Stingray Neck Adjustment

[TBone]

I just cleaned up my SR today and she looks great.
Boy want a little soap and water will do to an old guitar.
I have a question about the neck tilt adjustment.
Can someone explain how and what this does.
Any information will be most helpful.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Microtilt adjustment eliminates the need for neck shims in the neck's body pocket and adjusts the angle of tilt in which the neck leaves the body. In effect, it allows you to get an adequate adjusting range of the saddles for raising and lowering your strings.

On some instruments the strings may still be too high even though the bridge saddles have been adjusted as low as they can go. Proper microtilt adjustment overcomes this problem. The tilt adjusting screw acts as a shim at the back of the body pocket and allows you to lower the angle of the neck.

On the other hand, with some instruments, the strings may still be too low even though the saddles have been adjusted as high as they will go and, in this case, a shim would have to be actually placed at the front of the body pocket. The tilt adjustment wont rectify this. A slither of wood or cardboard would have to be used. Some guys use a guitar pic. You shouldn't hit this problem with the 'Ray.

To begin, loosen the strings. Now loosen the neck’s mounting bolt adjacent to the tiny tilt adjustment screw hole. You will need a small hex wrench. Back off the tilt adjusting screw altogether. Retighten the neck bolt and retune to pitch. Turn the screw clockwise till it goes no further and is just snug with the neck.

The way I proceed now is to lower the saddles as far as they will go and check that the strings touch the last fret on the neck. If they do, then all is ok and no further adjustment is needed. If they don’t, then loosen the strings and said neck bolt before turning the tilt screw clockwise. Keep turning till the last fret on the neck raises up and meets the E string. If the screw is hard to turn then you may have to loosen the other two neck bolts slightly. That’s your adjustment! Remember to fully tighten all the neck bolts before retuning to pitch. You’ll now have plenty of saddle adjustment to raise/lower the strings to your preferred height.

When loosening or tightening the neck bolts, it’s a good idea to use your other hand to hold the bottom of the driver’s shaft so it doesn’t slip and scratch the body finish.

Cheers.

 

[TBone]

Rod,
Awsome!
I just finished the adjustment and it works like a charm.
It plays mucho better than before.
I have never had a Bass with this adjustment before. I like the versatility!
I took it to a local Tech last Friday and to my surprise he didn't even try to do any adjustments at all.
He said It needs a fret level at about the 12 fret.
I think he is correct because even with the neck as it is, action is slightly on the high side with a little buzz up there around the 12th.
Thanks for your help.
What a great Forum!

 

[SWR_n_EB]

Where is this thingy located...i'm sorta lost...but i'm always lost so it's not big deal.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Pre-EB Basses had a micro tilt adjustment with their 3 Bolt neck plate models. When they changed to a 4 bolt neck plate in 1980, this feature was not included, nor followed on with by EB.

A little hole can be found on the 3 bolt neck plate (near the bolt closest to the body) which houses a small screw that can be rotated to adjust the angle of the neck, as discussed above.