So, I’ve got a guitar (Squier VM Jazzmaster) which I’m giving a little TLC to. At the moment it plays nicely and sounds nice with three thicknesses of standard business card at the business end of the neck pocket giving me a break angle at the bridge which seems to work well with the .009 to.046 string gauges I’m using at the moment but I thought I might do the job right and put a proper shaped shim in there.
StewMac offer 0.25, 0.5, and 1 degree variants, can anybody offer any advice (or a handy guide to converting thicknesses of card to degrees of neck pitch change!) to help me pick out the right shim (or combination of shims) to match what I’ve got at the moment?
Don't ask me, I just play the damned thing...
Comments
So basic maths...ok a googled calculator give your current angle (if my assumptions are right) at 0.8 of a degree
So I guess a 1 degree or .25 and .75 stacked.....
If my assumptions are wrong, measure what you have and use the attached calculator link.....
https://www.calculator.net/triangle-calculator.html?vc=60&vx=2.25&vy=1&va=90&vz=75&vb=&angleunits=d&x=72&y=19
My immediate instinct is that allowing for a bit of squishage[1] as the neck screws are tightened .75 might be the way to go, although having now seen what StewMac charge for posting a thin sliver of wood to the UK I might actually stick with the card[2] unless anyone can point me at a UK supplier...
[1] To use the technical term,
[2] I gather it was good enough for Leo...
Anyway, thanks very much for that!
My experience is that you will gain nothing and possibly lose something with one of those "proper" wooden shims.
They actually sound better with just a traditional strip shim across the end of the pocket.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson
If you want to try it I have some veneer I can pop in an envelope, just pm me your address...
edit...or what ICBM said!
[1] Well, apart from the £70 I’ve already spent on the Staytrem bridge, but at least you can see that, it’s a clear improvement on the original in a number of ways, it addresses a specific issue I’ve got with my guitar, and nobody who’s fitted one seems to have regretted it...