What is your take on neck shims? Kills the tone or no ill effects at all?

[jackson1]

straycat, awesome idea!

[DalyTek]

straycat, awesome idea!

+1 never thought of that, but it makes perfect sense!
I just shimmed my KE3 and used a piece of heavy gauge paper (just slightly thinner than a business card) and have not noticed any differences in tone at all.

[Confuse-a-Cat]

I've used an old train ticket before, and I don't think it had any real effect on tone or sustain. But then, that was on a rubbish strat copy where any change in tone would probably be an improvement. Still the shim actually made it play reasonably well, so I'll get around to swapping all the electronics eventually...

[MetalMedal II]

Oh, one last idea for shims are brake pad shims from an autoparts store. They're thin aluminum sheets with an adhesive back that can easily be cut with scissors. I've used these to shim a behind a nut stringlock, but they should work for a neck pocket.

[vklobucar]

I like that!

Thanks folks!

[rstites]

It won't affect tone or sustain. It will affect playability, so I'd just do it. My '84 was factory modded for a Floyd and if I recall correctly, it had a San Dimas area business card of some sort (restaurant maybe?) in the neck pocket when I got it, so I'm assuming the factory did them that way. I generally use post-it notes as they're very thin so easy to get exactly the thickness necessary. Plus, the glue holds them in a place a bit while getting everything back together. A little shim goes a long way, so don't go for anything too thick. I usually have to cut a post-in note down and fold it just once or so.

As to metal, I wouldn't bother myself. However, if you have some of the cavity shielding copper around, it's very thin and easy to work with.