Neck adjustment

Fri, 2007/07/20 - 8:53pm — LD

All,

Well I said I was not going to do it...but I did anyway. On the Conrad that I bought the action was nice but I could not stand the thought of what appeared to be some form of soft plastic shim in place at the neck joint. Nice action but I was thinking that this has to affect the overall resonance because:
1) soft plastic is not going to conduct sound vibrations like wood
2) the shim was limiting the overall wood to wood contact between the body and the neck.

In other words, the very end of the neck was shimmed with what apears to be the thickness and consistancy of a coffee can lid cut into a 1 inch by 1.5 inch rectangle and them folded in half longways and inserted right at the tail end of the neck as it joins to the body. The overall effect bringing the headstock back toward the player and decreasing the string height. Eyeing it up it looked like there was enough adjustment left in the bridge that I could take the shim out and bring the bridge down. Well, I should have known that this would not give me the desired results or whoever did it would have just adjusted the bridge to begin with. I took it out and lowered the bridge as low as it would go and the string height is still way to high. So, to the point of this whole rambling, here is my question:

What is the best way to shim the neck? I was thinking about the possibility of using something like an acrylic so that I could support the body of the guitar in such a way as to have the acrylic settle into the neck saddle on the body much the way you use liquid leveling cement on a concrete floor. I could cut a wood shim but I was thinking that the acrylic would give a nice contact throughout, if I screw up though I am screwed and would have to sand it out which would be a chore. Any ideas.

By the way, I have been on other non-music related forums out there lately and I have to compliment the users on this forum for being polite, friendly, and helpful. Many of the auto forums that I have looked at recently are full of rude and immature comments. Nice work guys!

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82 reads

LD, The way to shim a

Sat, 2007/07/21 - 12:04am — hamfist

LD,
The way to shim a neck, IMHO, is to let a professional do it properly.
I also agree with you that this forum is mostly a very pleasant place to hang out. Thanks to all who make it that way ! (Anyone read the HC forum recently - yikes !)

Alan

Well I think if you have

Sat, 2007/07/21 - 8:21am — mself61

Well I think if you have access to woodworking materials and your skilled (both of which you have said in the past) Make a shim that fits snuggly as possible and go by the approximate thinkness of that plastic shim was (maybe a hair thicker as it could be sanded down further later) of coarse the other end will be almost paper thin, not REAL easy but with some good tools you can do it, a way to get a good angle is to sand the angle first and then slice off the shim with a table saw where you may not have to sand or do little sanding and then out line the shim to fit, try it out and see how it feels, you might try making a few shims just in case, once you've played with a shim you like then you might want to make it permanent to the body or the neck, but not both of course.
Goin to the OZZZZZZFEST !!! cul8r guys.
www.selfdistruction.com

I stopped visiting HC forum

Sat, 2007/07/21 - 4:55pm — hotraman

I stopped visiting HC forum because of all the junk/attack postings!
This site is great because its about all of us getting better with the Tonelab
and 2nd.. there's a healthy respect of everyone's opinions.
Hopefully we can keep it that way!

Steve

Monte, It was rainy here

Sat, 2007/07/21 - 5:37pm — LD

Monte,

It was rainy here today which was a perfect excuse to work on the Conrad. I did the wood shim and she is perfect. I never remember my old conrad neck being so playable but this neck is very comfortable.

Steve, A big Amen!

Where has Chico been lately?

LD, I'm resting from a busy

Sat, 2007/07/21 - 8:09pm — ChicoBluez

LD,

I'm resting from a busy summer so far tongue . Working, gigging, P.A. maintanence, honey-do lists, and like you...guitar tweaking.

Glad that you've got your Conrad where you want it. Guitars are so cool applause . My Robin Ranger is seeing mucho action and is performing wonderfully. 7 gits is what I take to shows and giving equal time to all is tough, especially when one is projecting your vibe.

I totally agree with your point on how well behaved we all conduct ourselves on this site applause . I think we've set a great example for all the new guys posting. Congrats to all .

Chico cool

www.thefabuloushouserockers.com

"When the power of love is greater than the love of power, there will be world peace." -Jimi Hendrix

Alan, I did break down and

Sat, 2007/07/21 - 8:24pm — LD

Alan,

I did break down and take my LP to the pros but I just could not resist tweaking the Conrad. I played her again this afternoon after the lightning died down. The Conrad seems to like the TLSE and the Mesa. What a blast. Totally different vibe than the solid bodies.