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I’m loving working with a dovetail on my third build but for a variety of reasons I have to add a very thin shim. I’ve been sticking a couple of post it (paper) inside but they only hold tight for a little while but if I put the guitar on its side the weight of the neck alone will work the joint loose to the point where it come undone. My guess is that it shifts in the mortise because it’s too smooth.

I’ve tried that maple veneer but it’s slightly too thick so the neck sits proud on the top. I’ve even tried thicker stock “drawing” paper that has a “tooth” and it’s still a little too thick.

I’m assuming that gluing it together will address this but will this complicate things should I ever need to do a neck reset? Am I overthinking it or should it just sand/file a little more off the tenon so that I can use a wood (maple) veneer?

What I've done is glue on the veneer, then sand the veneer to fit.

Dealing with shims on a reset can definitely be messy. I have a gibson reset apart on the bench now, and I'll have to rebuild / replace the shims that were present.

Whatever you use, once it's glued I think you'll be fine.

I've mainly used maple veneer knowing it will be too thick and sand it mostly away when needed. But I ran out so lately I've been taking long shavings from spruce brace wood and using that. I'll get a bench plane and shave a nice long piece off and glue that onto the dovetail with titebond I. Seems to work great.

Speaking of shims, International Violin offers tapered shims, which are designed for adjusting the angle of fiddle necks. But I've found them very helpful in adjusting the neck angle of guitars, particularly those electric ones with the bolt-on neck. They offer them in three tapers: .01-1mm, .01-2mm and .01-3mm.

They cost $8.50 apiece, which I consider a bargain.

Here's the URL for them. (Keep scrolling past the fingerboards and look for "shims")

https://www.internationalviolin.com/par ... gerboards/

mahogany
I may have to post on blues creek

Thanks, guys. There’s a woodcraft nearby that has mahogany veneers. I’m literally a hair too thin but I had to center the neck in the mortise.