I can't thank you enough, I tried to fix my action (lower it) by using the truss rod and go to horrible buzz. I put it back to normal and fixed the saddles and then this nailed it my american standard strat is perfect!! Thanks again, -John
Best five-minute fix ever! Just tried this, was looking up info on optimal pickup heights and happened to run into this little nugget. I've gotta say I LOVE it, fixed my action right up! It was kinda weird though, because the bolt turned freely for about a turn and a half (clockwise) and I figured something was fucked up, but it finally caught. Gave it about a full turn, and now I have awesome lower action with no fret buzz. Also did not notice any detriment to tone whatsoever.
kfoster009 hey...I just bought the Cedar Special and noticed my bridge plate is not parallel to the body...like in the video......I noticed this in the store but the salesman said that is the way its is but I doubt it,,......the tension of the strings is pulling the bridge counterclockwise.....is your bridge floating zero point....parallel to the surface of the body or at an angle?
The color is Jade Pearl Metallic. I bought a 2012 American Standard (Strat) in Jade Pearl with Rosewood fret-board (SSS) . Great guitar....outstanding quality, feels looks and plays great. It is my go-to guitar !!!
Wow just tried this on my american deluxe strat with very high action. Half a turn clockwise lowered the action so much it made the guitar unplayable. After a bit of trial and error settled on about a sixteenth of a turn from where I started. Really low very nice action now. And no discernible effect on sustain, at least at bedroom volumes.
In order for this to be a proper addition, you need to add a plate on the neck so the screw doesn't dig into the wood of the neck. This idea is silly, sand and fill, sand and fill, set properly. Any builder, I pressume, would rather not have the neck pocket w/partially seated neck.
"This helps in situations where the string height is high and the action adjustment is as low as the adjustment will allow." In other words, this lets you fix our work when we haven't built the guitar properly.
Ash Scott Dumb comment. People like to set-up their guitars differently, this just gives it more flexibility. Not to mention that the geometry of the instrument can change drastically depending on the environment it's in. Seasoned guitars know you have to adjust your guitar (mainly the truss rod) periodically to accommodate these small changes. The instrument is made out of wood after all...
Excellent info. I only turned the key about 3/4 of a turn and it did brilliantly. Had to adjust the bridge saddles a lot, but it's much easier to play now. Like a proper Fender.
@@miket1783-j5j I have a Tele with vintage-style triple saddles and trying to get action down. There's chokeout on bends of anything more than a full tone.
Is this like doing a neck reset on an acoustic guitar? That's actually a great feature, I don't know what these people are talking about. Yes it should be done right the first time but things change, preferences are different. Fender makes amazing guitars.
I watched two other videos on adjusting the micro tilt. Both of the other videos tell you to loosen all four neck plate screws slightly and to loosen the tension on the strings. I am more inclined to trust a video made by the people who build the guitar but I just want to make sure that only the two lower neck plate screws need to be loosened. The strings do not have to be loosened, correct?
just did my tele thinline and actually i found it to be extremely easy. havent done the other two methods but this was no problem whatsoever for someone whose only ever changed strings before. my action was id guess 2x high than what it needed to be.
I think you will find that the saddle adjustment needs a 1/20" allen key (which is 0.050"). When you buy a second hand Fender you don't always get the allen keys provided. In the video they say it is 1/16", but those are too big.
Just restrung my old Strat with 7 guage Billy Gibbons style super ultra light strings, and had to do a bit of setup to make it work. 1/16" is indeed too big. I didn't have a smaller one, and did a little precision filing and got it just right. Now I need to lighten up my heavy handed approach so I am not too jangly on these oh so sweet tiny strings.
That would be because this is probably the worst guitar set up or just general knowledge videos i have ever watched. Fender should be ashamed of themselves. Maybe they're all on heroin and couldn't be bothered.
I bought a 76 Stingray last year that was in great shape, but sounded wrong . . very thin unplugged and just weird plugged in . . after investigating the hardware for anything out of place, as a last resort , i unbolted the neck and found that the micro tilt was way up . . . I made a shim from veneer and it instantly sounded 1000% better both unplugged and into an amp . . micro tilt is a hand brake in disguise
@@jaezryl I’ve done it before. There a great video on a USA Strat that’s not shoved into the neck pocket properly. The guy adjusted it and it sustained longer and had a thicker sound. His MIM strats were better before he adjusted it. Try floating a strat tremolo and compare it to a locked down tremolo. You’ll hear the difference I promise you!
My last Fender purchase was a 2013 American special and the factory setup was horrid plus it would not stay in tune. I replaced the tremolo with a super vee blade runner and adjusted the truss rod, now it is my favorite.
I have non Fender stratocater type guitars( early 70s Schecter, Tokai and Greco) that dont need no neck tilt adjustment because the woodwork and geometry is spot on.
Awesome, adjusted the tilt on my neck but it was a little too much with 3 deegres of a turn, besides a loud cracking noise which is normal as the neck's finish maybe stick a bit to the body's finish, so I left the screws on the neck's side a little loose to compensate. Now the two screws on body side have to be tight to counteract the tilt. It's true that if I shake a vibrato the strings get misaligned but with a light pull I get the neck in place from time to time. The sustain got ridiculously long and beautiful at the same time. Awesome
What fascinates me about this video is that so much detail is given to less important details and rapidly goes through the crucial one. The presenter mentions all to quickly what direction the neck moves in when you turn the micro tilt screw clock wise. It appears that when you turn the tilt screw clock wise it moves the neck upward or away from the body. Do I have that right? Also - when does one employ the micro tilt feature vs when one uses a truss rod neck adjustment? Thanks
He seems to turn that Allen wrench an awful lot. I took a risk doing it myself and felt I went too far after watching him and turning the wrench. When I tried to back it down going counter clockwise the Allen wrench didn't want to go into anything. For today I just tightened the bolts back down and it seems I DID wind up with a bit of an angle adjustment as I had to raise the strings to keep them from buzzing. I don't feel confident about it though and will probably have it looked at. Word to the wise: the guy in the video may not have been actually turning it engaged--just motioning--and given the wrong impression, so If you do it, do it a very little at a time and look to see if the lip at the end of the neck has gotten higher off the pick guard. I can't imagine that anyone would really want to or have to raise the neck at the juncture much at all to achieve conditions to lower the action. You might even want to use feeler gauges and probably not go a whole millimeter in total. I just got my American Standard Sienna Ash Strat with Shawbucker two days ago. It plays fine before and after my adjustment, but I now have an uneasy feeling about why the Allen wrench won't catch and fit into that turning stud. I didn't really have a chance to play for more than a song because of Easter Dinner and company. I'll see tomorrow. Good luck fellow Fender players.
The results on my Juanes signature stratocaster are just beyond exceptional 👏 🙌 I would say it's almost too easy to play without any fretbuzz.... I'm never buying any fender without microtilt ever again. I've been using Stewmac shims but this level of ease and precision is best...
I'm surprised that these guys did not mention measuring string height after adjusting the micro tilt. That would have to change all of your previous setup adjustments.
Bear in mind Chip Todd (Peavey) went to work for Fender after and incorporated this feature into Fender necks and bodies so a player COULD get a more comfortable action if they want it. All players have different preferences with string action.
Hoping you read comments: I've got a three bolt micro tilt neck plate on my tele, and just purchased a new neck. The holes do not align 100% between three bolt and four bolt versions. Will this be possible to install with a new four bolt neck plate, if I'm open to some drilling? It's a Fender Roasted maple PF neck with flat oval shape.
The fret board plane must be parallel with the string plane (nut to the bridge saddles) for low action. Use that micro tilt sparingly to avoid fretting out issues. In this video, he tilted the nut plane down while raising the 22nd fret plane up. These adjustments must be done thoughtfully in order to achieve desired playability. Tread lightly…
Two questions. 1. Did you slack the strings for this? 2. You don't need to loosen all four neck screws? I have one of the new Highway Series Parlor guitars and the string height is horrid! With a Capo on the first fret, it measures 7/64 at the 12th fret. Thank goodness for Micro-Tilt!
Better than a shim! The only thing I would suggest is slightly loosen the top screws as well with the two bottom, but not as much. If you loosen the bottom screws two full turns, loosen the top two maybe a half turn. You’ve got to compensate for the new angle. Otherwise you put too much pressure on the top screws that are tightly mounted. Not good for the wood even though it’s very small. Also, if the action is low, but the saddle screws are too high and could cut your hand, replace them with smaller saddle screws. A better option for sure.
This is a VERY misunderstood feature by players. It’s not because they made lemons of guitars. It allows a player that wants a razor-low action to adjust it how they like. As for tone, I’ve adjusted at least a hundred Strats for people over the years and never had complaints about weak sustain. It is a very small adjustment to get the action very low if someone likes that. And a neck should have at least a small amount of relief. .010- .012”, so a perfectly straight neck isn’t preferable. The strings vibrate in a circular fashion and will buzz otherwise.
Ok so my guitar has a tilt and it's and I know it's not the saddles and the truss rod cause I got them adjusted and I want my neck to have to tilt but how do I know when to stop loosening that micro tilt screw.
Loosen all four screws that mount the neck. Keeping the top two screws tight can strip the grooves in the neck. Just slightly loosening them can prevent this.
I've tried to use this micro-tilt adjustment on my Fender stratocaster. I loosened strings and neck plate screws. Then I tried to turn adjustment screw clockwise, but it feels turning freely. Should I keep turning it clockwise until I feel resist on it?
Problem solved. I loosened strings and neck plate screw. Then I turned micro tilt screw clockwise until I felt resist on it. I got guitar action lower :)
I call BS on it being a more "positive and solid" way of doing it than shims, for obvious reasons. Free floating one end of the base of your neck on the tip of a metal screw is not better than having real wood solid inserts placed into the neck joint. This is basically just for beginners to mess with (and probably wind up taking to a tech anyways) and to save the techs in their factory time and money doing adjustments. Not trying to be the amateur telling a professional they're wrong but that last part was just marketing. The same way they keep making up the whole "thinner finishes let the guitar breathe better" idea.
My `94 40th anniversary fender strat has this "feature", and I agree with you that it is totally lame and worthless unless your truss rod is broken or you`re putting a very different neck on your guitar? My maple neck is torqued down tight against my ash body. I keep the "micro-tilt" hex screw snug. I wonder if there is a better way to setup my neck? I thought this video would help. I liked the video for its information anyways. Peace :-D Jimi Hendrix Rules!
I can't comment as to whether this is actually better than shimming, but if you pay attention to the video he says that the screw presses onto a metal plate, so it doesn't press directly onto the base of the neck.
Execution is everything, but this style of neck has been on guitars for centuries. A variation was on the space shuttle, so it may be of interest to people who move around a lot and live in unstable climates. I live in a pretty stable climate so that the guitar stays pretty much the same for me, once it is set.
It could be kindof an interesting and easy way to dial in the amount of shims you'd need without having to take the neck off and on (use the amount of that set screw that protrudes). Overall i'd agree with you though.
Its for lazy people who feel unbolting 4 screws and loosening strings is far too much work. I agree as I am currently building a tele and I was deciding on weather or not to add the feature, I will probably decide against it due to the whole fulcrum being the upper two neck screws. While some can argue weather or not it is a positive or negative way of doing it I find that the extra pressure of the upper two screws seems like it would elongate the holes if taken too far by someone who was just messing around with it. I find a solid wood shim or a piece of credit card is plenty good enough for the job so why reinvent the wheel and give the guitar more moveable parts to fail. Overall it is somewhat a poor design as it places only a single point the screw is pushing against the neck plate. the screw should probably be sitting under a bar that is as wide as the pocket so it can push the bottom of the neck up flat against it. This design leaves a pocket of air under the neck and anyone who builds guitars will say the contact between the neck and body is vitally important to the guitars overall resonance, I agree as well so anything that adds a pocket of air between the body and neck is a no go for me and as you pointed out a shim does not create that pocket of air if using a tapered shim like stewmac offers.
What cracks me up is how Fender took away the two-point tremolo, polished saddles and micro-tilt from regular American Standards, then brought them right back and made them "premium" features. lol.
Well, I think first of all we need to have some criteria for the string angle across the saddles to find out what it means to have too low saddle. Also what if we keep raising the saddles and then we tilt the neck more and more. Is there any drawback for two high saddle and too much tilt? Again, I think it's good to have a criteria to avoid extreme situations.
I can't figure out why the first fret. If the whole neck is tilted and to the same extend the saddle is brought up, the string clearance to the frets shouldn't change and if someone doesn't compensate bringing the saddle high enough, the clearance starts to go down primarily at the pivot point which are the frets over the micro tilt area.
Gibson Les Paul has that kind of the angled neck and raised saddle. It feels not very comfortable. You can't rest the palm of your hand on the body and reach the strings properly so you kinda rest between the wrist and the elbow sort of like the acoustic guitar. I guess either way could be ok but people compliment the palm rest while you're playing. Anyway, I think if someone does the tilt and do a test for sustain (presumably less energy gets dissipated with better anchoring of the strings when strings are more tilted at the saddle as well as the nut (tilted headstock design) then it is a good argument to promote using the neck tilt option.
The reason behind the fret buzz is because if you change the angle of the neck and tilt it back too much, you gotta remember the frets are all the same height on the fingerboard. the nut isn't adjustable whereas the bridge is so then you have uneven string height and the back angle is causing the string to hit against the first fret In an elliptical pattern every time you strum and pressing on the other frets causes buzzing on the frets below them. whereas adjusting the bridge to compensate for fret buzz is causing the 12th - 24th fret to have bad intonation and the 20th - 24th fret don't ring like they're supposed to because of added tension.
Trust me I would know as that is what I am dealing with on my guitar which the frets are even and the truss rod has been adjusted fine but my guitar doesn't have a micro-tilt and there's some fret buzz.
Question, considering that now you have a very strong tension on the neck while having a gap between the neck and the neck and pocket, won't you A. Risk warping the neck at the adjustment screw point, and B. LOSE sustain since you have less point of contact between the neck and the pocket? How is this method of the micro tilt any better then a wooden (or any other hard material that transfers vibrations) shim that covers the entire neck pocket and is tapped in a way that rises the angle in the back of the neck slowly dropping into zero degrees at the top of the neck pocket. Im not saying it as a luthier, but thinking common sense.
Yeah, I’d rather use a full contact angled shim. It will change the tone so I wouldn’t use that feature. More contact, more sustain, better tone… fact!
And one other thing my guitar when I got it I heard a rattle I tightened the micro tilt screw and it went away and my guitar seemed to be heavier what I want to know is when it rattles does that mean you have a fairly strait neck or you have have to make the noise stop to get a strait neck.
I find the lowest I can get a fender is just over 2/64, not quite 2, but closer to 2 than 3. In doing this I usually find that putting in some back angle on the neck just makes it ring better. That probably is the increased break angle behind the saddles. I've done it with micro tilt but have never kept the micro tilt on a guitar because I figure why leave an air pocket and create a pressure point when you can get one of those shims from Stew Mac? They're 8 bucks. I have a .25 degree one in an American Pro Tele and it keeps the action the same at fret # 21 as 12 (just over 2/64) instead of a slight and gradual increase in string height. Even the bass side is still below 3/64. This works with 10s, might get buzzy with 9s because they're too slinky. Some of the time I consider going with 11s because I like above average stiffness and find it actually easier to bend this way, that is a more taut string needs less distance to reach a given pitch change. Normally people associate slink with 'easy to bend' but it's not that cut and dried imo. Very little about guitar is! But in any case a taut string generally wiggles less and hits nickel less. But I have yet to set up a tele with 11s and get the right sweetness of tone. Idk, probably is my failing thus far, but I almost think a tele kinda needs 10s or 9s while while strat often sounds outstanding with 11s or 12s. Here's a little known trick. Drive the micro tilt bolt into the neck plate slowly and gently, not loosening the screws, and just stop when you feel resistance. That extra contact increases sustain. Not s****ing I hit a note in 1994 (a G#) and it's still ringing. And I'm not even holding the guitar anymore.
JOHN DREYER, LO MEJOR DE FENDER EXCELENTE, NO NECESITAS NI DE TATUAJES, NI DE USAR LAS UÑAS DE PERRA, NI DE VESTIR DE FORMA INMORAL, NI DE FUMAR COCAINA COMO JIMMY HENDRIX, PARA SER EL MEJOR DEALER FENDER Y EL MEJOR GUITARRISTA SIGUE ASI PROYECTANDO UNA IMAGEN PULCRA EN LOS GUITARRISTAS DEL FUTURO
With all due respect, I read the same comment as previous, more or less, in a "guitar maintenance" column in one of the popular magazines. They said never to use the micro tilt and always use shims instead. What's your response to these comments?
Always used a micro thin shim, preferably of maple veneer, a neck needing more is way out of specs - 35 years and never had any complaints - that "neck must be in complete contact with body", although preferable, is mostly click bait for "look at what I know" videos on RUclips ...and so Fender can sell guitars and StewMac can sell their pocket shims :p
Thank you for this vid. Does the micro adjustment cause a loss of sustain because there is less wood to wood contact? My understanding is that anything (including a shim) that decreases total contact of the Neck and Body will have an effect on tone and sustain.
I think that is a myth, not that you can't do something that will affect sustain, but there isn't much area of contact where the metal to metal contact of the string to the guitar is concerned and that doesn''t seem to be a problem. People have been making mechanical, adjustable necks for centuries. It is now one of the preferred methods on classical guitars where sustain is not matched by much string power, but it seems to work great.
You’re absolutely right. It’s a total bullshit myth the micro-tilt hurts tone. It’s the same bullshit as people fighting over wood. It’s such a minuscule difference in tone. But people obsess over it to the point of violence over disagreements. Lol
Whaaat? Did he say the allen screws will tear up your palm? Oh so Fender finally noticed. I have to change the saddle screws in every Strat with the stamped steel saddles, due to the huge screws--please STOP.
Fender musical I just bought your Cedar Special....AWESOME guitar and Micro Tilt I also have a 1986 Fender that has the micro tilt. QUESTION,......how about the bridge itself?....bridge base plate....does it have to be parallel to the body?......I bought mine and has the bridge surface angled 30-45 degree counterclockwise......please let me know.....AWESOME technology!!!....from your video it appears to be parallel..so in my case the strings are pulling towards the neck,,,, I noticed the springs can be re-arranged but the guy in the store said that is the way it is ,,,,,,I believe the guy in the store is wrong....until you get answer my question I will go ahead and change the strings to a V to release the tension.... FENDER keep up the beautiful awesome job......you just kicked Gisbon's butt out of the way with your new technology guitar..you do have real Musicians and Engineers that are musicians creating great products!! thank you!!!
Cool something that worsens the contact between the neck and body and provides a nice air pocket under the neck when a tapered wooden shim does not. Well at least if you do it and it sounds like your playing a bunch of dead strings at least you know why. Good job Fender maybe next time you can add another feature no one asked for. You should really listen to yourself when you speak, when you end up saying the top two screws are a "fulcrum" that makes it sound like the neck is unstable as hell and it probably is. NO ONE WANTS A MOVEABLE NECK ONCE IT IS BOLTED DOWN.
If you need to tilt the neck, the neck pocket was not cut properly for the bridge. If the screw presses too hard into the neck heal, and tongue rise occurs. There should be no shims needed, and no paint inside the neck pocket. The neck should be tight in the pocket. Especially on a $1,500.00 guitar.
If Fender had made neck thru guitars in the first place and reinforced their necks with carbon/graphite this would have never been an issue. My 92' Carvin DC-200 turned 26 this year and still straight as an arrow, a carbon arrow that is.
Ridiculous assertion. My action has moved very slightly over the past 27 years and this saved me from having to remove the neck and putting in shims. Not every adjustment needed over the life of an instrument is due to poor build quality. I’ve played many PRS guitars that are of terrible build quality compared to my Gibsons, Fenders, and Schecters and even el cheapo guitars for my kids. I’ve played a couple of good PRS guitars too, but I don’t go on their videos saying they have terrible build quality.
Love the admissions here by both Fender representatives that Fender guitars are build using parts that will shred the skin on the player's right hand. Better manufactured saddle adjusters would fix this problem, but Fender figures, "it's just some guy's hand we're talking about. No problem. And besides, we save about 8 cents on each guitar with the cheap, burred adjusters, and that money goes right to the bottom line."
oh Dammn... I have a Dave Murray signature model, but... it has floyd rose micro tuning!! I guess I won't risk it, the video didn't look very reliable! Better take for a luthier
Never have used it, and never will. It kills sustain because the neck is sitting on a Allen screw and slug. I usually put some medium strength loctite on the Allen screw so it doesn't rattle, or take it out completely.
Clear explanation, fast, simple. Many thanks guys. It worked perfectly for my 1972 thinline Tellie . Hugs from Utah Beach, Normandy, France
I have a 25 year old Big Apple Strat (HH). I tweaked that micro tilt years ago and my guitar remains awesome to this day.
the beginning riff is so tuned (last d chord), and great tone... love it
I can't thank you enough, I tried to fix my action (lower it) by using the truss rod and go to horrible buzz. I put it back to normal and fixed the saddles and then this nailed it my american standard strat is perfect!! Thanks again,
-John
Thanks for this. I'm choking out a bit and need to tilt forward. Glad I saw this before jumping in.
Best five-minute fix ever!
Just tried this, was looking up info on optimal pickup heights and happened to run into this little nugget. I've gotta say I LOVE it, fixed my action right up! It was kinda weird though, because the bolt turned freely for about a turn and a half (clockwise) and I figured something was fucked up, but it finally caught. Gave it about a full turn, and now I have awesome lower action with no fret buzz. Also did not notice any detriment to tone whatsoever.
kfoster009 hey...I just bought the Cedar Special and noticed my bridge plate is not parallel to the body...like in the video......I noticed this in the store but the salesman said that is the way its is but I doubt it,,......the tension of the strings is pulling the bridge counterclockwise.....is your bridge floating zero point....parallel to the surface of the body or at an angle?
They were made to be floating but you can deck them if you want by increasing spring tension.
The color is Jade Pearl Metallic. I bought a 2012 American Standard (Strat)
in Jade Pearl with Rosewood fret-board (SSS) . Great guitar....outstanding quality,
feels looks and plays great. It is my go-to guitar !!!
Wow just tried this on my american deluxe strat with very high action. Half a turn clockwise lowered the action so much it made the guitar unplayable. After a bit of trial and error settled on about a sixteenth of a turn from where I started. Really low very nice action now. And no discernible effect on sustain, at least at bedroom volumes.
Did you loosen all four neck plate screws or just the lower two as shown in the video? Did you take tension off the strings? Thanks!
In order for this to be a proper addition, you need to add a plate on the neck so the screw doesn't dig into the wood of the neck. This idea is silly, sand and fill, sand and fill, set properly. Any builder, I pressume, would rather not have the neck pocket w/partially seated neck.
Did you miss the part where he says there's a metal plate the screw pushes against the neck?
"This helps in situations where the string height is high and the action adjustment is as low as the adjustment will allow." In other words, this lets you fix our work when we haven't built the guitar properly.
😸
Yeah, like when are they just going to tune the damn thing and then we can play it when we get it, if they would only build them right.
This comment again?
Ash Scott
Dumb comment. People like to set-up their guitars differently, this just gives it more flexibility. Not to mention that the geometry of the instrument can change drastically depending on the environment it's in. Seasoned guitars know you have to adjust your guitar (mainly the truss rod) periodically to accommodate these small changes. The instrument is made out of wood after all...
Hahahaha....um...yup.
Exactly the information I was seeking. Thank you for sharing.
We're here to help you along your musical journey - hope these tips come in handy!
Hey fender how about just designing a better bridge for the Stratocaster
+Jon Doe .. greatest !
But, but, that would break tradition!
I've got no problems with my MIM strat bridge. What exactly is the problem?
Tons of 3rd party bridges if you are unhappy with stock one.
I agree with all the micro-tilt comments. Overall it's a solid guitar...but
in my view the micro-tilt needs some 're-engineering' !
Great thanks for reminding me. Totally fixed the problem I have been trying to figure out.
Excellent info. I only turned the key about 3/4 of a turn and it did brilliantly. Had to adjust the bridge saddles a lot, but it's much easier to play now. Like a proper Fender.
Did you have too-high action before?
@@RideAcrossTheRiver not massively high, but I like very low action. This worked for me.
@@miket1783-j5j I have a Tele with vintage-style triple saddles and trying to get action down. There's chokeout on bends of anything more than a full tone.
@@RideAcrossTheRiver sorry I can't help you, I'm not much of an expert, but the info I used (above) worked ok on my standard Strat.
Is this like doing a neck reset on an acoustic guitar? That's actually a great feature, I don't know what these people are talking about.
Yes it should be done right the first time but things change, preferences are different. Fender makes amazing guitars.
Thank you, this fixed my Strat's issues!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This video made me keep my Dark Night tele
I watched two other videos on adjusting the micro tilt. Both of the other videos tell you to loosen all four neck plate screws slightly and to loosen the tension on the strings. I am more inclined to trust a video made by the people who build the guitar but I just want to make sure that only the two lower neck plate screws need to be loosened. The strings do not have to be loosened, correct?
Hey, what did you end up doing? I have a ‘94 peavy reactor and the manual says to loosen the strings and all 4 screws as well.
just did my tele thinline and actually i found it to be extremely easy. havent done the other two methods but this was no problem whatsoever for someone whose only ever changed strings before. my action was id guess 2x high than what it needed to be.
I think you will find that the saddle adjustment needs a 1/20" allen key (which is 0.050"). When you buy a second hand Fender you don't always get the allen keys provided. In the video they say it is 1/16", but those are too big.
Yes. 0.050" It's a tiny little thing. I keep a couple in an old prescription bottle in my case's storage pocket. Fragile and easily lost.
Just restrung my old Strat with 7 guage Billy Gibbons style super ultra light strings, and had to do a bit of setup to make it work. 1/16" is indeed too big. I didn't have a smaller one, and did a little precision filing and got it just right. Now I need to lighten up my heavy handed approach so I am not too jangly on these oh so sweet tiny strings.
That would be because this is probably the worst guitar set up or just general knowledge videos i have ever watched. Fender should be ashamed of themselves. Maybe they're all on heroin and couldn't be bothered.
What a great little feature
Oh that's what that hole is for. I was wondering about that with my 2013 standard tele. Lol.
I bought a 76 Stingray last year that was in great shape, but sounded wrong . . very thin unplugged and just weird plugged in . . after investigating the hardware for anything out of place, as a last resort , i unbolted the neck and found that the micro tilt was way up . . . I made a shim from veneer and it instantly sounded 1000% better both unplugged and into an amp . . micro tilt is a hand brake in disguise
thank you, Tim
I’d love to see a before and tone comparison because there would be less contact, which means less sustain and less mids.
my thoughts exactly.
No, no, no. Very negligible in all electric guitars.
@@jaezryl I’ve done it before. There a great video on a USA Strat that’s not shoved into the neck pocket properly. The guy adjusted it and it sustained longer and had a thicker sound. His MIM strats were better before he adjusted it. Try floating a strat tremolo and compare it to a locked down tremolo. You’ll hear the difference I promise you!
@@conartist267 I have not seen the video. You have a link?
@@jaezryl Look this up “Luthier trick, Increase sustain on a bolt on neck”
My last Fender purchase was a 2013 American special and the factory setup was horrid plus it would not stay in tune. I replaced the tremolo with a super vee blade runner and adjusted the truss rod, now it is my favorite.
I love the shoreline gold colour on that strat.
I have non Fender stratocater type guitars( early 70s Schecter, Tokai and Greco) that dont need no neck tilt adjustment because the woodwork and geometry is spot on.
Exactly…
Awesome, adjusted the tilt on my neck but it was a little too much with 3 deegres of a turn, besides a loud cracking noise which is normal as the neck's finish maybe stick a bit to the body's finish, so I left the screws on the neck's side a little loose to compensate. Now the two screws on body side have to be tight to counteract the tilt. It's true that if I shake a vibrato the strings get misaligned but with a light pull I get the neck in place from time to time. The sustain got ridiculously long and beautiful at the same time. Awesome
“Player grade”
So if your action is too high, you tighten the micro tilt moving the allen wrench clockwise?
Is this only a feature on USA made Stratocasters? I noticed the new players series do not have these but could sure use it.
What fascinates me about this video is that so much detail is given to less important details and rapidly goes through the crucial one. The presenter mentions all to quickly what direction the neck moves in when you turn the micro tilt screw clock wise. It appears that when you turn the tilt screw clock wise it moves the neck upward or away from the body. Do I have that right?
Also - when does one employ the micro tilt feature vs when one uses a truss rod neck adjustment?
Thanks
The assumption in the video is that your neck is already straight. This is just one piece of a complete setup.
He seems to turn that Allen wrench an awful lot. I took a risk doing it myself and felt I went too far after watching him and turning the wrench. When I tried to back it down going counter clockwise the Allen wrench didn't want to go into anything. For today I just tightened the bolts back down and it seems I DID wind up with a bit of an angle adjustment as I had to raise the strings to keep them from buzzing. I don't feel confident about it though and will probably have it looked at. Word to the wise: the guy in the video may not have been actually turning it engaged--just motioning--and given the wrong impression, so If you do it, do it a very little at a time and look to see if the lip at the end of the neck has gotten higher off the pick guard. I can't imagine that anyone would really want to or have to raise the neck at the juncture much at all to achieve conditions to lower the action. You might even want to use feeler gauges and probably not go a whole millimeter in total. I just got my American Standard Sienna Ash Strat with Shawbucker two days ago. It plays fine before and after my adjustment, but I now have an uneasy feeling about why the Allen wrench won't catch and fit into that turning stud. I didn't really have a chance to play for more than a song because of Easter Dinner and company. I'll see tomorrow. Good luck fellow Fender players.
What is the model/colour of this guitar? I love the all black plastics with that metallic green. Anyone know what the actual name of the colour?
The results on my Juanes signature stratocaster are just beyond exceptional 👏 🙌
I would say it's almost too easy to play without any fretbuzz....
I'm never buying any fender without microtilt ever again. I've been using Stewmac shims but this level of ease and precision is best...
Shocking
I'm surprised that these guys did not mention measuring string height after adjusting the micro tilt. That would have to change all of your previous setup adjustments.
Bear in mind Chip Todd (Peavey) went to work for Fender after and incorporated this feature into Fender necks and bodies so a player COULD get a more comfortable action if they want it. All players have different preferences with string action.
Hoping you read comments: I've got a three bolt micro tilt neck plate on my tele, and just purchased a new neck. The holes do not align 100% between three bolt and four bolt versions. Will this be possible to install with a new four bolt neck plate, if I'm open to some drilling? It's a Fender Roasted maple PF neck with flat oval shape.
The fret board plane must be parallel with the string plane (nut to the bridge saddles) for low action. Use that micro tilt sparingly to avoid fretting out issues. In this video, he tilted the nut plane down while raising the 22nd fret plane up. These adjustments must be done thoughtfully in order to achieve desired playability. Tread lightly…
Two questions. 1. Did you slack the strings for this? 2. You don't need to loosen all four neck screws?
I have one of the new Highway Series Parlor guitars and the string height is horrid! With a Capo on the first fret, it measures 7/64 at the 12th fret. Thank goodness for Micro-Tilt!
What color is that? Beautiful!
Better than a shim! The only thing I would suggest is slightly loosen the top screws as well with the two bottom, but not as much. If you loosen the bottom screws two full turns, loosen the top two maybe a half turn. You’ve got to compensate for the new angle. Otherwise you put too much pressure on the top screws that are tightly mounted. Not good for the wood even though it’s very small.
Also, if the action is low, but the saddle screws are too high and could cut your hand, replace them with smaller saddle screws. A better option for sure.
This is a VERY misunderstood feature by players. It’s not because they made lemons of guitars. It allows a player that wants a razor-low action to adjust it how they like. As for tone, I’ve adjusted at least a hundred Strats for people over the years and never had complaints about weak sustain. It is a very small adjustment to get the action very low if someone likes that. And a neck should have at least a small amount of relief. .010- .012”, so a perfectly straight neck isn’t preferable. The strings vibrate in a circular fashion and will buzz otherwise.
100% concur
Yes but, most people do not have micro-tilt, so they have to disparaged it, less they feel bad about the guitars they own. lol
Ok so my guitar has a tilt and it's and I know it's not the saddles and the truss rod cause I got them adjusted and I want my neck to have to tilt but how do I know when to stop loosening that micro tilt screw.
Do you have to untune before you unscrew the screws form the baseplate first?
Loosen all four screws that mount the neck. Keeping the top two screws tight can strip the grooves in the neck. Just slightly loosening them can prevent this.
Basically it's a quick fix for poor production tolerances.
What is that stratocaster model? I cant find it in the website.
So, if I'm having trouble with action that's too high and can't be remedied by bridge saddles and truss rod, do I tighten or loosen the micro-tilt?
Tighten
I've tried to use this micro-tilt adjustment on my Fender stratocaster. I loosened strings and neck plate screws. Then I tried to turn adjustment screw clockwise, but it feels turning freely. Should I keep turning it clockwise until I feel resist on it?
Problem solved. I loosened strings and neck plate screw. Then I turned micro tilt screw clockwise until I felt resist on it. I got guitar action lower :)
Question my 2011 American standards neck plate simply says (corona California) only with no fender logo is this acceptable?
I call BS on it being a more "positive and solid" way of doing it than shims, for obvious reasons. Free floating one end of the base of your neck on the tip of a metal screw is not better than having real wood solid inserts placed into the neck joint. This is basically just for beginners to mess with (and probably wind up taking to a tech anyways) and to save the techs in their factory time and money doing adjustments. Not trying to be the amateur telling a professional they're wrong but that last part was just marketing. The same way they keep making up the whole "thinner finishes let the guitar breathe better" idea.
My `94 40th anniversary fender strat has this "feature", and I agree with you that it is totally lame and worthless unless your truss rod is broken or you`re putting a very different neck on your guitar? My maple neck is torqued down tight against my ash body. I keep the "micro-tilt" hex screw snug. I wonder if there is a better way to setup my neck? I thought this video would help. I liked the video for its information anyways. Peace :-D Jimi Hendrix Rules!
I can't comment as to whether this is actually better than shimming, but if you pay attention to the video he says that the screw presses onto a metal plate, so it doesn't press directly onto the base of the neck.
Execution is everything, but this style of neck has been on guitars for centuries. A variation was on the space shuttle, so it may be of interest to people who move around a lot and live in unstable climates. I live in a pretty stable climate so that the guitar stays pretty much the same for me, once it is set.
It could be kindof an interesting and easy way to dial in the amount of shims you'd need without having to take the neck off and on (use the amount of that set screw that protrudes). Overall i'd agree with you though.
Its for lazy people who feel unbolting 4 screws and loosening strings is far too much work.
I agree as I am currently building a tele and I was deciding on weather or not to add the feature, I will probably decide against it due to the whole fulcrum being the upper two neck screws. While some can argue weather or not it is a positive or negative way of doing it I find that the extra pressure of the upper two screws seems like it would elongate the holes if taken too far by someone who was just messing around with it. I find a solid wood shim or a piece of credit card is plenty good enough for the job so why reinvent the wheel and give the guitar more moveable parts to fail.
Overall it is somewhat a poor design as it places only a single point the screw is pushing against the neck plate. the screw should probably be sitting under a bar that is as wide as the pocket so it can push the bottom of the neck up flat against it. This design leaves a pocket of air under the neck and anyone who builds guitars will say the contact between the neck and body is vitally important to the guitars overall resonance, I agree as well so anything that adds a pocket of air between the body and neck is a no go for me and as you pointed out a shim does not create that pocket of air if using a tapered shim like stewmac offers.
What is the name of the color on that Strat? Beautiful.
jade pearl metallic
My best guess is Jade Pearl.
what is the name of the usa made fender stratocaster with a 6 screw bride and no micro tilt just a 4 bolt neck plate?
Misfitnz8 American Vintage series
Misfitnz8 aswell as American Special
oh thanks you are totally right, thank you
do fender ultra telecaster guitars have this?
I just bought a new Fender Pro II (made in USA) and did this same procedure only I did not untighten the 4 screws. Did I damage my guitar?
Not unless you kept turning and turning till a string snapped or you heard the screw over wind or pop
What cracks me up is how Fender took away the two-point tremolo, polished saddles and micro-tilt from regular American Standards, then brought them right back and made them "premium" features. lol.
Well, I think first of all we need to have some criteria for the string angle across the saddles to find out what it means to have too low saddle. Also what if we keep raising the saddles and then we tilt the neck more and more. Is there any drawback for two high saddle and too much tilt? Again, I think it's good to have a criteria to avoid extreme situations.
+Utyoubyouzer the drawback would be severe fret buzz at the first fret closest to the nut
depending on how far back you tilt the neck.
I can't figure out why the first fret. If the whole neck is tilted and to the same extend the saddle is brought up, the string clearance to the frets shouldn't change and if someone doesn't compensate bringing the saddle high enough, the clearance starts to go down primarily at the pivot point which are the frets over the micro tilt area.
Gibson Les Paul has that kind of the angled neck and raised saddle. It feels not very comfortable. You can't rest the palm of your hand on the body and reach the strings properly so you kinda rest between the wrist and the elbow sort of like the acoustic guitar. I guess either way could be ok but people compliment the palm rest while you're playing. Anyway, I think if someone does the tilt and do a test for sustain (presumably less energy gets dissipated with better anchoring of the strings when strings are more tilted at the saddle as well as the nut (tilted headstock design) then it is a good argument to promote using the neck tilt option.
The reason behind the fret buzz is because if you change the angle of the neck and tilt it back too much,
you gotta remember the frets are all the same height on the fingerboard.
the nut isn't adjustable
whereas the bridge is so then you have uneven string height and the back angle is causing the string to hit against the first fret In an elliptical pattern every time you strum and pressing on the other frets causes buzzing on the frets below them.
whereas adjusting the bridge to compensate for fret buzz is causing the 12th - 24th fret to have bad intonation and the
20th - 24th fret don't ring like they're supposed to because of added tension.
Trust me I would know as that is what I am dealing with on my guitar which the frets are even and the truss rod has been adjusted fine but my guitar doesn't have a micro-tilt and there's some fret buzz.
Holy crap! No wonder the "Gibson Certified Gold Technician" totally screwed my Stat setup! I never even noticed that hole. I'll bet neither did he.
Yeah, for real. Anyone know what that color is?
Question, considering that now you have a very strong tension on the neck while having a gap between the neck and the neck and pocket, won't you A. Risk warping the neck at the adjustment screw point, and B. LOSE sustain since you have less point of contact between the neck and the pocket? How is this method of the micro tilt any better then a wooden (or any other hard material that transfers vibrations) shim that covers the entire neck pocket and is tapped in a way that rises the angle in the back of the neck slowly dropping into zero degrees at the top of the neck pocket. Im not saying it as a luthier, but thinking common sense.
Yeah, I’d rather use a full contact angled shim. It will change the tone so I wouldn’t use that feature. More contact, more sustain, better tone… fact!
This worked great for me. Thanks.
And one other thing my guitar when I got it I heard a rattle I tightened the micro tilt screw and it went away and my guitar seemed to be heavier what I want to know is when it rattles does that mean you have a fairly strait neck or you have have to make the noise stop to get a strait neck.
What is that black straight line at the back of the neck?
I find the lowest I can get a fender is just over 2/64, not quite 2, but closer to 2 than 3. In doing this I usually find that putting in some back angle on the neck just makes it ring better. That probably is the increased break angle behind the saddles. I've done it with micro tilt but have never kept the micro tilt on a guitar because I figure why leave an air pocket and create a pressure point when you can get one of those shims from Stew Mac? They're 8 bucks. I have a .25 degree one in an American Pro Tele and it keeps the action the same at fret # 21 as 12 (just over 2/64) instead of a slight and gradual increase in string height. Even the bass side is still below 3/64.
This works with 10s, might get buzzy with 9s because they're too slinky.
Some of the time I consider going with 11s because I like above average stiffness and find it actually easier to bend this way, that is a more taut string needs less distance to reach a given pitch change. Normally people associate slink with 'easy to bend' but it's not that cut and dried imo. Very little about guitar is! But in any case a taut string generally wiggles less and hits nickel less. But I have yet to set up a tele with 11s and get the right sweetness of tone. Idk, probably is my failing thus far, but I almost think a tele kinda needs 10s or 9s while while strat often sounds outstanding with 11s or 12s.
Here's a little known trick. Drive the micro tilt bolt into the neck plate slowly and gently, not loosening the screws, and just stop when you feel resistance. That extra contact increases sustain. Not s****ing I hit a note in 1994 (a G#) and it's still ringing. And I'm not even holding the guitar anymore.
Haha… funny! Must be you tinnitus 😂
can you install the micro tilt to any guitar?
A shim would be far better sonically than using the adjustment ? Would it not?? The more of the neck contacting the body the better.
JOHN DREYER, LO MEJOR DE FENDER
EXCELENTE, NO NECESITAS NI DE TATUAJES, NI DE USAR LAS UÑAS DE PERRA, NI DE VESTIR DE FORMA INMORAL, NI DE FUMAR COCAINA COMO JIMMY HENDRIX, PARA SER EL MEJOR DEALER FENDER Y EL MEJOR GUITARRISTA
SIGUE ASI PROYECTANDO UNA IMAGEN PULCRA EN LOS GUITARRISTAS DEL FUTURO
Do you need to loosen the strings to do that?
It's normal that there's a slight creaking noise when you adjust it, right? Other than that, it's really helped me out a lot
you must loosen the screws first
With all due respect, I read the same comment as previous, more or less, in a "guitar maintenance" column in one of the popular magazines. They said never to use the micro tilt and always use shims instead. What's your response to these comments?
Excellent video Thanks
do you have to slacken off the strings first?
Which size of allen wrench we should to use for adjustment ?
whichever one fits?
Goes against everything I have heard about neck to body fit regarding tone quality!
to change tilt angle would change te entonation of guitar ? ..
Always used a micro thin shim, preferably of maple veneer, a neck needing more is way out of specs - 35 years and never had any complaints - that "neck must be in complete contact with body", although preferable, is mostly click bait for "look at what I know" videos on RUclips ...and so Fender can sell guitars and StewMac can sell their pocket shims :p
Thank you for this vid. Does the micro adjustment cause a loss of sustain because there is less wood to wood contact? My understanding is that anything (including a shim) that decreases total contact of the Neck and Body will have an effect on tone and sustain.
I think that is a myth, not that you can't do something that will affect sustain, but there isn't much area of contact where the metal to metal contact of the string to the guitar is concerned and that doesn''t seem to be a problem. People have been making mechanical, adjustable necks for centuries. It is now one of the preferred methods on classical guitars where sustain is not matched by much string power, but it seems to work great.
You’re absolutely right. It’s a total bullshit myth the micro-tilt hurts tone. It’s the same bullshit as people fighting over wood. It’s such a minuscule difference in tone. But people obsess over it to the point of violence over disagreements. Lol
beautiful Strat !!
Whaaat? Did he say the allen screws will tear up your palm? Oh so Fender finally noticed. I have to change the saddle screws in every Strat with the stamped steel saddles, due to the huge screws--please STOP.
Fender musical I just bought your Cedar Special....AWESOME guitar and Micro Tilt I also have a 1986 Fender that has the micro tilt. QUESTION,......how about the bridge itself?....bridge base plate....does it have to be parallel to the body?......I bought mine and has the bridge surface angled 30-45 degree counterclockwise......please let me know.....AWESOME technology!!!....from your video it appears to be parallel..so in my case the strings are pulling towards the neck,,,,
I noticed the springs can be re-arranged but the guy in the store said that is the way it is ,,,,,,I believe the guy in the store is wrong....until you get answer my question I will go ahead and change the strings to a V to release the tension....
FENDER keep up the beautiful awesome job......you just kicked Gisbon's butt out of the way with your new technology guitar..you do have real Musicians and Engineers that are musicians creating great products!! thank you!!!
Cool something that worsens the contact between the neck and body and provides a nice air pocket under the neck when a tapered wooden shim does not. Well at least if you do it and it sounds like your playing a bunch of dead strings at least you know why.
Good job Fender maybe next time you can add another feature no one asked for.
You should really listen to yourself when you speak, when you end up saying the top two screws are a "fulcrum" that makes it sound like the neck is unstable as hell and it probably is. NO ONE WANTS A MOVEABLE NECK ONCE IT IS BOLTED DOWN.
If you need to tilt the neck, the neck pocket was not cut properly for the bridge. If the screw presses too hard into the neck heal, and tongue rise occurs. There should be no shims needed, and no paint inside the neck pocket. The neck should be tight in the pocket. Especially on a $1,500.00 guitar.
Yea, but wood contracts and expands ~
And what if I want to change the neck?
I really want to buy . but no one ships to Brazil
If Fender had made neck thru guitars in the first place and reinforced their necks with carbon/graphite this would have never been an issue. My 92' Carvin DC-200 turned 26 this year and still straight as an arrow, a carbon arrow that is.
hey can u make 24 fret fender strat electric guitar
Done
but with the Micro tilt, not all of the neck is in contact with the body, right? Is that not worse?
Sets allen key down on unprotected guitar finish.
Omg what a crime
@@melodypedals4827 no way hes serious
Were the strings slacked out?
That creates a small gap between the body in the neck does that change the tone of the guitar anyting
when playing live and need A quick ajustment it comes in handy
Great video, however if it was made with more precision it wouldn't need it e.g. PRS CE bolt on necks don't need such an adjustment.
Ridiculous assertion. My action has moved very slightly over the past 27 years and this saved me from having to remove the neck and putting in shims. Not every adjustment needed over the life of an instrument is due to poor build quality. I’ve played many PRS guitars that are of terrible build quality compared to my Gibsons, Fenders, and Schecters and even el cheapo guitars for my kids. I’ve played a couple of good PRS guitars too, but I don’t go on their videos saying they have terrible build quality.
Love the admissions here by both Fender representatives that Fender guitars are build using parts that will shred the skin on the player's right hand.
Better manufactured saddle adjusters would fix this problem, but Fender figures, "it's just some guy's hand we're talking about. No problem. And besides, we save about 8 cents on each guitar with the cheap, burred adjusters, and that money goes right to the bottom line."
Can I put one on my Mexican Strat?
oh Dammn... I have a Dave Murray signature model, but... it has floyd rose micro tuning!! I guess I won't risk it, the video didn't look very reliable! Better take for a luthier
What strat is that
Genius
En español el tutorial por favor
Maybe if fender built their product better, and believed in a true factory setup(see G&L), they wouldn't need that ridiculous device.
my 1980s peavey gutiar has this
Yea, i took it to a luthier the other day and basically ruined it. I gotta tilt the neck myself
Never have used it, and never will. It kills sustain because the neck is sitting on a Allen screw and slug. I usually put some medium strength loctite on the Allen screw so it doesn't rattle, or take it out completely.
A shim is better (the cheese slice shape angle!!).. One word: "Coupling"