Do I need to adjust the action on my Strat?
 

Ok, in the interests of starting a less volatile thread...


I have been noticing that there is a different tone on my strat when I play higher up the neck. Instead of the clean sound of the string, it gets more "spanky" (for lack of a better word) and doesn't ring as long. It seems to affect the 3rd, 4th and 5th strings the most. I think I have figured out that the string is nearly touching the frets higher on the fretboard when I fret it and it is vibrating against those frets, giving the different sound. I assume that means the action is too low and raising it would fix the problem. Is that correct? If so, is the only way to raise the action through the small hex screws on the bridge? There are also phillips head screws on the front of the bridge but it looks like those just hold the bridge down. Is there a gross adjustment to raise the whole bridge before raising the individual strings?

if you're buzzing when fretting strings, then yes you need to adjust the action. BUT, that is usually done by tweaking the truss rod (a metal rod that runs through the neck), not by raising the bridge saddles. The two interact (along with how deep the cuts on the nut are) to create the "action" on the neck.

Sit in a chair and sit the guitar on it's bottom end with the top of the neck pointing up. Look right down the neck from the top. You should see a subtle bow in the neck. The neck should not be perfectly flat - there should be a small amount of what is called "relief." Lack of relief will cause string to buzz when fretted. To get some bow, you loosen the nut on the truss rod, usually up at the headstock.

Best to get someone who knows what they're doing to help you the first time. When I get home I can post some pictures of what I'm talking about, but if you google guitar neck relief you'll probably find pics/pages on it.

if you're buzzing when fretting strings, then yes you need to adjust the action. BUT, that is usually done by tweaking the truss rod (a metal rod that runs through the neck), not by raising the bridge saddles. The two interact (along with how deep the cuts on the nut are) to create the "action" on the neck.

Sit in a chair and sit the guitar on it's bottom end with the top of the neck pointing up. Look right down the neck from the top. You should see a subtle bow in the neck. The neck should not be perfectly flat - there should be a small amount of what is called "relief." Lack of relief will cause string to buzz when fretted. To get some bow, you loosen the nut on the truss rod, usually up at the headstock.

Best to get someone who knows what they're doing to help you the first time. When I get home I can post some pictures of what I'm talking about, but if you google guitar neck relief you'll probably find pics/pages on it.

It sounds like a vintage type strat bridge - has two allen keys that adjust the saddles for height, and a screw that adjusts for intonation (moves saddle fore/aft). When you say strings 3,4,5 the high -thin-"E" is the 1st string- so do you mean the G, D, A?

Yes you might need to bring the action up, there are an infiniate number of sites that graphically explain the process- google "adjsut action stratocaster"

Nostatic- have to disagree with you here. The truss rod shouldnt be used as a means to lower the action- and truss rod adjustments are something that can really bring a novice undone. The rod should only be used to set the correct relief- the adjustable bridge for action and intonation. IMHO.

Here's a pic of my bridge, if that helps. Where is the truss rod adjustment? The only spot I can see is there is a metal plate near where the neck attaches to the body on the back of the guitar and there is a hole at the top of the neck right where it connects to the headstock.

As you can see, there are 6 phillips head screws that are at the front of the bridge that look to screw the bridge to the body of the guitar, although the bridge does pivot so I'm not sure how that would work...

Then there are individual adjusters for each string which are adjusted by small allen screws.

I unscrewed the allen screws a turn or so on each string that was buzzing and it seem to be improved, but now I'm concerned that the height of my strings relative to each other might be off. As I look down the guitar, the low E string is much lower (i.e. closer to the guitar body) than the other strings. I also noticed (for the first time) that the neck of the guitar is not flat, but has a small crown to it, I'm assuming that is why the strings appear to be different heights at the bridge, so they are the same height above the frets.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1199926601.jpg

I definitely would not recommend adjusting the truss rod, AFAIK that is a job better left to a professional.

I'm no pro but I have been noodling around with guitars for about twenty years and I wouldn't try it myself.
YMMV

Well I have never taken the guitar in for a formal setup, I am just now getting to the point where I am even playing up the neck a little (poorly I might add) and just noticed this. When I was just strumming cords up at the nut I didn't notice anything.

dont touch the truss rod!!
Take the guitar to GC or SA or the local guitar shop, make an appointment
with their guitar tech and tell him what you want to have done.
Much better to have a pro do it, especially in the beginning...
(dont ask me how I know ;)

Rick- the fretboard has a radius, and the height of the strings is adjusted according to that radius. Modern strats have flatter fbaords than vinatge or reisuue strats.

That is a vinatge bridge. The six screws on the front mount it the deck, the six in the back adjsut saddles for intoation. Its also a tremolo bridge- do you use the trem?

This is new guiatr(?) so lets assume the neck is adjusted for correct relief- dont adjust the rod. If it needs adjusting you need to read up.

Get a ruler. Measure the height of, say the bottom E at the 12fret, from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string. This will allow you set all strings the same/similar. Some people ( like me) have the top E higher on vintage strats (because of the radius of the neck) to help mnimise "fret out" when bending strings.

YOu can have buzz in an elec, the action is uslaly lower than an accoustic guitar- its only an issue when you hear it through the amp.

After you get them to the heights you want- its intonatation. There are many websites to ediucate you on all this- I caution you again about rod adjustment....

Yeah I am not going to touch the truss rod. It is a tremolo bridge but the guitar didn't have the tremolo bar on it when I bought it and I forgot to go back in and ask for one. It's been 5 months now and they probably would think I just lost the tremolo, lol. Anyhow I plan on buying one soon, I am working on my vibrato technique with my fingers right now anyhow so I wouldn't use it anyway.

Thanks for the help on the string height, I will try that out.

Not saying everybody should go tinkering with their truss rod, but you guys are funny ;)

I played around with truss rod/saddle/nut on the very first guitar I built until eveything came together nicely. Given I only read about that stuff from books and websites, it was a case of trial and error and did take some time to get right, but I got it right nevertheless. Sure there was a chance you can really muck things up but if you're careful, it's most certainly not rocket science. Same thing goes for working on an expensive car like, say, a Porsche 911, I'd imagine :rolleyes:

yeah me too, but it was well before the interweb was available. Guiatrs have adjustable truss so you can adjust them. But you should know what you are adjusting first.

If it's just a string or two you can raise that particular string's saddle at the bridge. I've done my share of teching too. Take the suggestion of a proper setup if you're new to this. Costs around $35 around these parts... At least a couple of years ago, and that included a fret touch-up.

You should probably take it to a professional. I've built a few acoustic guitars and getting the action right is by far the trickiest part. You can adjust the truss rod, the nut, the bridge, the frets, and you can even remove the frets and sand down parts of the fret board.

Given that the strat was once adjusted perfectly, it won't need too much done to it. But doing it yourself can be frustrating and mysterious.

you guys are wimps...

Agree on taking it to a tech and having him do a setup. The place you bought it *might*have set the guitar up, but often they just pull them out of the box, tune them, and put them on the wall.

I used to adjust my truss rod all the time on some of my strats. The relief would change depending on the weather. The bridge was rarely touched once it was set. But ymmv...

+1 take it to a pro. There's probably no pros at Guitar Center. If you get a good guy, he'll adjust your action and do a bunch of other stuff that will make you very happy.

Truss rod adjustments are not difficult, they just don't provide instant results, so some people get themselves in trouble. If you do adjust your truss rod yourself, turn it a half turn or something and wait a day. It's a guitar, not a Faberge egg.

+10

If it is a newer strat, it is probably an allen wrench up at the headstock. If you look down the neck from the nut and the neck looks dead flat, loosen the truss rod by a half turn. Then give it a day to settle.

It is a system of the nut/truss rod/fret height/bridge. The fret height should be fine - most production guitars are pretty decent. Not perfect, but decent. The bridge adjustment is for intonation (moving the saddle fore/aft) and matching the radius of the neck (height). In general the G and D strings are the highest, B and A a bit lower, E and E a bit lower still. Once those are set I leave them. Depending on the guitar, there would be days where I would get some buzzing (depends on the setup but I used to go medium/low). A quick tweak of the truss rod and I was set. It wasn't an every day thing, but during the course of a year I'd end up adjusting the truss rod way more than the bridge. ymmv.

I looked down the neck as you suggested and there is a bow to it, it seems lower in the middle than at either end. Is that correct?

yup. The only issue then is whether there is too much relief, and if the frets towards the body need to be dressed.

What strings are buzzing (and is that what is happening)? And where are you fretting when it happens? Are the bridge saddles adjusted for height along the lines of what I described?

If you were local, I'd walk you through it. Never be afraid to adjust the truss rod. Just be sure you have good eyes and can see if the neck is straight or not. There are three variables here - truss rod, string action and intonation.

I'd start by tuning the guitar up to standard E, so you have the right tension on the strings when you then adjust the truss rod. Also, do you keep your bridge flat or floating? If you float it (unlikely), this will be a real PITA. If flat (when you hit a note and push on the end of the bridge, you should hear no change in pitch), then you next want to adjust the action. Tune up again after you adjust the truss and before going to the action. This is a matter of personal preference, style of music and string gauge. I use .010's on all my guitars because they give you more sound and make your hands strong, which means you can really show off on other people's guitars, since most of them use .009's.

To adjust the action, you use a tiny allen wrench to move the saddles for each string up or down. Each saddle on your Strat has two tiny allen bolts. They don't have to be perfectly the same height. Just get the strings high enough off the fret wire that they don't buzz, but low enough that playing an octave higher doesn't really raise the pitch more than a perfect octave. If you play an open E and then fret it at the 12th fret and it sounds higher than an octave, you should lower the action as much as you can without making the string buzz.

Intonation is very tricky, but getting it right can make your guitar into a whole new instrument. The gist of it is to make the 12th fret wire exactly equidistant from the other two string ends, or at least where they end on the nut and saddle. Each string's thickness can affect this, so you can't do it by sight. You hit an open string and then hit it at the 12th fret open harmonic and then fret it at the 12th fret. All three should sound absolutely identical. If you don't have a tuner for this and your hearing is bad (like mine), you can put your left ear against one horn of the guitar and you should hear it loud and clear. If holding the string down at the 12th fret is at all higher than a perfect octave above the open string sound, then you need to loosen the intonation, which you do with a small philips head and it's the tiny screw at the very end of the bridge. You loosen that. If it's too low, you need to tighten it. Keep tuning after each step. When you get this perfect, you should be able to hold a chord and have each note and interval sound perfect. Then you should be able to play it an octave higher and still have perfect intervals. If you have no ear at all, then you probably won't notice bad intonation. But if you hear such things, anything less than perfect intonation will drive you crazy.