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.
