Like all Stewmac stuff, great idea and great product. And expensive relative to what it is. Also a trademark of Stwmac stuff.

Fender's "Micro Tilt" might be okay for a temporary adjustment; but temporary only. I've seen many Strats with that warped dip at the neck heel you're talking about. Didn't know I could get ready-made shims. Awesome.

I have an early 60's Strat that after 50 years needed a re-fret when the neck was removed it had a thin card shim up in the neck pocket and writen on the reverse was the name Pete 63. After the re-fret I was at the Luthiers to see them put the shim back. I still gig and record with it this day. R'n'R

About $7.50 + $10 shipping (US). Almost $18 for this paper thin piece of wood?? I understand they are difficult to make, but they’re mass producing these things. StewMac is great, but they’re prices aren’t always.

These shims work perfectly. Wish they were a bit less expensive. I have made a few with some scrap wood. Takes a while but can be done if you are patient. I despise micro tilt. Seen many bass neck ruined by it. Never really understood why guitar manufacturers can't just cut their neck pockets a little better.

MY UNCLE FRED ROLLED A CRITICAL JOINT WITH WILLIE ONCE.

I have regular air inside the empty space under my controls. I need Stew Mac air to fill the gap.

I was going to order a shim for my bass guitar in spite of the fact that this thin piece of wood was 15.- dollars. I added it into my "cart" and when I was about to pay I saw that StewMac was also going to hit me with a 13.- dollar charge for shipping this tiny and light piece of wood. I thought that was just crazy and I cancelled the order and make the shim myself. And it turned out really well.

I asked a real expert -- someone who's designed for Gibson, Fender, Framus, and many more major companies -- what he'd use to adjust the angle of the bolt-on neck of a solid-body guitar and his answer was immediate and firm: washers, even the thin dress washers that come with jacks and pots, are as good as anything else. He went on the say that good acoustic coupling between neck and body -- including a super-tight neck pocket -- is not usually an advantage and more often than not results in random phase cancellations unless the neck and body are acoustically tuned to each other, which is only rarely the case with a mass-produced instrument like a Fender. Remember, in an instrument with electromagnetic pickups, the pickups produce the output to the signal chain by sensing the motion of the strings -- all the neck and body can do is influence how those strings vibrate for better or worse and the neck, being much less massive, is much more of an influence than the body.

A strip of Playing card works for me - the ace of spades ♠️ is especially good

I only use tone cardboard for my shims.

I made my own shims. The first one was 45°, but that was too much...

Really good info. Most of the other tweaks have be covered ad infinitum. I was always aware of the transfer of resonance so would make up a tin foil shim, thinking it would transfer the sound better than a softer wood but that fulcrum gap/bend is very important. I had previously considered it, but your description of it now, really drives the point home. Most people don't realize that things happen on a guitar almost at a microscopic level. Things like torque or screw tension/pressure can't be seen, until it is too late. Even string drag over nuts and bridges can't be seen, but it sure can be heard if you have a trem bar. Nice informative video. Thanks for enlightening us. - c / vancouver bc

Business cards work for me. Slightly off topic (but related): the best mod I've done to 'bolt on' necks is to fit threaded inserts, and use machine screws to hold the necks, rather than the usual woodscrews. I occasionally bend the neck for a bit of vibrato and once had one come loose mid-gig. The guitar went way out of tune and it took a few seconds to realise what had happened. The inserts allow the neck to be held much more tightly, and there's a noticeable improvement in the tone, so whether or not there's a shim needed for angle adjustment, I'd recommend installing inserts.

Been playing 60 years, never had any problem using homemade shims.

About 1971, I was the first person to remove the neck of a couple of '60s Fenders. Both had shims that were only about 3/8", instead of a full size wedge shim.

They work great and I didn’t notice any change in my tone. I used a .5 degree for a guitar that measured 7/64”s at the lowest possible setting at the 12th fret with a nicely adjusted (straight) neck. To determine which shim to use, I found a triangle calculator online, putting the degrees stew mac offered of the shims (starting with 1 degree) as the first factor, half the scale length of my neck (bc the 12th fret is half the length of your guitar string) as the second factor, and 90 degrees for the 3rd factor, and it was easy to determine which degree shim would give me the extra height I needed. It was spot on!

I had a really crappy electric when I was 12, in 1964. My dad helped me plane the neck angle to fit properly. no shim, and we got rid of the horrid action, Every woodworker should learn how to either angle taper the pocket or the neck. Shims are quick, granted..

This video, was brought to you by Extra Gum.

How come the Chinese haven't duplicated these things yet? These deserve a 0.99 shipping included ebay price

you can go to any hobby shop that sells RC airplanes, and they all have tons of flat brass stock in various thicknesses. simply cut to length and shim between the neck pickup screws and the body side of the neck pocket

Ive done the shim adjustment with thick paper and Matchbox pieces for more than 40 years, and my stratocasters plays like a dream, with no problems. So much for nerding.

Nice seeing at the end how your example of a guitar with a strange bolt pattern was a 1966 through 1968 Kay, with their weird 3 bolt neck that has the bolts in somewhat of a sideways "(" bracket pattern. I also have a 1966 Kay (but not the same model,) and it needs a shim. I must yet find out how tall the shim should be, though.

an excellent product - and nice you make blanks as well as ones for common bass guitars!

Love that red strat, looks boss

With a good sharp hand plane, some experience and a good piece of wood, it's no trouble to make shims. No sanding required, no shipping delays, excuses, or charges.

Only $97 for 12 of them. Guitar manufacturers should put neck tilt adjustment on every guitar. Peavey was doing it almost 40 years ago.

I had a Squier Strat neck hanging around, so I purchased a fully loaded Squier Strat body, and the neck needed 2 shims in the neck pocket, one at the side, and one underneath the bottom of the neck. I cut suitably sized hard plastic strips from a store loyalty card, (similar to a credit card), probably just less than a mm thick. I'm happy with the result and it sounds good played through my Marshall AVT valvestate amp.

The modern Fender necks have that Allen screw that will tilt the neck. It leaves a air gap in there.

I used one in my Charvel. Clean, tight fit.

Thanks for the video. I need some advice: I bought a Harmony H22 bass, fixed the truss rod, put on a Zeroglide nut (.035in). The trussrod height measures. 015, the nut height .024, and the saddle height is cranked all the way down, and at the 16th fret measures 4/32nd in. I want to get that lower. Would a shim of .5 or 1 degree lift the neck at the top enough, allowing me to adjust the saddle up a little, while also lowering the nut height 1-2 thousandths? I have a .25, .5, and 1 degree shim from Stewmac. I don't want to cut into the original wood saddle/bridge because it might ruin the intonation 2. I could get a different saddle/bridge that can adjust each string, and keep the old bridge for when I sell it. So I see my choices as: shim (possible have to level frets); cut into saddle to lower strings, or buy new bridge to use. Any serious replies would be welcome. Thanks

So lucky I didn't have any problem with my neck pocket it fitted nicely with my neck I just need to add a shim to change the angle a little bit and for now I'm using a cardboard for the first step because its easy to identify how thick I need to add and now I already know how much I need so I'm planning to change it with a real wood because by using a cardboard I feel a little bit less sustain and it change a little bit of my tone but its just a little bit and its ok, and one more thing I didn't have any issue with the angle (°) I'm just add a flat shim and it works very good for my guitar.

It's about time somebody came up with this. I knew it would be Dan Earlwine. What took him so long...? If you'd ever tried sanding down your own, you'll know what I mean. I will use them and get the best tone transmission throughout the body and neck of my guitars now.

How about just using an old credit card and sanding it to shape?

Ive seen this process done in both sides of the neck pocket, how do you know where to put the shim???

Cabinet makers veneer works great. Been using it for years. I buy it bulk.

In the 60s, Fender used partial shims, but of better material than cardboard.

I have a 1970 Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi Bass. I think the blanks would be my best option. Is there a suggested method to determine the appropriate degree needed?

Great explanation of what's going on at the neck joint. The Stew-Mac shims seem to be the right tool for the job. Thanks!!

People might not like the price and yeah, it’s silly, but the simplest answer is almost always the correct one. Better contact, proper material, superior. You might not get a ski jump from your alternative method, but ask any old luthier and they will tell ya they’ve seen it countless times.

Do you make "lateral" shim ? My Tele has the bass side bigger than the trebble side, which makes pickup set sligtly higher on the bass side than the trebble side ? Not so aesthetic I think !!!!!! Best regards from France

I wonder what that last piece he had on the bench is and hanging in the background - I see all the tuners are on one side of the head and it seems to have a ES(ish) 135-75 body style. Leads me to suspect it might be an early Kay or such thing.........sweet.

I've always used shims just like Fender... but these shims are definitely proper.

Wow they are really expensive!!! I just made one with a block of mahogany that I picked from a cabinet shop garbage container, and made the cut with my miter saw. With the price of two shims plus shipping I bought a fine cut blade 🤷🏻‍♂️ and did it,

I work on a lot of old Peavey guitars and basses. Everyone of them needs a shim. many of them have had the necks ruined with years of micro til and giants strings. Micro tilt COULD be a good idea, if there was a much larger point of contact.

How do you know what degree shim you need? And which way do you position it?

Do these work if i need to shim it the other way? I can’t straighten my neck out anymore cause my saddles won’t go any higher..

sounds good but how do I calculate the slant needed?

i use a cut up section of a ziptie and woodglue.. works perfectly everytime!

Nice product. I can use a few

A set of 12 cost $96? You've seriously got to be kidding me.

What if you want to shim the neck forward so you can lower the saddles ? Turn the shim around ? .

How do you know what angle you need? Are they listed? Like Strat 25 degrees, Gibson, 20 degrees…etc…

I made two out of a really hard wood (lapacho), so yeah, it's a lot of work. They were impossible to sand without machines.

the irony is that he used whatever he had on hand for a visual demo: a pack of gums and lifesavers lol

If you want one of these shims, buy one. If you want to make your own and have the skills and tools then do it. If you don't think there's any difference, put a business card in there. FWIW, check out the original shims from our beloved Fender 1950s/60s Strats on eBay and Reverb. They are partial shims.

the wood shims are expensive. By using 2-3 business card shims gradually shorter as you stack them (longest one maybe 2/3 of the pocket length) you can get a shimmed pocket fast and card paper is close enough to wood to suffice. Most guitar tone is from the pickups.... not the neck pocket .... A little is from the coupling of the strings over the saddles into the bridge. Electrics are nearly all pickups and electronics.... not the neck pocket contact. He said it himself... 'turn it into a piece of paper' Just use business card. Costs nothing and is cut with scissors...

Paper shims are fine.

This is the way Taylor guitars have been doing their action since about 2001 ✅😎

Can you use this neck shim in the opposite direction in order to increase neck relief in a neck with back bow?

I've been making them for a while now I get the wood from the toy hobby shop top stuff

It's amazing how many people don't believe in this like it's some kind of a magical thing that a 0.5 neck shim will make your neck ramp up on the upper frets they probably think the world is flat too LOL.

So this example had a matchbook in the pocket next to the body to raise the heel and lower the headstock, because the saddles were too low...what if the saddles are too high and the truss still cannot adjust the neck...can you shim the neck the OTHER way?...essentially raising the headstock with the shim on the opposite end of the neck pocket?...or are these shims designed to only fit one way?

Interesting video/comments with food for thought about coupling through the shim. Thanks. (Not my business but you might want to see an opthalmologist about your mild strabismus)

Can we use brass shim for vetter sustain 😊

Hi, have a tele that has fret buzz to dead frets on like 10th fret to 21..checked frets w level rocker n there flat as should be,anything like this help??? kinda confusing heck out me. Thank good video

What if you tilt adjustment on your guitar?

Can you get premade shims for a 5 string Jazz Bass?

Good video

nice!

Personally I think we'll worth it if you have a 60s strat that needs it for better playability You spend that much at Starbucks Especially if you're doing some builds or putting older necks on newer bodies MJT bodies seem to need them So nice to have something perfect for the job

If the guitar had been built right to begin with, it wouldn't need a shim in the neck pocket.

Save yourself some money and use paper, after all paper is made of wood pulp.Old decks of playing cards do the trick too. Just trace several pieces, cut them to different lengths until you have the wedge thickness you want. Cost you a nickel, done.

I make my neck shims out of guitar strings packages like D'Addario string packages. Perfect thickness.

Thanks for teaching me how to shimmy.

Wish they would offer ones for lowering the saddles.

A Rosewood Shim is what i need.

Is there any formula for the degree of shim versus string height in thousandths ? I have an old hondo strat and the string height is really high even with the saddles bottomed out . The nut is level and I removed the neck and checked straightness with a luthiers ruler and had someone else check it and was told the neck relief is correct but the neck needs a shim . I should add I've been playing guitar 40+ years but only recently started actually working on them . Thanks and hope everyone has a great year

I would like to see an actual proof of a one inch thick piece of maple/maple or maple/rosewood being force bend on the length of a neck pocket ... Kurt Cobains tech used make shift cardboard shims for Kurts guitars to accommodate tune-o-matic bridges. If you claim there is an audible difference between his and other Mustangs, then your ears work better than mine. Fender used cardboard shims behind the back screws for years, for all we know Jimi, Stevie of Jaco's instruments could have had one of those, with no tone, sustain or wood bending issues. With all due respect, this has to be one of the most undocumented claims in bolt on neck history.

All so true man,it's just simple logic,as a vulcan it's not funny! I made one myself,and lol,put a 5th neck screw (just drilled through the neck plate-still attached-correct size) where the chrome or ? plating has worn (metal belt buckles caused some wear in 32 years),and it's a coppery colour like?,though the plate is strong-I do wonder WT? kind of metal/steel it is? on my ole stripped to bare basswood bodied,stained dark reddish with Danish oil stain,that it's completely(except for the Ibanez neck plate-I'm fairly sure after the truly dream like 250k anti-clockwise volume pot died making the neck plate,and the wood of the body the ONLY Ibanez parts left unrecognisable RS-135 Ibanez lefty,now no more 'crack' sound when the neck used to 'oh so slightly shift' jumping off the drum riser'....not a chance!,you have to drink possibly more than a few vodka's and be Edward from 77-? Man he was the master of that incredible move! *WARNING* The irate as a "cut snake" RANT about clockwise volume potentiometers(and tone)all 4 dial controls on GIBSON guitars NOT BEING INSTALLED or WIRED for THE CORRECT direction LEFT HANDED players(just like RIGHT HANDED players):we all NEED to be able to TURN UP GRADUALLY!!! So damned important LIVE,to simply-pull back and up for MORE,from underneath the knob,usually with one's 'little finger'-hey Gibson! 27 years I waited for a left handed LP able to be bought in Australia(none in this exact locale,so it was ebay or way way overpriced-$3,500 for an plain bland all black SG in a cardboard box! USD and AUD were actually at parity late 2010/early mid 2011,only to be DELIGHTED...NOT AT ALL! ACTUALLY HORRIFIED to finally get a LP-,and infuriatingly find all 4 pots go the WRONG way ffs! 32 years ago Ibanez could correctly install a part paramount for a left handed guitar Epiphone China types just reverse wire so 0-10 very dumb ass quickly ESP and others can do it! Man I'm going to be majorly pissed if the new mexican EVH Left Handed Wolfgang Standard is wrong! WE DEMAND to turn up as simply,and CONTROLLED as a right handed person can take for granted.

8 out of 10 mex strats don't need a shim. Shims only if you bridge saddles are full height but in my years never had a strat or tele that needed a shim .

Neck Shim? Is it a common problem and could happen on any big brand guitar?? it means this guitar quality is bad??

They only work perfectly if you use them in one direction. If you flip them the other way to create more action the holes wont line up.

I find myself shimming the sides of neck pockets as much as the bottom. If the neck is a loose fit side-to-side, and also needs a shim underneath, then the guitar will go out of tune a lot because the neck shifts in the neck pocket. (The 3-bolt fenders are really bad for this.) If this is noticed by players, they will often try to tighten the neck screws excessively as a quick-fix, and this leads to marred phillipsheads, or stripped out holes in the neck heel.

awesome

When the slide guitar came in I thought I started wheezing. 🌫️

I like stew mac ,I use their products,but some are way over priced

what about micro tilts? I had one that destroyed

I don't get it. IF he is making that body and pocket then WHY not fix the pocket ? OH the 20$ shim is a better idea ? I would buy these at $2.00 a piece for the strats that run out of bridge travel and or for a quick check to see which angle is best needed to fix the pocket. Buy whole degree sets for what they sell 3 of these for.

what kind of guitar is that last one? thanks

Cheez.... what a spin.... anyone can make a shim..... it is easy to make and takes no time at all.... Besides if a person is savvy enough to adjust a guitar neck... they certainly are capable enough to make a shim without paying the gouge these folks want for ready made wood slivers ...

I make my own using a big wood plane and a wide piece of pine wood.

I bought a guitar once that had a *quarter* in the neck pocket

Are there any pre-made shim options for angling the neck the opposite way?

neck shims *probably* should be steel. But I can't say from experience, but that's the first thing I'd try. And never put glue in there!

I prefer my vintage matchbox shim.

My best sounding Stratocaster has a half inch business card shim setting in the back of the neck pocket running over both of the two bottom screws. It has plenty of sustain, sounds warm, fat and punchy and has been on the guitar since the early 1990s. What you are describing in the beginning of the video is a myth. Fenders micto-tilt system uses a nickel sized washer in the bottom of the neck pocket with a allen screw to adjust the tilt of the neck. You don't need a full wooden wedge in you neck pocket to "properly" shim your neck. Take some scissors, one business card, cut off a half inch piece, set it across the base of the neck pocket over the two bottom neck screws, put your neck back on and raise your saddles. My 1962 Fender Stratocaster sounds amazing, best sounding Stratocaster I have ever heard or played and I credit a lot of it to that neck shim. Cheers..

Only stewmac can sell you 12 thin pieces of wood for $150

$103 for a set of 12 neck shims??? I don't know what you guys are smoking, but it must be good stuff!!

Just some opinions I'm about to spew AND a question at the end..... 1:18, uh, I HIGHLY doubt that the force of the screws is able to alter the straightness of the neck inside that neck joint area just because there is a shim there. Just ain't gonna happen. This is too salesy and a bit of fear mongering to boot! The only two valid points were 1) the sustain and tone might be lessened a HAIR if it was measured scientifically and not just subjectively and 2) the material used can decay over time and might require another shim in even a few years if it happened to get wet and break down. That bending the neck claim is laughable, really. If the distance was like 6 inches on either side then yeah, I'd buy that. But 1 inch of fulcrum with only the force of 2 screws on each side... that isn't going to bend a neck heel. Also, how could someone possibly know exactly what thickness of shim they'd need to buy? Or is that the plan? You get them to buy like 3 or 4 to be sure? I didn't see any explanation on how to know WHICH angle to buy. ??? Did I miss that part of the vid? I know you see my comment so I'd like to know how one goes about calculating the angle needed to accomplish the neck tilt they want. I know how much I need visually but what angle would that be? 1? 3? I have no idea!