Does 'Shimming' The Neck Ruin A Guitar...? (Cardboard &

This is about as nerdy as things get around here....so even by my standards, this is a geeky one :P

My Fender Telecaster has long had a problem with notes choking out higher up the neck, which - for full disclosure - I solved using a cardboard shim many years ago, as the only other option was to have the action jacked up unplayably high. But I've read a lot of things on forums over the years about the dangers of using shims...and, most importantly, people repeatedly say that shimming a neck destroys the fundamental tone of the instrument.

But......does it? Today we'll be finding out - by comparing the un-shimmed guitar sound to both a cardboard shim and a professional wooden shim from StewMac. Is the proper one worth the extra money, or can you get away with a bit of chopped up Cornflake packet?

What do you think? Aside from solving my note-choke problem, did the shims make a tonal difference? Which did you prefer? Comment below!

Guitar recorded through a Dr Z Z-Wreck (Celestion AlNiCo Gold; Aston Spirit Condenser, '70s Sennheiser MD441 and sE RNR1 ribbon) with a Schoeps CMC6 room mic.

0:00 Intro
4:56 The StewMac Shim
6:26 Playing Comparison
8:46 Outro

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