Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - 44

green" guards. That December saw
the debut of larger pegheads. In late
'67, "F-stamped" tuners replaced
the Kluson Deluxe units, and the
"block" peghead logo came along
in mid '68 - the same year clothcovered lead wires were replaced by
those with plastic coating. In 1970,
it was given capacitors with different
values.
Finishes were changing, as well. In
'68, CBS discontinued thin nitrocellulose lacquer undercoats that had been
used since the company's inception and
replaced them with polyester because it
dried faster and harder. Nitrocellulose
remained in use for color coats and top
coats, but because as many as 10 to 15
polyester undercoats were applied,
the result was a finish now known as
"thick-skin." This had the unintended
effect of giving the neck pocket an
extremely tight fit and eventually
resulted in an enlarged pocket.
Among the most easily recognized
features of a '70s Strat is the Micro-Tilt
system, which allowed neck angle to
be adjusted in small increments using
an Allen wrench through a hole in the
neck plate; early Strats were adjusted
using shims and a
large dose of trialand-error experimentation.
Brainchild of
Leo himself, the
Micro-Tilt was
first used in '71 -
six years after he
left the company
but in accord with
an agreement that
required him to
work in a consulting
role through 1970.
But it necessitated
other changes, including installation of a metal
disc recessed in
the neck heel,
creating a hard
surface to
work against
t he A l len
screw. Unfortunately,
the disc occupied some
of the space
necessary for

the operation of the truss
adjustment. Leo solved this
by moving the adjuster to
the peghead and placing a
bullet-shaped chrome nut
on the end.
For the Micro-Tilt to work
properly, the neck joint had to
move - a problem Leo solved by
reducing the number of attachment
bolts from four to three. Problem
was, though, the new attachment
(combined with the enlarged neck
pocket) created a joint that was easily
shifted with even slight pressure;
players discovered the simple act of
lifting the guitar from the case could
cause the neck to shift, leaving either
the first or sixth string hanging off
the edge of the fretboard.
Many feel the Micro-Tilt was an
excellent idea poorly executed in the
mass-production environment; applications in later G&L and Fender
guitars function very well thanks to
better machined parts and closer
woodworking tolerances.
In '71, a second rectangular
"butterfly" string tree was added
to the peghead to create tension
on the third and fourth strings.
To accomplish this, the position of
the original tree (on the first and
second strings) was shifted slightly
toward the end of the peghead.
The change in
tension on
the first four

This plate recessed in the neck pocket gave
access for adjusting neck angle, while the
"bullet" truss rod (BELOW) tweaked its bow.

1970 Stratocaster

The Strat's saddles and bridge have gone
largely unchanged throughout its run.

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September 2017
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