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Hello there- I have a 65 AVRI Jazzmaster and am wanting to have lower action. I have not changed the angle of the neck since purchase and have heard that these were angled when made. (not sure if that is true). I wonder if a little shimming will give it better action.

Any input would be appreciated.

How low is your bridge right now? Can you lower it?

If I have the thick string side pretty high to cut back on buzz but it ain't holding it's own very well.

If you need break angle to avoid buzz, you probably have some other issue to address with your bridge; I’d make sure all the height screws are level with their twin, and contact the bridge baseplate firmly; also inspect for any particularly loose saddles (you can add stiffer/longer springs to the high and low e strings in particular to firm them up.) If the rest of your bridge is fine, you don’t need a ton of height or break angle to avoid buzz. I’d just make sure it’s high enough to rock.

But strictly with regard to the action, I wouldn’t fear inserting pocket shims if you feel the need. On guitars with non-angled pockets you often borderline need one to get ‘modern’ string height without lowering the bridge all the way, and I wouldn’t hesitate to shim even an angled pocket if I felt it needed it.

I’m 99% certain the 65 AVRIs had an angled neck pocket and the earlier 62 model does not. My Firemist Silver 65 JM (it’s a 2012 or 2013 I believe) has a very low action with a Staytrem bridge which was fitted when I bought it. The bridge height is fairly high and I have had no problems with buzzage. I’m thinking that I could raise the action a tiny bit actually - just for personal preference really as there no issues.

deluxejazzmaster wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 18, 2019 2:00 pm

If I have the thick string side pretty high to cut back on buzz but it ain't holding it's own very well.

Well firstly is it bridge or fret buzz?

Shimming the neck and adjusting the bridge height will do nothing to address fret buzz caused by uneven fretwork or a poorly/non-adjusted truss rod.

Thanks for all the input. The guitar might just need a good tune up. It's a 2017.

First things first. What is the relief (with capo at 1st, fretted at last fret or where the neck joins the body) ? Measured with feeler gauge if possible. What is the measured action at 12th fret and 1st fret ? Do you have a fret rocker ?