Electric Guitar Neck Angle Adjustments
Neck Angle Adjustment-
First I'll start by pointing out that neck angle (pitch) is different than neck
relief (bow).
The angle at which a neck sits will depend on how the manufacturer has set the
angle at the neck joint. Neck angle is easily adjusted on instruments with bolt
on necks as the neck can be removed from the pocket and the pocket can be
shimmed to pitch the neck back or forward depending on the needs. When the
instrument has a neck joint that has been glued the neck must be steamed from
the pocket and adjusted, see neck resets for more information.
Why would a guitars
neck angle need to be adjusted?
A fair indicator that
the neck angle
may be incorrect is an inability to adjust the action to the ideal height before
reaching the saddles maximum adjustment. Before jumping to this conclusion be
sure that the necks relief and tremolo/bridge is set correctly. An example would
be a guitar who's saddles have been adjusted as high as possible yet the strings
sit far too close to the frets rendering the action too low. If all else is as
it should be, that instruments neck angle may be slightly overset (the heel end
is higher than the peghead). And of course the reverse can also happen... the
saddles may be completely bottomed out yet the action is far too high. While I have found various items placed in a neck joint to alter the necks angle ( match book covers, credit cards, paper clips), I prefer to make a well fitting, tapered hardwood shim that does not leave any
large gaps between the neck and the body. The better coupling and surface to surface mating you have on your instrument the less likely you are to loose valuable sustain and tone. Of course sometimes the adjustment required is so small a paper strip may be all that is needed.
Fender's Micro Tilt™ Adjustable Neck
Fenders Micro Tilt Neck Adjustment - If you look at the picture above you will see a tiny hole in the neck plate just between the
2 lower neck mounting screws. In that hole is an
Allen head screw. After loosening the string tension and the necks mounting bolts, this screw can be tightened to press against a metal plate mounted on the base of the neck. If the screw is tightened without loosening the neck mounting screws, it places a great deal of pressure on the screws in the neck making it possible to strip or weaken those screw holes. Tightening the screw against the plate effectively "tilt's" or rises the end of the fingerboard and changes the necks angle. While this makes neck angle adjustments seem even easier to do it yourselfer, I still prefer to place a hardwood shim in the pocket instead of creating a gap.
The plate on the neck simply prevents the screw from "drilling" itself into the neck.
For more information about neck angles it may be helpful to read my section on neck resetting. If the neck on an electric guitar is glued in place it must be removed before the angle can be changed. While the following article covers resetting necks on acoustic guitars, the concept is the same... click here.
Neck angle should not be confused with neck relief. For more information on neck relief (the bow in a neck) see truss rods. You can also read about common neck problems like, twisted necks, too much or too little relief and more here.
