Stewmac Bolt-On Neck, shims required?

[Logan]

I have my neck angle where I want it to be, on centerline, and a tight looking fit at the edges of where the neck meets the body...as long as I'm holding it firmly in place. Once I let go, the neck still rocks like crazy. Are shims normally required inside the joint for a bolt-on neck? Is this something where Stewmac just leaves the joint loose to accomodate any weird angles us hobby builders will put in there?

So, partly just a theoretical future question; if I was cutting my own bolt-on neck joint, wouldn't I just make it a snug fit?

[darren]

it doesn't have to be a tight fit. especially if you glue your fretboard extension (and many of us don't) it won't be moving at all...

[tippie53]

What I do , if you have 2 bolts , as in the stew mac set up , you don't need to glue in the neck tenon but you should glue down the extension.
I clamp the neck down in the block and then snug the bolts, check the joint an if that looks good glue down the extension. You can use just a drop of glue in the middle. finger tight the bolts on the neck then clamp the extension and tighten the bolts. Keep an eye on the center line and the joinery. You want this to look perfect .
When in doubt , dry fit and practice the gluing procedure to get it correct once you feel comfortable you can do it with the glue.