Different Set Ups for Different Guitars

[Tim]

I have my Tele Custom set just the way I like it. Good action and just a little relief. The tone is clean with very little fret buzz. This guitar has medium high frets with a maple neck

I have my Strat copy set up exactly the same as the Tele. The Strat has a lot of string buzz all the way up the neck. This guitar has either medium low or low frets with a rose wood fret board. Does the fret buzzing have to do with the size of the frets or is it just the nature of the Strat design which has it buzzing up the neck?

I most likely need to add some relief the Strat neck to lessen the fret buzz.

[ray82609]

There is nothing inherent in a Strat that makes it buzz. If you have buzzing all the way up the neck you need to either raise or lower the action. Setting the action lower can make it ground out once and quit buzzing and it sounds like it's not buzzing. If you get it this low you won't get the ring and sustain as having it higher. Really low action is over rated. Look at Fenders site and do exactly as they say and you will have a real close to perfect setup. If the buzzing doesn't transfer electrically through the amp, it's really only you that it bothers.
-Ray

[Spudman***]

Tim

I have a Fender Strat that has the buzz only on one string. Is yours like that or do all strings buzz?

If it is just one string then you can raise only the bridge saddle of that string to see if the problem quits. You might otherwise need to put a touch more bow into your neck by loosening the truss rod 1/4 turn at a time. Strats sound best with slightly higher action than other guitars. That is kind of how they are. Just ask Robin Trower.

The final thing to check is that possibly your nut slots are cut to low. If so I think I posted a remedy for that on one of my earlier posts. If that is your problem ask and I'll let you know the easy fix.

[warren0728]

The final thing to check is that possibly your nut slots are cut to low. If so I think I posted a remedy for that on one of my earlier posts. If that is your problem ask and I'll let you know the easy fix.

spud...i would be interested in that quick fix of yours...i would likie to raise the action at the nut on my electr-reso but don't really want to mess with replacing it.

ww

[Spudman***]

Warren
I had posted this on the Fender forum. Sorry if you looked here for it. I learned this from the head luthier from the Western USA Ibanez importer.


You can refill the nut slots with a combination of super glue and bone dust.

Go to the butcher and get a bare bone or just get one from the basement or wherever you keep the bodies, and run it across a file to generate a small pile of dust. Then add a drop of superglue to the paper where you collected the dust, mix in a bunch of dust with a toothpic, pick up the mixture with the toothpic and put it in the string slot on the nut. Just a little bit to fill the hole. Wait 1 hour and then file a new string slot.

See if that gets rid of the noise.
BTW. I've also found that the tremolo springs will set up some annoying sympathetic resonances. Try dampening them before the nut fix to see if the noise abates.

Hope that helps.

[Tim]

I have read and used a mixture of super glue and baking soda. It works. It dries rock hard in seconds. I only tried it once in the high "E" slot of a nut. Experiment first to understand the short time spand you have to work with.

[warren0728]

tim and spud...seems a lot easier than i thought it would be. I'm not having any noise problems....just think i want to raise the action at the nut because i only use this guitar for slide. If i give it a try i'll let you know how it worked out (maybe i'll take some pics during the process).

ww