screwed on so tight that it disfigures, you have the neck screws too tight. This is not a situation where one needs an impact driver.

 

As a guitar tech I've seen picks, matchbook covers, ticket stubs, playing cards, saxophone reeds, and folded up pages of porno mags shoved in neck pockets. While there is definitely a correct way to shim a neck, the material used is not as critical as many would have you believe. Most of these things seemed to perform their intended function with few issues.

I like a folded strip of 220 grit sandpaper running the full width of the back of the pocket. It's a good thickness, is readily available, and has just enough bite to not move around in there once the neck is screwed on.

 

I use a feeler gauge.

And you can use graduated sizes to do the whole pocket in fact.

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If the action cannot be improved in any other method, I'd rather sand the heel of the neck with the correct angle to remedy the action permanently. But, as stated - I like the 220 above any other material.

 

Looks great man - you should be good to go

 

Yep. I think there has to be a graduated height of shim. I use graduated stacks, usually three, of brass shim stock, always the full width of the pocket.

 

I use plastic most often, that clear plastic that comes on packaging a lot. It seems to run either .005 or .010 thick. Your 1 mm is thicker than any shim I've ever done. Usually .015 or so will do it so I use a combo of the thin and thick. I use a shim that is ~1/3 the length of the neck pocket.

 

Use real wood cut to a degree and covers the entire pocket, you'll be glad you did.

 

I agree with @Zepfan. Wood-on-wood=better vibration/reverberation/tone/resonance/etc. IMHO, that is. I see no benefit to having a gap (air) in-between the main contacts points of a guitar that help define tone. I've had shims of plastic, and beveled shims of wood. I prefer the no-gap, because then I'll never wonder "would it sound better if I had a tight fit?". This is my opinion of course.

 

I've used anything from strips of business cards to premade full pocket shims from StewMac. The StewMac shims are expensive, but that is what I have been happiest with. This most recent time I used one, I actually needed a reverse shim, which meant I had to reposition the precut holes in it, but it worked like a charm.

 

If you don't mind making your own, You can also get 0.022" rectangle maple shim stock from S/M in packs of 10 for 10 bucks. You have to cut them, drill holes, and sand them to an angle if desired. Many people use veneer pieces.

 

Stewmac.

First-rate stuff, larcenous pricing.

 

When my neck was shimmed last year I knew I wanted to avoid any chance of the fretboard ramping up in time, and the bond between body and neck mattered to me.
StewMac's look great but are expensive especially when ordering from Canada.
A local repair guy made one perfectly from maple for less than StewMac's. It improved the tone and playability and is just part of the guitar now.
My advice is to have a proper shim installed and your guitar set up by a pro.

 

These are stock Fender shims from various models. I didn't look but the reverb site might have info about this subject.

 

I experimented a lot with shim material (wood, steel, paper) and I found it to have a noticable impact on the tone. I kind of dislike all the rubbish that is often used as shim material. And I know that is what Fender also used to do. I will only use the stewmac shims.

 

Apparently I have been doing it wrong!

 

Usually .007" to .010" works fine here with generally some type of flat plastic material.
A friend used trimmed feeler gauge leaves with no issues. Another guy cuts strips from medium
to heavy sandpaper. In the '70s triangular guitar picks were a popular shim.