fenderbender06 Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Hello everyone, Just built my first strat. It sounds great aside from some minor gliches. I have been trying to set the guitar up. I noticed a slight bow in the neck and so I did the feeler gauge method of assing the string to fret height. The truss rod was adjusted and the neck is a little straighter and better. The one problem I am having is fret buzz on the higher notes past the 13-14th fret. Its not bad until I bend them and then they get buzzy and almost muted. One problem I thought it may be is that the 22nd fret may be lifted a bit due to the pick guard. I had to cut the pickguard where the neck meets it due to the 22nd fret barely slipping over it. If it were because of the lifted 22nd fret how could I check it without taking the neck and pickguard off? Could it be as simple as adjusting the bridge?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postal Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Did you level the frets before stringing up? It is possible that fret is high and you need a good straight edge to check. Using the straightedge on the entire neck, readjust the truss until it is straight as can be, then use a fresh razorblade, place the sharp edge of the blade directly on the frets and use the blade as a precision straight edge, see if the blade will rock accross any fret (high fret) or if you see light under the blade at any fret (low)-- check for light holding the neck up between your eyes and a large flourescent light to REALLY see if there is light. If a fret is high, you will need to relevel the frets. If this is not the problem, then it is just "normal" strings choking out on a tighter radiused fretboard. This can also be very carefully fixed by following the basic setups above for levelling, (be sure the frets ARE ACTUALLY level) then with your flat sanding block and 400 grit paper, carefully take about 5-6 passes on the upper frets- like 17-18 on up to the last fret. This will grind them down *about* 5 thou less than the rest of the frets which prevents the strings from choking on them during bends. Apparently not a whole lot of people know that little trick, but it works great, and removes so little fret, it is not noticable that the action is 5 thou higher over those frets...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 what you are talking about is called "ramping" postal..maybe you already know that..but yeah,alot of severe stringbenders will do that on those old strats...especially the ones with a 9.5 or tighterradius. that is why i cant't stand a tight radius...i bend up to a step and a half constantly and will also occasionally pull the floyd back atthe same time....that will fret out anything with a less than perfect fret job or on a tightly radiused neck. i believe that is why most superstrats are radiused 14 or higher..when i build i use a 12"radius on fixed bridges,and used to use 14 on my trem equipped guitars...but now i buy my fretboards preslotted and compound radiused fron 10?i think at the nut to 15?i think at the bridge the reason i don't know for sure is because i have not gone through my notes...i bought my last fretboards over a year ago... funny thing is you justreminded me i have to reradius my fretboard on my explorer i am starting because i ordered it at 12 i think for a fixed bridge but now i am almost sure i am going to use a zr trem... anyone know what those zr trems are radiused?isn't it a super flat 16 or so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderbender06 Posted December 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Ramping postal? Never heard that before, but if it means bending the H$%# out of the string, like most blues players do, yea thats me. As far as fret leveling? Never done it, sounds easy, maybe Ill have to investigate. Yea I bought a mighty mite compound radius neck, goes from 9.5 to 12 i think. ....would that have any effect? I am only used to flat, old strat necks. It wouldnt suprise me that I may have to level the frets, I already had to replace the nut with a graph tech nut. The high e twanged and buzzed when it was played open..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 ramping is the name of the tecqnique of "ramping" down the upper frets...postal is the name of the guy i was talking to.. try to keep up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanb Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 The ZR trem is 430mm radius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 thank you....that's about 16 3/4" so if i radius the board 10 to 15 i should be golden...? appreciate it ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postal Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Fender, I've never inspected a fresh mighty might, and dont know if they level the frets or not. The neck can also warp being shipped from their place to yours, and a lot of other factors...... I think you should follow the first steps I posted adjusting the truss rod to as straight a neck as possible and check with a razorblade that the frets are level. If you find an issue with that, then hopefully someone here knows where there is a good step by step levelling FAQ. It is not difficult, you just need to be REALLY carefull, and understand what you are trying to accomplish quite thoroughly before attempting it. A refret by a pro is not cheap, so Make sure you read up on it before doing it. Strings choking on bends can happen generally up to around a 12"radius at the last fret. A compound board from like 10-16 or so shouldnt have any problems, so this "COULD" be an issue as well, but.... I'd pass on that one for now till the level is checked. Another thing is the bridge height like you mentioned in the first post. What is your string height right now? You said you checked with feelers, but didnt tell us what you measured where. Maybe the bridge is a tad low...... Just to let you know, getting a super low action is only possible when every part of the setup is done flawlessly. The fret level/truss rod adjustment is the MAIN factor in this. If those arent right, the action will never be "shredder" low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderbender06 Posted December 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Thanks for the advice postal. I think I will adjust the truss rod some more, I still get a reading on the feeler gauge at .010 at the 6th fret low e. Should I consider more adjustment considering there seems to be more bow in the neck? Its a slight bow in between the 4-6 frets. The orginal measurments were between .011-.012. The new one is like.010. But I get different readings on the g, b, and high e strings. They are more like .006. Is there a possibility of a twist in the neck? Or Will I get various readings for each gague string? Your patience upon my ignorance is appreciated this is my first attempt at building and set up.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 you need to read the set up tutorial on the main site...it runs you through a set up step by step projectguitar.com then follow the tutorial link and choose how to set up your guitar or something like that...follow it exactly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 you need to read the set up tutorial on the main site...it runs you through a set up step by step projectguitar.com then follow the tutorial link and choose how to set up your guitar or something like that...follow it exactly Solid advise! A couple things. 1-set the neck to dead straight, and check frets for high spots. 2- you mentioned installing a new nut. Check the string height at the nut to confirm it is correct(you will see this in the tutorial).3- after you have those items confirmed then move to setting your relief. If any of these are out of whack you can't set your bridge for your prefered action. I believe there is a tutorial on using a continuity meter to check for high frets also. I have never tried it, but it sounds clever. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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