Hi everybody,
In the manual, I can't find mention of the micro tilt adjustment feature of the 2008 American Strat series. What is a situation when this would be used. I'm having some fretting out on the 15th fret and wondering if the micro tilt will remedy it.

Edit: Did a little poking around on this site and found this from fender.

"SHIMMING/MICRO-TILT™ ADJUSTMENT

Shimming is a procedure used to adjust the pitch of the neck in relation to the body. A shim is placed in the neck pocket, underneath the butt end of the neck. On many American series guitars, a Micro-Tilt adjustment is offered. It replaces the need for a shim by using a hex screw against a plate installed in the butt end of the neck. The need to adjust the pitch (raising the butt end of the neck in the pocket, thereby pitching the neck back) of the neck occurs in situations where the string height is high and the action adjustment is as low as the adjustment will allow.

To properly shim a neck, the neck must be removed from the neck pocket of the body. A shim approximately 1/4" (6.4 mm) wide by 1 3/4" (44.5 mm) long by .010" (0.25 mm) thick will allow you to raise the action approximately 1/32" (0.8 mm). For guitars with the Micro-Tilt adjustment, loosen the two neck screws on both sides of the adjustment access hole on the neckplate by at least four full turns. Tightening the hex adjustment screw with an 1/8" hex wrench approximately 1/4 turn will allow you to raise the action approximately 1/32". Re-tighten the neck screws when the adjustment is complete. The pitch of the neck on your guitar has been preset at the factory and in most cases will not need to be adjusted.

Note: If you feel that this adjustment needs to be made and you're not comfortable doing it yourself, take your guitar to your local Fender Authorized Dealer."

Actually, this feature (IMO) shoud not be in guitars because of the likelihood of owners incorrectly adjusting them.

In your particular situation, by turning it slightly counter (anti) clockwise, it MIGHT alleviate your malady. However, I would ultimately think that your 16th fret might have to be taken down a little bit.

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You dig?

Agreed. The problems I have seen with the micro-tilt are from people misusing it. Either misdiagnosing their actual problem, or by not understanding how it functions. I had one friend who actually tried torquing the hell out of it, without loosening the neck bolts in the first place.

I guess that can be said about almost anything though. People wreck stuff by not being careful, and not learning how things work before jumping in headfirst.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

People like that are likely to damage the truss rod too. I figure if you try to adjust a guitar or any other piece of equipment, even a lawn mower without reading the instructions you get what you deserve. A non adjustable guitar would be awful if it wasn't designed to be that way. My Dano and Supro don't have a truss rod adjustment, just more of a kind of neck tilt.

You'll always have people like that. I like the tilt neck adjustment on my 72 Strat. I only had to use it a couple of times in 38+ years.

I can set up every part of my guitar besides the micro-tilt.... how do you know if you need an adjustment.... I did what fender said and looked up from the body up to the neck but do not know what Im suppose to see?

I rest my case.

Loosely speaking, the standoff should be no more than the thickness of two business cards.

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You dig?

The standoff meaning the space between the neck and the pickguard?

Ha - that's so true!

Frankly, a well made neck pocket shouldn't need shimming in any case. Miami Mike did a thread asking if anyone used their micro-tilt. Can't remember for sure but I believe there were few who said they did - maybe none.

znagle22, unless there's a really good reason you think you need to shim the neck - just leave it alone. Most unlikely that you need to go in that little hole...

Cheers - C

No. The space between the allen screw rising out of the plate in the neck slot of the body and its mating with the plate on the back of the bottom of the neck.

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You dig?

If anyone has a recommended procedure for checking & for adjusting the micro-tilt, please post it.
What do you look for to see if it needs adjustment?
What should you see or measure etc. if it is adjusted correctly?

If the string height is still high and you have adjusted as low as you can then you may have to change the pitch of the neck to lower it.

Quote
Shimming is a procedure used to adjust the pitch of the neck in relation to the body. A shim is placed in the neck pocket, underneath the butt end of the neck. On many American series guitars, a Micro-Tilt adjustment is offered. It replaces the need for a shim by using a hex screw against a plate installed in the butt end of the neck. The need to adjust the pitch (raising the butt end of the neck in the pocket, thereby pitching the neck back) of the neck occurs in situations where the string height is high and the action adjustment is as low as the adjustment will allow.

To properly shim a neck, the neck must be removed from the neck pocket of the body. A shim approximately 1/4" (6.4 mm) wide by 1 3/4" (44.5 mm) long by .010" (0.25 mm) thick will allow you to raise the action approximately 1/32" (0.8 mm). For guitars with the Micro-Tilt adjustment, loosen the two neck screws on both sides of the adjustment access hole on the neckplate by at least four full turns. Tightening the hex adjustment screw with an 1/8" hex wrench approximately 1/4 turn will allow you to raise the action approximately 1/32". Re-tighten the neck screws when the adjustment is complete. The pitch of the neck on your guitar has been preset at the factory and in most cases will not need to be adjusted
End quote

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Good thing I took mine to a guitar tech to make the adjustment.

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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

You've got three basic methods of adjusting string height/action: bridge height adjustment, truss rod adjustment, and micro-tilt/shimming.

Bridge height adjustment has less affect on action at the lower frets, i.e. near the nut. It has a much bigger affect on string height at the upper end near the neck pocket.

Truss rod adjustment changes the curvature of the neck. Ideally, when the neck is set up according to manufacturer's specs, there will be a very slight curve to the neck, concave up out of the plane of the guitar's body.

Micro-tilt/shimming changes the angle of the neck with respect to the guitar body without changing the curvature of the neck.

The condition of your frets comes into play here. If the frets are worn or otherwise uneven, you'll have to set the action higher to avoid buzzing.

Getting all of these things reasonably right is often within the skill level of an interested player, but professional techs will do it faster and better.

So try following the users' guide from Fender. If you're not happy, see your local luthier.

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James Burton Upgrade Telecaster
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The best thing to do is if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If your guitar plays fine don't stress over if it's "correct". In most cases you won't even need to use the tilt neck feature. I only had to adjust it when I went from using 12's or 13's back to 9's and 10's. A tech did it the first time to drop the neck slightly to accommodate the heavy strings, I had to raise it slightly for the lighter gauge strings.

It's not rocket science. If you're unsure or don't feel like reading the manual, take it to a good tech. It will be money well spent.