I added a neck shim to my 555 but the action is the same...

[Filipe]

only the bridge is higher!

I had no benefit from doing this since I don't like to play with a raised bridge... I wanted lower action, but it's about the same...

Is the problem on the neck bowing?

[Rotti]

Look in the tech section about neck bow. An adjustment may help. I would go for the straightest neck possible. If not you might consider having a good tech look at it. Maybe your guitar could benefit from a fret leveling. And don't get too carried away with low action. Many many pros have higher action than you would expect. Maybe your playing style just requires a higher action to avoid buzzing.

[sindlei]

Originally Posted by Filipe

only the bridge is higher!

I had no benefit from doing this since I don't like to play with a raised bridge... I wanted lower action, but it's about the same...

Is the problem on the neck bowing?

so lower your bridge?

[Filipe]

Originally Posted by sindlei

so lower your bridge?

If I lower my bridge, it will cause unbearable buzz! And my trem surely doesn't reach the perfect 4th!

[MicJustMic]

A neck shim will not help with string buzz, only a good fret level and good setup will do that.

If you have lots of buzzing at the action you like, you most likely need a fret level, either that or your neck is to straight, or back-bowed.

Check out Rich's site, it's one of the best sources for setup tips.

Mic

[MicJustMic]

Oh, and don't forget, no matter how good your setup or frets are . . . VERY low action (anything less than 2 mm at the last fret) is going to have some buzzing, especially if you have a heavy hand.

So in that case it's either live with the buzzin, lighten up on your picking, or raise the action and get used to it.

When I first started playing it was on a poorly set up, badly worn fretboard guitar and I assumed that a good guitar would allow me to lower the strings as low as I wanted with no buzzing . . . well my first good guitar was a Japanees made Fender Strat with an almost perfect fret level (don't let anyone tell you those weren't good guitars, I wish I still had the two I sold) and guess what? BUZZ . . . of course I tried to set my action at 1 mm at the 22nd fret, so . . . :-)

Mic

[stratoskier]

I'm the last one to be offering advice on this stuff, but...

I'm puzzled that he says his bridge is higher. Since the shim by itself wouldn't change the bridge (stud) height, that doesn't seem right, does it? -- I'm wondering if he put the shim in the wrong place in the neck pocket (headstock end vs. bridge end) so that the bridge "feels" higher. So Filipe, could you describe what type (size) of shim you used and where you placed it? And I agree, Rich's site is the place to go for all setup info.
Bert

[darren wilson]

If your action is too high down at the first fret, adding a neck shim and/or lowering the bridge isn't going to do a thing to help. You may have to lower your nut, adjust neck relief, do a fret level or some combination of these three.

Rich's tutorial is very thorough... give it a read and report back.