Strat Overhaul

Before we can improve this, though, we need to make sure the neck angle is correct. With no strings on the guitar, loosen the three bolts securing the neck and undo the Micro Tilt screw by sticking a 3.5mm Allen key through the small hole on the neck plate below the bottom screw. When you're confident it's completely undone, tighten up the three screws again. To check the neck angle you'll need to put one string on the guitar and tune it to pitch, checking the action to see if it's okay. With the Micro Tilt undone you should find your action is too high, which is what we want.

To angle the neck back again, take the neck off, place a piece of glasspaper folded in two under the front of the neck, then replace the neck plate and screws. (Make sure the neck screws fall through the holes in the body of the guitar with no resistance; sometimes these holes are drilled too small or filled with lacquer, which means the screws tighten onto the body of the guitar and leave the neck loose. If they need drilling or cleaning out, this is the time to do it). Put the string back on, and have a look at the action. Is it better? If it's still too high, remove the neck and re-fold the glasspaper for a touch more thickness.

So what's the correct neck angle? It's the angle which allows you to achieve your ideal playing action with the bridge saddles' adjusting screws just under the level of the saddles. If they're sticking out, you'll slice up your hand. (If the neck needs tilting forwards instead of backwards, you'll have to go to a guitar repairer to have the neck join re-cut. I've never seen this in 20 years of repairing Fenders, so don't worry too much.)

When you're happy with the neck angle, remove the neck again and apply white wood glue to all the faces of the glasspaper packer, place it back into position and tighten the neck plate. The glasspaper will increase friction in the neck join, and the glue will also help a little more. Don't worry about putting the glue in; the glasspaper will easily tear apart if the neck has to come off again.

Neck join taken care of, it's time to clean the fretboard and check the tuners. The tuners on this guitar have been replaced with Schallers, so they're fine. If you still have the originals it's probably a good idea to replace them with some exact replicas, since nearly 30 years of use will have taken its toll.