Question about 3 Bolt Micro-Tilt

OK, Here is a link to a question I posted yesterday. I put it in the wrong category.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaster-discussion-forum/183869-micro-tilt-shim-72-thinline-ri.html

I have a question for anyone has one of these systems. Is the washer on the neck supposed to be tightened tight? Mine was kind of loose.

I am still baffled that my washer sits higher than the bottom of the neck. Most of the necks I've looked at on Ebay, it appears the washer sits slightly lower in the channel. However when I place my neck in the pocket , it sits flat, so I am thinking the washer is dropping in the body hole where the other micro tilt washer is. It is slightly recessed.

If you read the entire post, you will see that I added some washer shims, and all is well, but I am wondering if I should have tightened the screws down in both washers... Also wondering if the channel in my neck was cut too shallow and I am just lucky that it is dropping in the recessed micro-tilt hole in the body. I would think they should both be flush.

Thanks, this sound more complicated that it is. Hopefully the pictures in the link will clarify what I am asking.

If I remember correctly that washer has the threads in it for the third bolt, so it should be tightened down to the neck. If it was too loose that neck bolt will pull the washer snug to the body but allow the neck to move a little bit. I think this was one of the main causes of unstable 3-bolt necks.

I think G&L changed this when they adopted a neck tilt mechanism and used another wood screw to hold the neck tight while just using the allen screw to push against a metal plug in the neck. It's been a long time since I've had either my old Fender or G&L 3-bolts apart so my memory might be a little gray.

These are the only Pics I had on my Hard drive of 3 bolt stuff...I think it's a mix of Original and reissue ?...May help a little.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/mellecaster/Nitty%20Gritty/DSCF2623.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/mellecaster/Nitty%20Gritty/DSCF2629.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/mellecaster/Nitty%20Gritty/DSCF2565.jpg

Thanks for the replies.

Mellecaster thanks for the photos. Your photo of the back of the neck shows that your neck does not have a channel like mine, but your washer or plate sits flush with the back of the neck. Mine does not, it sits higher than the back of the neck. I am thinking I am lucky that it appears mine drops in the recess of the body washer/plate since it is recessed. I don't think this is how it should be. Most of the pictures of 72 Ri necks on ebay show a flush neck washer plate.

Again, here is what I did to shim my neck. Unless I hear from someone that I am asking for trouble I will leave it alone, because it feels very stable and plays great.

Since the micro tilt uses a small screw for a shim at the plate to plate contact, I removed the screw and shimmed the washer/plate on the neck. I made duplicate plate/washer shims from very thin metal, and put 2 of these under the neck washer/plate. Now I have plate to plate contact instead of plate to screw. See photos.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m95/1977cj5/DSCF0970.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m95/1977cj5/DSCF0971.jpg

I don't think that the method you used for shimming your neck should cause any problems at all since you should have very solid contact. The disc being slightly higher than the route in the wood would only be an issue if you needed to be able to lower the neck in the pocket, assuming that it was still a little too high to prevent wood to wood contact.

You did mention that the round plate that bolted to the neck itself was slightly loose and I think that may be a minor issue. If you look at how this goes together you can see that the bolt threads into the metal disc and pulls that to the body, which in turn pulls the bottom of the neck tight to the pocket. If that disc is loose, it could be tight to the body while leaving that section of the neck floating a little bit because the disc isn't tightened firmly to the neck. This could allow for a tiny bit of rocking motion on the two wood screws.

It's kind of hard to explain, but can you make any sense out of it? If that third bolt was a wood screw and threaded into the wood of the neck (like I believe G&L used to do) the disc could be loose and it would get sandwiched between the neck and body. Since this bolt is threaded into the disc the neck could still be a little loose if the disc isn't tightened snugly to the neck.

I don't think that the method you used for shimming your neck should cause any problems at all since you should have very solid contact. The disc being slightly higher than the route in the wood would only be an issue if you needed to be able to lower the neck in the pocket, assuming that it was still a little too high to prevent wood to wood contact.

You did mention that the round plate that bolted to the neck itself was slightly loose and I think that may be a minor issue. If you look at how this goes together you can see that the bolt threads into the metal disc and pulls that to the body, which in turn pulls the bottom of the neck tight to the pocket. If that disc is loose, it could be tight to the body while leaving that section of the neck floating a little bit because the disc isn't tightened firmly to the neck. This could allow for a tiny bit of rocking motion on the two wood screws.

It's kind of hard to explain, but can you make any sense out of it? If that third bolt was a wood screw and threaded into the wood of the neck (like I believe G&L used to do) the disc could be loose and it would get sandwiched between the neck and body. Since this bolt is threaded into the disc the neck could still be a little loose if the disc isn't tightened snugly to the neck.

Thanks for the reply. I did tighten down the screws holding the plate. It just seemed strange that they were not tight from the factory, so I thought maybe they were supposed to be this way. Everything seems good now, string alignment is on, and I have a nice saddle height were I have adjustment room in both directions if needed. I don't see any problem with the shims either, since they seem more substantial than one small screw. I have good wood to wood contact most of the way down the pocket, I can only insert a small piece of paper between the neck and body down towards the shimmed area.

Thanks again.

I did tighten down the screws holding the plate. It just seemed strange that they were not tight from the factory.

Doesn't that plate have to be a little loose so that you can adjust it without removing the neck? I thought that was the whole idea behind the tilt-neck adjustment hole in the neck plate?