Slight gap in the neck pocket.

[Loomer]

I recently assembled a CIJ JM from two different guitars, but about 4 years apart in production dates. The body is an '03 and the neck is an '07. I noticed a slight gap between the butt of the neck and the pocket of the body. (this is doubtlessly why aen was able to get a MIM tele neck onto his JM body in this thread.)

It doesn't seem to affect the play or stability at all. Is the anything, short of filling and redrilling the neck holes, that I can do? Some sort of a shim, perhaps? Or should I just leave well enough alone? You can't notice it at all unless you're looking for it. It's only a matter of a millimeter or two, but it's by no means flush.

Whatcha all think? 

[electricity]

The neck pocket on my AVRI is not a perfect fit (not at the butt, rather the sides) but everything aligns and intonates well.  I am obsessive about these things and it bugs me that it's not "perfect", but the bottom line is that if it plays well, this is just cosmetic and will really only be noticed by the owner.

If I practiced as much as I worried about these little things I may actually get pretty good!

[jbuckner]

I wouldn't worry about the gap in the neck pocket as long as everything lines up over the pickups.

If you ever look at a Fender from the 70's you'll see some grand canyons in the neck pockets. Fender was really bad about gaps in the 70's.

[JMDen]

I wouldn't worry about the gap in the neck pocket as long as everything lines up over the pickups.

If you ever look at a Fender from the 70's you'll see some grand canyons in the neck pockets. Fender was really bad about gaps in the 70's.

+1. As long as part of the neck is in contact with the body, small gaps while cosmetically disturbing may aren't too much of an impact on the performace of the guitar. Though a good pocket fit is always preferred, of course.

[Carbohydrates]

I wouldn't worry about the gap in the neck pocket as long as everything lines up over the pickups.

If you ever look at a Fender from the 70's you'll see some grand canyons in the neck pockets. Fender was really bad about gaps in the 70's.

Yeah, there was a lovely white-faded-to-yellow Jag in Guitar Maniacs in Tacoma that had a pretty awful fit and really just sounded bad to me in general, but next time I went in, someone had bought it, so whatever!

[jbuckner]

In the 70's Fender made a bunch of dogs. Take a look at their amps, once the master volume came into play the amps went to shit.

Fender in the 70's was the reason that people wanted pre CBS Fenders.