How to reset a bolt-on Tacoma Guitar neck

You don't need to completely remove the neck to perform a neck angle adjustment on a
Tacoma. The only part that is glued is under the fingerboard, and in most cases you can
do it without unglueing. But before you loosen your strings, put a 24" long straight edge
along the top of the fingerboard on the treble side and put a pencil mark where it hits the
bridge. If the neck has too much relief, make the truss rod adjustment before marking the
bridge. Repeat on the bass side. If set properly the straight edge end should rest close to
the top of the bridge, the height of the saddle making the difference for string height
according to the action desired.

Now place the straight edge along the bottom side of the fingerboard, resting on the top
and reaching to the nut and measure the difference from the bottom of the binding where
it meets the nut and write it down. When the neck is set correctly, the fingerboard bottom
(same as neck binding bottom side) should line up all the way to the soundhole.
Sometimes the neck is set correctly but it's the top bulging that causes high action, so it's
best to check that before embarking on unnecessary repairs (or the wrong ones).

Then place the straight edge along the whole top (from the fingerboard down) and check
that the belly has not gone up at the bridge. If it has, check that you don't have a loose
brace by tapping the top with your knuckle in several places (not too hard or you will
definitely have loose braces). Some bellying up is normal with age, and happens to all
steel string guitars (and a lot of people too). If it is excessive (say 1/4" high, it can be
corrected with the help of a "Bridge Doctor" or a bridge plate replacement.

If you decided that you still need to reset the neck angle, loosen your strings enough to
remove them at the bridge only and loop them around the headstock so they are out of the
way but can be put back on quickly. You may need to put them back on 2 or 3 times to
get the action right.

Peel carefully the tag on the neck block and check the bolts (requires a 4mm T-wrench
about 4"long, same size as neck bolts on Chief, Papoose, Bass etc.). With age they tend to
loosen up and need tightening, sometimes that's all was needed but unfortunately is rarely
the case - you never know ( they should not be as tight as the bolts on your car or you
will strip the wood around the bolt inserts in the heel). Remove the bolts and carefully
pull the heel away from the shoulder just enough to fit a clean sheet of 180 or 220
sandpaper underneath, preferably with wax paper on the backing so you won't scratch the
finish. Remember that if you pull too far, you may start separating the fingerboard or
binding and it will create a finish crack line along the f/b binding. You can put a pencil
mark at 1/32" all around the heel cap where it meets the body and tapering to the pivoting
point where it meets the fingerboard, so you have an idea how much wood you are
sanding. The idea is to sand more toward the heel cap than near the fingerboard, so you
are changing the neck angle.

Insert the sandpaper with the grit facing the heel, and pull it while pushing back on the
heel. Barely lift the heel enough to reinsert it and repeat, so you always pull the
sandpaper away from the guitar, never going back and forth. Always blow up the dust
and sandpaper particles so they don't get underneath and scatch the finish. It doesn't take
much, probably 1/32" in most cases but to be sure it is always better to do less than too
much. Put the bolts back on (firmly tight, not the death grip) and string the guitar back
up, then check your progress against the pencil marks on the bridge and heelcap. Repeat
the procedure until you reach (or get close to) the top of the bridge. You may have to put
a new saddle to meet the new neck angle at the correct specs.

When you are satisfied with the neck angle (give it time to readjust to string tension), re-
install the neck label. If it got ruined during removal, email me with your address and I'll
send you one free. I have a few that were salvaged from the dumpster at the closing of the
plant in 2008 and will be happy to see them put to good use.