Defretting issue

[grumble]

OK, here goes..
I've defretted a Peavey Milestone 3 and everything went well. Fitted the neck back on the body and strung it with some new Rotosound Jazz strings. Played a few scales around the fifth fret and everything seemed Ok but when I dropped down to the 1st/2nd fret region I found the strings were dead/buzzing. OK not a problem, raise the action and check intonation. The trouble is that now the action is a little high for my tastes and fingering around the 1st/2nd fret region is quite hard.
A (guitard) friend has suggested shimming the neck, how would this help and how would I do it ? Any other ideas?
On a plus note, I'm pleasantly suprised by my accuracy on the defretted Peavey. I'm still a sh*te player but now with a nicer tone

[Paul_C]

[quote name='grumble' post='489939' date='May 16 2009, 05:01 PM']OK, here goes..
I've defretted a Peavey Milestone 3 and everything went well. Fitted the neck back on the body and strung it with some new Rotosound Jazz strings. Played a few scales around the fifth fret and everything seemed Ok but when I dropped down to the 1st/2nd fret region I found the strings were dead/buzzing. OK not a problem, raise the action and check intonation. The trouble is that now the action is a little high for my tastes and fingering around the 1st/2nd fret region is quite hard.
A (guitard) friend has suggested shimming the neck, how would this help and how would I do it ? Any other ideas?
On a plus note, I'm pleasantly suprised by my accuracy on the defretted Peavey. I'm still a sh*te player but now with a nicer tone [/quote]

have you cut the nut slots down ?

usually the nut is cut to match the level of the first fret, but with a fretless you want it cut right down - I usually leave a small step from board to nut, but only a fraction of a millimetre

[The Bass Doc]

The nut Slots can be cut down to close to zero to assist the hard work of 'fretting' at that end. The whole idea of the correct nut height is to clear the first fret so now that it's not there you can go lower. Hope this helps - can't see any benefit in shimming at this stage .

[Born 2B Mild]

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='489949' date='May 16 2009, 05:09 PM']The nut Slots can be cut down to close to zero to assist the hard work of 'fretting' at that end. The whole idea of the correct nut height is to clear the first fret so now that it's not there you can go lower. Hope this helps - can't see any benefit in shimming at this stage .[/quote]
Good tip. I'll try that too.

[grumble]

@ Paul_C and The Bass Doc
Thanks guys, as soon as I read your replies I had a 'DOH!' moment

Still curious as to the shimming thing though, why and how do people do it ?

[BassBod]

One quick suggestion - put two layers of masking tape down in front of the nut. That lets you cut the slots down virtually to the fingerboard, but gives you a bit of warning before you go too far....

[7string]

Shimming a neck can be used to alter the pitch of the neck in the pocket and so the way the strings lie from bridge to nut. There are some basses which have a neck-adjustment screw in the neckplate and it's a way of doing what that does or a way of getting rid of the screw completely.

First, calculate the height of the shim that you need by measuring from the last fret to the ideal string height. Make a shim the same size of the neck pocket which tapers from your measurement to zero and which has holes for the neck screws to go through. Then unscrew the neck and put the shim in place with the thick end at the body end. Replace the neck and adjust the action etc. as necessary.

If you can't make a 1-piece wedge then you can make a 'ladder' of separate strips each tapering from your measurement to zero.


I've only had to do this on basses which have been 'modified' previously.

[henry norton]

[quote name='7string' post='492696' date='May 19 2009, 10:05 PM']Shimming a neck can be used to alter the pitch of the neck in the pocket and so the way the strings lie from bridge to nut. There are some basses which have a neck-adjustment screw in the neckplate and it's a way of doing what that does or a way of getting rid of the screw completely.

First, calculate the height of the shim that you need by measuring from the last fret to the ideal string height. Make a shim the same size of the neck pocket which tapers from your measurement to zero and which has holes for the neck screws to go through. Then unscrew the neck and put the shim in place with the thick end at the body end. Replace the neck and adjust the action etc. as necessary.

If you can't make a 1-piece wedge then you can make a 'ladder' of separate strips each tapering from your measurement to zero.


I've only had to do this on basses which have been 'modified' previously. [/quote]
Blimey! I've never made a tapered shim to fit the pocket exactly - all I've ever done is stick a shim in front of the screw holes at the bridge end of the pocket. You're a better man than me 7string...

Anyway, all shimming will do for your purposes is lower the action again, leaving you back with the string buzz. I'd try Paul's suggestion and alter the nut first. It might also be worth checking the neck for bow - it might be a bit too flat and need a truss rod tweak.

[djlufkin]

[quote name='grumble' post='489939' date='May 16 2009, 12:01 PM']OK, here goes..
I've defretted a Peavey Milestone 3 and everything went well. Fitted the neck back on the body and strung it with some new Rotosound Jazz strings. Played a few scales around the fifth fret and everything seemed Ok but when I dropped down to the 1st/2nd fret region I found the strings were dead/buzzing. OK not a problem, raise the action and check intonation. The trouble is that now the action is a little high for my tastes and fingering around the 1st/2nd fret region is quite hard.
A (guitard) friend has suggested shimming the neck, how would this help and how would I do it ? Any other ideas?
On a plus note, I'm pleasantly suprised by my accuracy on the defretted Peavey. I'm still a sh*te player but now with a nicer tone [/quote]

Having had my first defret job done prefessionally, I've done a few myself over the years and found that it's not as easy a job as it's made out to be. For starters, there may be neck issues which aren't apparent when the neck is fretted; bumps or dips in the fretboard to be inprecise. In addition, assuming you filled the fret slots with plastic wood or some other substance, either a paste or solid, if the finished job is either under or over sanded, buzz, especially with roundwound strings, will be the result. Since you're playing right on the removed fret, if the slot isn't properly filled or sanded, that may be the problem.