Neck shim vs Bridge shim

pcurtis100

Hi,
I've just bought a new swamp ash body for my Squier E series strat .Love the neck but wanted to convert the guitar to a hardtail. So I got the swamp ash body from GuitarBuild and the Gotoh hardtail bridge https://www.axesrus.co.uk/Hipshot-Stainless-Steel-Hardtail-Bridge-56-4mm-S-p/41300.htm). Neck and bridge fit perfectly but once strung the strings lie muted flat across the neck. I have raised the saddles pretty much to their full height but theres not enough height to clear the neck. I don't want to shave the rear of neck in the pocket to reduce the height as if I'm not happy with the build i want the option to simply put the neck back in its original body.
Any suggestions? I guess a shim on the hardtail would work? Is this the best approach? If so what should I use for the shim?

Cheers all

ICBM

I wouldn't shim the neck - you'll need to do it the wrong way with the shim at the outer end, which will feel odd, as the neck will then be pointing away from you as you hold the guitar.

Ideally you need to rout the neck pocket in the body deeper, but that's quite a difficult job if you don't have the right tools. I would either put a riser under the bridge, or try to find some extra-tall saddle height screws - although I don't know if that would make enough difference.

If you want to make a riser, something like a piece of plastic pickguard material will work very well - it's easy to cut and drill. If the body is a string-through then it won't matter that the bridge screws are going less far into the body, there won't be a lot of force on them.

pcurtis100

As a follow up to the above is a shim in the neck pocket an option? One that raises the pocket on the headstock side?

ICBM

pcurtis100 said:

As a follow up to the above is a shim in the neck pocket an option? One that raises the pocket on the headstock side?

That's what I meant - it makes the guitar feel odd because it tilts the neck away from you.

poopot

I posted the below pic on my swampy strat build thread... the neck pocket (guitar build) was slightly too shallow, the neck slightly too thick at the heel...

the chart should give you some idea as to where to aim (1962) to get the geometry correct.

 http://a63.tinypic.com/21cy2rm.jpg

You have two choices, deepen the pocket or shave the neck...

what i did was mill .040” of off the neck heel 

http://a67.tinypic.com/w47sj.jpg

geomety now bang on ‘62 specs.

pcurtis100

Thanks ICBM ,Poopot,
Really appreciated. I don't have the tools or the inclination to shave the neck purely because I want to retain the option to put it back into the old body if I'm not happy with the results. So I'll try raising the bridge and see how that goes but most likely try to find a guitar tech that can deepen the pocket.
Thanks for the measurements poopot I suspect it will save a lot of pain
Cheers
Pete

poopot

pcurtis100 said:

Thanks ICBM ,Poopot,
Really appreciated. I don't have the tools or the inclination to shave the neck purely because I want to retain the option to put it back into the old body if I'm not happy with the results. So I'll try raising the bridge and see how that goes but most likely try to find a guitar tech that can deepen the pocket.
Thanks for the measurements poopot I suspect it will save a lot of pain
Cheers
Pete

Before you take it to a tech, see if there is a local engineering workshop or woodshop that will route the pocket for you... you now know the measurements you need... you can tell them exactly how much to take out... and they’ll do it for a drink!...

milling that neck cost me a whole five pounds!!!!

prowla

You can do a flat shim, so it just raises the neck, rather than angles it.

poopot

prowla said:

You can do a flat shim, so it just raises the neck, rather than angles it.

The op needs to go the other way... neck sits too high at the moment.