Strat Robt Cray setup-truss adjustment

I'm trying this guitar out from an online store, the factory setup is
not good. I want to decrease the neck relief, make the neck
straighter that is, but there's no headstock adjusment, just the
philips screw at the base of the neck. the truss screw is hidden by
the pick guard. Never used one at the base of neck. My question is
do I remove pick guard to access the truss adjustment or the neck
plate on back? If it's the pick guard, looks like I'll have to remove
the strings first so the pick guard will clear the pups. Any pointers
or suggestions are welcome. I want to remove as little as possible,
so if I'm unsuccessful in getting lower action w/o fret buzzing I can
send the guitar back with as little "tool marks" on the screws as
possible so they won't charge a "restock fee". Any help appreciated.

Also, this is the second guitar I've tried. The first was an Ibanez
and it also had high action (too much neck relief). I didn't attempt
adjusting the truss on this one, not because I'm afraid, but also so
they wouldn't be able to notice "it had been worked on" and thus
charged me a restock fee for returning it. Do all guitars come from
the factory with relatively high action? I guess retail stores
probably do a setup on display guitars before hanging them on the
walls, and that's why some of theirs have lower action, but I'm just
making that assumption, since this is the first new guitar I've
purchased. Do any of you play with high action? Thanks, Marty

.

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