Help! Is this a shim, or a standard neck component?

[Jimmy b]

I have seen some of my friends basses where they played with the bridge and messed up the sting radius to fret board bad.They think there's some kind of black magic invloved with setting up a instrument.

 

[angelspainter]

Thank you Bass Invader and all who responded, this thread helped me get to the bottom of the same problem. I have an EBMM SUB 1 and the fret buzz above the 12th fret was annoying. I googled "Ernie Ball neck shim" looking for tips on how to insert a shim as a solution to the problem and found this thread that informed me that a neck shim was probably the source of my problem.
Sure enough, shim found, shim removed and no more little kick-up at the end of the neck. If I bought my EBMM new in California and lived in CA I might subscribe to the "DON"T TOUCH THE BRIDGE!!!" mantra, but these guitars do travel to varied climates. Mine was shipped new to a music store in Ohio (hot summers, cold winters) then ended up three years later at a music store in New Hampshire (think vicious cold compensated for by a central heating system on steroids, very dry) then I bought it through the internet where she happily resides in Florida for the last 2 years (stultifying heat and humidity somewhat compensated for by a central AC system on steroids). At some point DiMarzios were installed. It was totally out of whack when I got it. Now she's fine. Thanks.

 

[angelspainter]

Thank you Bass Invader and all who responded, this thread helped me get to the bottom of the same problem. I have an EBMM SUB 1 and the fret buzz above the 12th fret was annoying. I googled "Ernie Ball neck shim" looking for tips on how to insert a shim as a solution to the problem and found this thread that informed me that a neck shim was probably the source of my problem.
Sure enough, shim found, shim removed and no more little kick-up at the end of the neck. If I bought my EBMM new in California and lived in CA I might subscribe to the "DON"T TOUCH THE BRIDGE!!!" mantra, but these guitars do travel to varied climates. Mine was shipped new to a music store in Ohio (hot summers, cold winters) then ended up three years later at a music store in New Hampshire (think vicious cold compensated for by a central heating system on steroids, very dry) then I bought it through the internet where she happily resides in Florida for the last 2 years (stultifying heat and humidity somewhat compensated for by a central AC system on steroids). At some point DiMarzios were installed. It was totally out of whack when I got it. Now she's fine. Thanks.

My point being that the pieces of wood that comprise my guitar are not exactly the same dimensions as they were when they left the factory in 05. My guitar has been baked, frozen, dried out and humidified in it's life. The .016shim (I'm guessing, it looks to be about the thickness of a G string) that was needed when it left the factory is now unnecessary and counterproductive.

 

[five7]

My point being that the pieces of wood that comprise my guitar are not exactly the same dimensions as they were when they left the factory in 05. My guitar has been baked, frozen, dried out and humidified in it's life. The .016shim (I'm guessing, it looks to be about the thickness of a G string) that was needed when it left the factory is now unnecessary and counterproductive.

Take oli's chainsaw to it.

 

[five7]

Take oli's chainsaw to it.

The shim that is.

 

[Musicman Nut]

Early this year I acquired a second hand 2005 string-through-body Stingray, one of only 450 made by EB for their Japan distributor. A fantastic bass.

Since getting it, I've noticed that to eliminate fret-buzz above the 12th fret, it's necessary to set unreasonably high action. It was almost as if the heel of the neck was sitting higher than it should be, causing excessive fret-buzz from the 12th fret up.

So I decided to remove the neck to see if there was a shim installed by the previous owner. Well I did find something under there - a small piece of very thin plastic placed over the lower two screws (see picture below).

I've never seen a shim before, and also have never removed the neck off a Stingray. I was wondering whether this is actually a shim? Or is this a standard component of a Stingray neck? Would removing it cause any problems? Or would it possibly solve this issue of upper fret buzzing?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

That is a Neck Shim Please note they do come in different colors which mean different thickness. Very Standard in the Bolt on Neck world.

 

[syciprider]

I never touch the truss rod if the relief is good (and it always has been) because I can get immediate results by raising and lowering the bridge saddles.

 

[Aussie Mark]

I never touch the truss rod if the relief is good (and it always has been) because I can get immediate results by raising and lowering the bridge saddles.

That's the opposite of what EBMM recommends

 

[Vintage7]

If the bass is still in the original setup from the factory, the only thing that needs to be done is a slight (1/4-turn) adjustment of the trussrod.
Usually this is only needed when the weather changes (Winter: Dry, Summer: Humid).
Changing the bridge height can cause other problems, like changing the intonation.