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Micro Tilt ?

#4
Nice feature to have, I've got a couple '80s MIJ Strats with micro tilt. There is a '"t-nut" in the body and a metal slug (for lack of a better term, possibly part of the truss rod system) in the neck. A set-screw is used to replace whatever you might otherwise use as a shim.

I could see issues if somebody went crazy and cranked down on the neck screws as it doesn't really spread the load evenly across the joint, but otherwise it works as advertised.
 
#6
G&L used it successfully in their early years. IME, as long as the overall neck/body joint is high-quality there should not be issues. In G&L's case, the quality is right up there. Still, many people consider them inferior to 4-bolt.
 
#8
tothemax said:
I've got a '77 Strat with a 3 bolt MicroTilt neck... it works pretty well. It's just an engineered way to shim the neck.
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Nothing against you tothemax

It does horrible things to the pocket over time...

Engineered way to shim the neck...that is a funny statement right there. Shim the neck = fail in engineering, = fail in design, or failure of construction. Fender got rid of it, no one else uses it.
 
#10
stonewall said:
i just bought a 84 P Bass didnt realize i have it.Not sure why i would need this.
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If you can't lower the bridge barrel-pieces enough to get the action where you wanted it on a Fender, the traditional way to do it was to shim the neck at the heel to change the angle, thereby allowing you to adjust the bridge appropriately. Micro-Tilt just allows you to loosen the neck bolts a bit and adjust a screw to change the angle. Micro-Tilt was a source of controversy when it came out because it reduced the fastening points on a Fender from four to three, and many thought that the physics of that, and also relying on the tip of a small screw to "transfer vibrations" properly between the body and neck was a step backward from the original four-bolt neck design.

Immigrant said:
It's to adjust neck angle without the use of business cards for shims.
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Everybody knows matchbook covers are the proper way to shim necks... ;)
 
#13
stonewall said:
Is there any sence to turning the allen key til the 2 parts slightly touch to create more contact of your neck to the body.Or should i back the allen slightly off so there is no contact?
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It would make no difference, IMO. Micro-tilt is only for tilting. If you don't need to tilt, don't use it. I'd back it out some, tighten the three neck bolts properly, and retighten the Micro-Tilt screw until it makes contact, and snug it another 1/4 turn or so just to make me feel good. In real-life practical terms, I really doubt the three-bolt vs. four-bolt difference, or the Micro-Tilt feature has any noticeable effect on the sound of your guitar or bass.
 
#14
Using the Micro-Tilt is easier to do wrong than shimming, but there's no legitimate purpose for either if the instrument wasn't built wrong in the first place -- specifically, having the neck set too deep in the pocket.

When FMIC started getting CNT down better, they decided it was cheaper to build them right to begin with and discontinue the Micro-Tilt.

Good plan.

That said, I have seen many (and even own a few) Fender guitars that needed Micro-Tilting to set up properly, and knowing how to correctly use the Micro-Tilt made the process simpler.
 
#15
The micro-tilt adjustment only works when you loosen the neck bolts first. So you need to have an idea of what adjustment is needed. If you removed the neck you'll see a two plates on on the body and one on the neck. The allen screw is threaded into the neck side. If you try to tighten it with the neck bolts tight it could damage the body or add unnecessary stress to the neck.

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Hapa:
Everyone has their own opinion. I've had this guitar since 1978 and it's been my main player with serious hours on it(just had it's second refret last year). Fender actually just did a reissue of the 70's 3-bolt Micro-tilt Strat. As for sound quality with the Micro-Tilt this had a bronze nut installed with the 1st refret circa 1985at Carruthers shop in LA and it's a total tone beast. Again this is not a bass and every guitar behaves a little differently. Sorry that you've had bad experiences with the Micro-Tilt system, not everyone has.
 
#17
Actually I got it backwards in the earlier post, the allen screw is threaded through the body plate and presses against the neck plate which does the adjustment. In tilts back. out relieves the tilt. If yours is loose and the neck has good action, you're in great shape. I would only adjust it in if it's making noise, if I remember correctly the tip of the allen screw is bevelled so there really is not much contact with the neck.
 
#18
It works great IF it's made correctly AND you follow the directions for making the adjustment correctly. Doesn't "do terrible things" to the pocket over time. It was executed quite well by Leo Fender both at Music Man and at G&L. Heck, even Peavey's simple little T-nut version worked great. Lots of CBS Fender stuff had problems that were incorrectly blamed on the 3-bolt and Micro-Tilt, but were due to other bad choices in manufacturing.

John
 
#19
It's just another way to personalize the setup of your bass. Adding tilt to the neck changes the angle, saddles come up, and you get a larger gap between the strings and body. I utilize it on my basses because I tend to wedge my thumb under my E when I'm working the D & G. Just more comfortable for me to have that little bit of extra wigglin' room.
 

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