Got A Lil Problem... Or Two...

[Rhoads369]

Ok, I'm going to ask for a little help from the experts if that's ok:

So, here's my first problem. I am finishing my first full build, and no matter what I try, the strings are still making a nasty twangy sound whenever I play them. I've tried to adjust everything, and nothing has changed. I'm about ready to just give up , and would rather not considering the time I put into this. If it helps, I can add pictures, but its specs are pretty simple; 25.5" scale with a stop tailpiece/tune o matic bridge and a standard nut, angled headstock.

Now the other problem, which may be related to the other one. I really don't know. After adjusting the truss rod as far as I can, and (again) anything else I can think of, the action is uneven. Near the first few frets it's great, really low but not too low, but the farther down the neck the higher it is.

Any help would be appreciated, I'm just getting pretty frustrated. If pictures would help, I'll add them. Whatever it takes...

[borge]

the strings are still making a nasty twangy sound whenever I play them.

thats totally normal for a tele

but seriously you're going to have to give a better description of the problem, is it fret buzz? can you hear it through an amp?

[j. pierce]

The buzzing sound you mention - the first thing that comes to mind (and as the previous poster mentioned, the more info you can give us, the more we can help!) is your bridge - you mentioned using a tuneomatic and a stoptail - are your saddles on the bridge notched? They could be sliding around in there a bit. Also - perhaps it's making noise past the bridge, the part of the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece. Does muting the strings back here alleviate the noise at all?

Is the noise coming from both open and fretted strings?

The second problem (the string height increasing as you go up the fretboard to the higher frets) sounds like you need to lower your bridge. Adjusting the truss rod is more for dealing with relief issues - straightening the neck - rather than general action. Is your bridge cranked all the way down?

[Rhoads369]

thanks for the quick help, here's what i know:

muting the strings helps a bit, but it still sounds crappy compared to my other guitars. the noise does come from both open and fretted strings, that's one of the first things i tried in hope that it was just something minor. the bridge is down as far as i can get it, the bridge is this model, so it's a bit hard to screw in, but i've got it as far as i can get it.

*oh and yes you can hear it through an amp and it doesn't sound like fret buzz

Edited June 9, 2008 by Rhoads369

[j. pierce]

your link doesn't work, but it sounds like you didn't compensate properly for the height of the bridge you were using. (Either by neck angle or raising the playing surface in relation to the body plane.) Is it a bolt on neck? Should be easy to compensate for this if it is, otherwise you may need to look into recessing the bridge.

As far as muting, I actually meant the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece, not the playing area you'd mute like doing a palm mute, as your symptoms sounded similar to my experience when the break angle between my bridge and tailpiece was not enough on a build I was working on. This is total conjecture at this point.

I don't know how much more help I can be, but I imagine some other folks will chime in the morning.

[Rhoads369]

the bridge height compensation sounds like it may be the culprit. I did initially try muting behind the bridge, and it didn't change the sound. Luckily it is a bolt-on neck, and I assume compensating implies just unscrewing the neck a bit to make the string action even, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

After assembling the guitar itself, I realized the bridge and tailpiece are fairly close together, but I compared the angle with the other guitar I have (purchased, not a build) that had the same configuration and the angle looked similar. But to be honest, I really have minimal to no knowledge on how to correctly set up a guitar after a build...

so far your help has been invaluable, I really appreciate what you've given me.

[Mickguard]

You're going to save a lot of time by taking a bunch of photos -- upload them to photobucket, give the links. Take it from as many angles as you can.

Unless we can see the guitar, it's just going to be a lot of guesswork.

One question comes to mind: is the neck angled? (since you have a TOM on there, it needs to be, unless the fretboard is very high off the body).

[Kenny]

well, you said its a tune-o-matic bridge

did you put an angle into your neck?

ecuase if not that could be one cause of your problem

also did you build the FB yourself?

[Rhoads369]

ok here's the URL, hopefully this will help:

http://s280.photobucket.com/albums/kk199/mukluk30/

[anderekel]

I'm certainly no expert, but it looks to me like you don't have your neck angled at all. I think you need to shim it a little bit.

[Dickie_rayne]

It may just be me but the tail stop looks a little close to the saddles to me.

could be wrong tho

looks like you need to angle the neck as well (someone else pointed that out)

hope this helps

[Rhoads369]

yeah I noticed how close the tailpiece was to the bridge after assembly... I think it should work but i'll have to keep it that way

I'll try to angle the neck and hopefully it'll clear itself up... update to be added soon...

thanks everyone

i'll sound like the newbie i am here, but what do you mean by the FB?

Edited June 9, 2008 by Rhoads369

[djhollowman]

i'll sound like the newbie i am here, but what do you mean by the FB?

FB = Finger Board

DJ

[Rhoads369]

oh, in that case, no. i built the body and neck pieces from scratch, but i bought the fingerboard.

[djhollowman]

In your photos you have only one string fitted - I'm assuming you had them all fitted when you noticed the problems?

Cos you'll need all the strings fitted in order to accurately gauge how much pull there is on the neck. One string will not be enough, and may not pull the neck out of any backbow it may have.

You have (mainly) two options here: either angle the neck (by shimming one end of it, or routing an angle into the neck pocket of the body); or lower the bridge by routing a recess into the body where the TOM (=TunOMatic bridge) sits on the body.

Hope this helps!

DJ

[Mickguard]

That's going to have to be one hell of a shim.

Two big problems here:

1) You mated a TOM with no neck angle --and it looks like the fretboard is flush to the surface? Hard to tell from the reflection...For a Fender style/hardtail bridge, the fretboard should be about 8 mm above the body. For a TOM or wraparound, either you need a decent angle, or you need to raise the fretboard quite high above the body.

2). The stoptail is WAY too close to the TOM. Part of the function of the stoptail is to provide downward pressure of the strings to the saddle. When it's set back far enough, you're able to set it closer to the body, providing the proper tension (without snapping the strings against the bridge). From the picture, it looks like the stoptail can't get much lower-- it actually looks like it's taller than the TOM. Even if it could, you'd end up with the strings grinding against the bridge.

So you have a bunch of options.

In order to make this work for the TOM bridge and stoptail as they are, you are either going to have to add in a big angle, or, if you want to keep the straight neck, raise the whole neck up by at least 10 mm (probably more, but do the measurements). The second might be easier for you to pull off --glue a flat piece into the pocket and get longer screws to make up the difference.

You'll still have the problem with the stop tail.

Another option: replace the tom and stoptail with a wraparound style bridge. It's easy enough to hide the stop tail's holes.

Or, you can replace the stop tail with a different type of tailpiece --one that attaches to the bottom, for example, like an old Teisco (which would help reinforce the 60s vibe too). You could also try a bigsby.

Or, you can replace both the tom and the stoptail with a hardtail bridge. It's possible you might find one that covers up most or even all of the holes. This is probably your best option, since it'll also mean you'll be able to leave the neck as is, most likely.

I don't recommend recessing the TOM into the body, because you'll still have the problem with the stop tail. And the guitar is already finished. You might make that work, though, if you switch the bridge to a wraparound type and recess that.

[foil1more]

you could recess the TOM and run the strings through the top to the back. It would probably mean refinishing if you want to get rid of the holes of the tail piece.

[killemall8]

you could recess the TOM and run the strings through the top to the back. It would probably mean refinishing if you want to get rid of the holes of the tail piece.

your almost 2 months late.