Ideal proportions..

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker

What is your preferred permanent repair method for a too-thin neck on a valuable bass?

And why do you need to re-do a shim every time you do a "Fingerboard Job"?

First off, the Shims are usually done to bring out the Neck-stand and string height and not necessarily to add thickness to the neck as the shim goes in the front, not the back.

Re-do a shim every time I don't know but if the Shim is part of the Neck structure at that point and you remove the fingerboard then it is possible that it needs to be re-done if the Fingerboard doesn't come off clean and disturbs the Shim in the process.

I never said it needs to be re-done and I also said that a Shim is usually a temporary fix, not a permanent one. If done for the Neck-stand, then bringing out the Neck is best in the long run. If doing it to help correct a bad Neck, then a graft would be best in the long run like in the case of the Martini.

If you read back carefully about what I described on the Martini in other posts, you will see that at the time, we did what looked the best and most cost effective at the time.