Do I need a neck Shim?

[hexa-db]

Hi,

I've been working my way through the setup guides here and on Rich's site, and my guitar is definately a LOT better than when I first got it.
I'm still not totally happy with the action height though.
When I first got it I lowered the bridge a little which helped, but it would't go much lower without buzzing at the 1/2nd frets on the B string. Being stupid and impatient (I didn't have the trussrod adjustment tool) I fitted a little cardboard neckshim and this helped.
At Jemfest Dex & Jono pointed out that bridge was really high, so I got home, removed the neck shim, set the trem angle, lowered the bridge, adjusted the trussrod, let it settle for a couple days and tweaked the bridge angle again. This made it *much* better, but the bridge is currently lowered as far as it will go and the action is still a bit higher than on my old RG470. I don't have feeler guages so using an ultra-technical method of sliding a plectrum under the 24th fret, it seems like the action there is slightly less than 2mm (high E) and slightly higher than 2mm on the low E.

Am I aiming for too low an action, or is there something else I can do (like putting the neck shim back)?

[Rich]

Did you back off the set screws in the studs?

[hexa-db]

Yep

Should I upload a pic of the bridge to see if it looks as low as it should be? (or if it's too low) ?

[Rich]

If the action isn't low enough for you then put a neck shim [a sensible one this time] in

[caprile]

Buzzing at the first frets..maybe you need a higher nut?

[hexa-db]

Originally Posted by caprile

Buzzing at the first frets..maybe you need a higher nut?

Adjusting the trussrod cleared up the buzzing a lot, but the nut has been replaced at some point, with what looks like a non-Ibanez one (there's file marks on the edges) so I may have to look into that again. Although it does *seem* ok.

Originally Posted by Rich

If the action isn't low enough for you then put a neck shim [a sensible one this time] in

I'll give it a go. The last one I tried was a piece from an old birthday card, folded 5 times, and that was way too much, so chopped it down to a single fold (2 layers of card) which helped. I took it out because I thought the proper bridge height/neck relief would get the action low enough.
I'll give it another go and let you know.

Thanks a lot for the advice

[Rich]

Standard buisness card is plenty thick enough.

[hexa-db]

It seems a lot better now. Before the shim, even with the bridge lowered all the way, there was no fretbuzz at all. After the shim I had to raise the bridge a little.

The action feels a lot nicer now, not sure how high it is but it's less than 2mm at the 24th (high E). Again that's a rough estimate using a 2mm pick. I really should buy a feeler guage.

Any ideas why it needs a shim? Is it just variation between guitars?

[Rich]

Simple, they all need a shim