Neck pocket shimming?

[Donovan]

I like my guitar to have the strings a little higher off the body of the guitar than some manufacturers set the neck angle to achieve. My old RG3120 is about perfect especially since Ibanez uses the low profile bridges on their guitars. I'm used to playing a Les Paul with the pick guard removed so the strings are way off the body. This matters to me because I don't have the best form and anchor my right hand on the body usually when playing and locate my palm by hanging onto the high E. Weird I know but it's worked for 25 years now. I dig into the strings pretty good too and the pick will bottom out sometimes if the strings are really low on the body.

Anyway...

I am still fiddling with my new Charvel ProMod to get the strings etc. setup like I am used to. Neck shimming for me has always been a process where I use the wide end of various thickness of picks and put them under the neck in the back of the pocket. I find that it's easiest to cut the picks so that the thickness still shows on the part going in the pocket so I know what the thickness is. Then I can find a piece that is thicker or thinner by fractions of MMs and adjust to exactly where I want.
Is there a better way or material to use in the pocket? Am I screwing anything up in your opinion?

[Chad]

A shim made of a piece of graduated thickness wood that fills the whole pocket is best, but can be difficult to make because it is so thin.

I have used business cards, cereal box paper, etc. Tons of people do it this way. Even the big manufacturers. I have heard this method of having a shim only on one end of the pocket can cause the neck to swell up, but I haven't personally experienced this.

[Donovan]

A shim made of a piece of graduated thickness wood that fills the whole pocket is best, but can be difficult to make because it is so thin.

I have used business cards, cereal box paper, etc. Tons of people do it this way. Even the big manufacturers. I have heard this method of having a shim only on one end of the pocket can cause the neck to swell up, but I haven't personally experienced this.

Hmm. I wonder if in more humid climates or if somebody is just sweating like crazy on the guitar, the raw wood in the neck pocket, either of the body or the neck heel, could absorb some moisture and swell up if there is a little gap. I'm going to take mine off and oil it up in the neck pocket due to this post.

[Chad]

Climate could be a factor, but the way I understand it swelling would be mainly caused by stresses on the wood due to the gap of a partial shim. That's why a full length shim is best.

[leftykingv2]

A friend of mine had an 84 Kramer Beretta and he was going to get a custom paint job done on it. The painter told him to strip the guitar completely. I watched him take the whole guitar apart and when he unscrewed the neck two playing cards fell out of the neck pocket! I almost shit my pants. We were in shock back then when this happened. Then I found out Like Chad said it's common practice even by some of the biggest manufacturers.

[murkat]

I always have had good results in cut to fit dry wall sanding material, the open mesh stuff. locks the neck butt good to the body.
Or folded sandpaper, cut to fit.
I have made full size graduating wood shims for clients before when requested.
But my fave is the dry wall sanding material.

[Axewielder]

I've heard of using sandpaper, but never tried it. It must be non-friction. I once put a metal shim in a neck pocket, and that damn neck was slipping and sliding back and forth no matter how hard I tightened the bolts and throwing the guitar out of tune. I needed a pretty radical amount of shim on that guitar, and eventually had my tech fashion a wood shim wedge that covered the entire neck pocket. The more coupling you can get, the better.

[Newc]

I used to use those magazine subscription cards. Cut a piece as wide as the butt-end of the neck, maybe 1" wide (enough so that the screws went through the middle), and folded once. Worked for me, but as the saying goes, your mileage may vary.

[straycat]

I use sticky back sandpaper for this. When you screw the neck back in it keeps the neck from moving.
Usually about a 1/2 inch strip at the rear or front of the pocket whichever angle it needs.
Cut it the almost the width of the neck pocket peel off the back and press it down.

[xenophobe]

I cut about a 1/4" wide strip of business card. This has worked well for me. If needed I'll stack two or get a thicker business card.

[Scooter]

I cut about a 1/4" wide strip of business card. This has worked well for me. If needed I'll stack two or get a thicker business card.

^This. I do the exact same thing. A little translates to a lot from the pocket to the strings.

[GuitarMechanic]

^This. I do the exact same thing. A little translates to a lot from the pocket to the strings.

Yeah business cards is the perfect material.
I once did a wedge thing using a ton of car wax as a release agent and some Cyano glue, it worked but it was a huge mess and to be honest there was no noticeable difference...

[gerryl98]

What am I missing here? Shimming the neck will actually lower the action, right? Isn't that the opposite if what you're trying to achieve?

[Chad]

Shimming the neck on the body end of the pocket will require the bridge/trem to be set higher to reach the same action height as prior to the shim. This also raises the strings higher off the body, which is what the OP wants to accomplish. I've done this with recessed trems before to get the bridge height more similar to a non-recessed. Works like a charm.

[xenophobe]

^This. I do the exact same thing. A little translates to a lot from the pocket to the strings.

You're right, a little does translate a lot in this case. All you need is one strip. If you don't gain enough, try using a business card made of slightly thicker material. Sometimes I cut a strip from a cigarette box. That works too.