To those who shim and get good results, I say congratulations. Personally, I would rather find the perfect razor that is used as was designed--and satisfies my needs---rather than jerry-rig one. I am not into "experimenting" with cold-sharp steel on my baby-smooth face.
Well the old three piece Gillettes were designed to adjust blade exposure with a quarter turn of the handle (albeit with much thicker blades than modern examples). While I personally don't use shims, I find them to be a safer option than Gillette's early "adjustable" razor design. Some things are common sense...others are marketing.
I shimmed it with two more shims so thats a total of 4 shims but still not much better. Should I go straight to the r41 or what? I would by a ATT razor or ikon. I don't mind spending a few hundred dollars for something that works and I would use about everyday.
You can use multiple shims without fear. I've used as many as 5 on my EJ89. Just pay mind to @PLANofMAN's advice. The Muhle R41 and Merkur37 Slant are also rather aggressive IMO. A shavette is pretty aggressive also.
