Do you have or have had a Tom Anderson Atom Special - neck shim and string height question

maxd

Hello

I'm thinking of buying a secondhand Tom Anderson Atom Special but I've noticed that the neck has a full length shim, factory installed as far as I can tell.  It means that there's a small gap between the edge of the fretboard and the body and it's necessary to get anything like a normal to low action (5/64ths at the 12th fret on the bass E). 

This seems really odd that a maker with such a reputation for high quality wouldn't cut the neck pocket correctly in the first place.

So, the question is: did your Atom Special have a shim, and do you have any opinion about this?

Thanks, Max

allen

You can email them. Sometimes the man himself replies. He can be a bit curt, but I think he tries to be helpful. Probably even better if you have the serial number and/or a photo.

maxd

Thanks for replying. In fact i phoned them and spoke to a certain Tom. He told me tney never use shims... and then asked what it was made from!?!
When I told him he changed his mind and said they did! So, still begs the question about why the pocket wasn't cut correctly in the first place. Sounds great though.

Dominic

So why worry .....they are quite an unusual guitar and quite interesting although never been a huge seller.