shimming my rg550's neck, good idea?

woodros · #1 03-08-2003, 08:37 AM

the action on my rg550 is not bad but it gets progressively higher toward the 24th fret, its quite annoying see as though i do not want high action towards the soling end if you know what i mean. Anyway, i shimmed the neck on the side closest to the body to decrease the neck angle, i.e. bring the top end of the fretboard up closer to the strings, just wondering if it's a wise decision, some of the screws for the neck are quite stiff to get in and out now. It seems to have inproved slightly but i still have to have my bass strings quite high to stop buzzing on the lower frets, do i need a thicker shim?

ScottRosenberger · #2 03-08-2003, 04:42 PM

Get a straight edge and lay it on the frets to make sure their isn't too much relief in the neck before you start piling in shims

Rich · #3 03-08-2003, 04:54 PM

You actually want relief [unless you like a straight neck setup]. If the problem is the trem will not go down any further [check to make sure the set screws in the studs aren't your obstacle] or it does but you loose alot of it's pullup travel, then the neck shim is the way to go. Most Ibanez need an extra neck shim.

[you have a built in straight edge, it's called a string. Fret at the first and the last and vwalah, straight edge]

woodros · #4 03-08-2003, 05:17 PM

i think i need some more neck bow, ive checked the measurement when the 1st and last fret are depressed and there is no gap between the 7th fret, its just the fact that my action is nice as low at the lower frets and higher at the top end, i dont like it!

MicJustMic · #5 03-09-2003, 02:59 PM

Adding some bow to the neck should help with this.

I usually have about a .008 inch (I only have American feelers at the moment) gap at the 7th fret, this gives me nice action at the upper frets and reduces buzz in the lower ones.

The more bow you add, the lower your action can be at the 24th, but it will get stiffer in the lower frets.

String hight at the 12th fret on all my RG's is 1.5 mm on the high E and 2.0 on the low.

Hope this helps!
Mic

dcord · #6 03-09-2003, 03:03 PM

Putting in a shim will not help your action. The only thing neck shimming accomplishes is to raise the bridge to allow more pull-up.

You need to give your neck some relief. Follow the standard setup rules in order: Adjust the nut to give proper open string action, adjust bridge height to give the best possible action on the high frets (12-24), then adjust your truss rod to set the action on the low frets (2-11). Then repeat the steps if necessary.

It's my guess that your nut is too high, and whoever set up your guitar adjusted the trem height to give "good" overall action. Ibanez has a bad habit of putting too large a shim under the nut from the factory, I nearly always take them out. Set the guitar up as I've suggested to get great action everywhere.

Good luck!
~d~

Rich · #7 03-09-2003, 03:42 PM

There's always too much shim under the nut from the factory, BUT, set the nut height after you set the neck relief

dcord · #8 03-10-2003, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich

There's always too much shim under the nut from the factory, BUT, set the nut height after you set the neck relief

Never, unless you have backbow. Nut height is generally set first. You should always start there, since it will affect everything on the entire neck. Neck relief only truly affects the middle frets.

~d~

Rich · #9 03-10-2003, 12:15 AM

The clearence off the first fret varries greatly depending on how much relief there is in the neck. I basically have the whole action dialed in before I adjust the nut. Pulling shims is a PITA!, I only want to do it once. Now if you had the strings off you can just start at 0 shims [or whatever you eyeballed it needed before you took the strings off], slipping shims in to come up to the right height is easy

darren wilson · #10 03-10-2003, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woodros

i think i need some more neck bow, ive checked the measurement when the 1st and last fret are depressed and there is no gap between the 7th fret, its just the fact that my action is nice as low at the lower frets and higher at the top end, i dont like it!

Why couldn't you have told us that in the LAST thread you started about your neck problems? I only asked you to check that about three times!

Yes, it's obvious that your neck does not have enough forward bow on it. Adjust it a quarter turn at a time and get it relatively even so your string JUST clears all the frets when simultaneously held down at the first and 24th frets. Only THEN should you adjust things like bridge height, nut height and neck angle (in that order).

Rich · #11 03-10-2003, 12:24 AM

We have 2 threads going here?! No wonder we're all confused! Stick to one.