Shimming bridge?

murrayatuptowngaller · March 19

I took my new DiMauro Chorus replica to someone for an opinion (since mine is naive). He said the action was really low, and to shim the bridge to reduce buzzing..

I have a roll of 0.50 mm 'quarter-cut' (furniture industry uses that term instead of quarter-sawn) teak veneer.

I am wondering if the slight increase in bridge height makes the strings longer between nut & bridge, so the bridge may need to be moved a little closer to the nut.

If this is on track so far, do I compare open string tuning to 12th fret open harmonic, or 12th fret fretted? Or neither?

I did not find this discussed previously using the search tool.

Thanks

billyshakes · March 19

Hey Murray,

The search tool isn't the greatest since it is running on old software. Sometimes it is better to search via google something like "shims djangobooks forum" and you can then come back into the forum with the result. That's what I've tried lately, anyway.

Your points are well thought out. I've used shims to raise action on may guitar seasonally, but I haven't really moved the bridge much to compensate. Maybe give it a shot and check your intonation. Would love to hear your results.

murrayatuptowngaller · March 19

Exactly what I found...Google found me the DjangoBooks posts like To Shim Or Not To Shim.

I overthink things before taking action. I have had many problems with intonation so I am aware they can happen. One was my avatar which had the nut too far from the 1st fret but the frets spaced OK (as far as can tell, so far).

I just got a different style guitar and noticed every thing fretted is sharp, so even with beginner hands I am certain the action is too high or some other problem. I switched to the low action manouche guitar and I can play fretted notes in tune, except the B string...which is interesting as well as suggesting it's not me pressing too hard on a light string. The high E plays in tune fretted, so there is something strange there.

wim · March 20

do I compare open string tuning to 12th fret open harmonic, or 12th fret fretted? Or neither?

Neither. You compare 12th fret natural harmonic and 12th fret fretted.

If the fretted note is flat, move the bridge forward (i.e. toward the headstock)

pdg · March 20

Typically, if you raise the action, the notes may fret a bit sharp, because you're increasing the tension as you press down to the fret. So you may have to move the bridge slightly toward the tailpiece.

Twang · March 20

As an aside, you should notice more volume and perhaps less brightness. I’ve experimented with shims. Everything from bits of thin cardboard, the cedar wrappings you get on cuban cigars and cut up credit cards. I liked the credit cards best. Who’d a thought!

murrayatuptowngaller · March 21

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/117172#Comment_117172

Thank you

murrayatuptowngaller · March 21

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/117173#Comment_117173

Thank you

murrayatuptowngaller · March 21

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/117174#Comment_117174

I got a PicPunch as a gift years ago...novelty of punching picks out of old credit cards, driver licenses, etc. wore thin very quickly as they wear poorly, and some cards seem to be laminated paper.

Punching pics out of CD's is interesting...you get a thicker pic with the diffraction sparkle...but the sparkles wear off, leaving glitter everywhere. Eventually you have a clear pick.

DVD's are more brittle...I rarely could punch one without it shattering. The chemistry is different. There are dogs trained to sniff certain drugs, cadavers, currency and DVD's in the (see to be obsolete?) battle against counterfeit DVD's...apparently they and the dogs don't care about CD counterfeiting.

So, I won't try optical disc shims. At one point I thought they'd be fun (to have, not to make) fretboard inlays.

Thanks

Buco · March 21

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/117172#Comment_117172

Does it matter? If your end goal is for a guitar to tune well at the 12th fret, what does it matter where you start, open string or 12th fret harmonic. Apparently Dan Erlewine recommends open string/12th fret fretted. I don't see a difference to be honest. To me, unless something is seriously out of whack, like the neck is very bowed with a ton of relief or a frets aren't installed correctly etc..., it's all splitting hairs.