So, I have a kind of weird question:
I just got a new guitar. I went from a Squier SE Special strat (which I still have) to a Fender American Standard Strat. I've had the Squier for just over a year, when I started learning guitar. The Squier was nicely set up for me - I actually would have been perfectly happy to keep using just it, except I wanted to beat the price increase and got the Standard ahead of schedule.

While I find that the Fender has a much nicer fret board, it seems to be more sensitive to where I put my fingers relative to the fret. If I'm 1/2 way between the two frets, I get some buzzing. It goes away if I'm near the fret. The Squier is the opposite.

I guess my question is, what kind of adjustments to my playing should I expect to make to adjust to the newer/better guitar?
Thanks!

Hi rjim: very simply, your new American Strat has been set up with a lower action than the Squier, so it is more sensitive to correct finger placement. A lot of people like a lower action because it is more comfortable and perhaps faster to play. However, it is not obligatory: you need to find the right action for you. (Personally, I like Fender's recommended action height - I'm just an average kind of a guy...)

Two options. Raise the action a touch on the new guitar by turning the little screws on top of the string saddles clockwise a bit. You may then need to reintonate the strings very slightly, or you may not. In other words, get the new guitar set up the same as the old one.

Or stick with the MIA a while and learn to place your fingers more carefully. I suspect this may be the better way to go, and in the fullness of time you might find yourself lowering the action on the Squier to match that of the new Strat!

Any doubts, take both guitars to a good tech and ask him set up the new one the same as the old. That's a perfectly normal and reasonable course of action...

Good luck - C

If you decide to change the action yourself, be sure and tune down some to take the tension off of the saddles. Otherwise you may run the risk of stripping out the threads of the set screws.

_________________
"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Thanks to both! I've actually been debating the "relative setup" question. Right now, the biggest difference seems to me that the Squier frets are higher, i.e., there's more room between when the string hits the fret and when my finger hits the fretboard, than on the MIA. This even though they're both supposed to have Medium Jumbos. Which would imply to me that regardless of the action, I'll always have a narrower window of fingering for the MIA - kind of the opposite to what I was expecting.

And, I just realized that the other big difference is that I had the Squier bridge tightened down, whereas the MIA is at the factory setting. But that would seem to make the Squire action lower.

Every experienced guitarist that has tried out the MIA thinks it's great - I'm just the only one with a scant basis for comparison!

Thanks for putting up with the neophyte!

Hi rjim: I once drove a Lotus Esprit (like the one in Pretty Woman). To my surprise it was fairly challenging to drive: a very stiff gear box, no power steering and tiny little pedals that you had to work very carefully with the tips of your toes, not your whole foot. Not the "comfort" experience that I'd expected at the price tag on that car.

On the other hand: 0 - 60 in 3.5 seconds. I did 90 in second gear. And like Julia Roberts said, it really did "corner on rails"!

All of that's very much by-the-by because personally I find my modern MIAs by far the more comfortable to play. But perhaps what I'm saying is you gotta learn how to handle the more glamorous tool: it requires a step up in performance from you...

Cheers - C

I just did a more detailed comparison of my Squire and my MIA, and the MIA's frets are actually noticeably lower (i.e., fret height relative to the fretboard). Again, considering they're both supposed to have the same fret size, is this to be expected? I may make a trip back to my dealer tomorrow to check as well, but something doesn't seem right.

Fret size isn't necessarily the same. There are many manufacturers of fretwire out there, and their sizes don't always compare equally. My guess is that Fender and Squier use two different manufacturers, probably so that they can keep the Squier production costs down. So the two different "medium-jumbo" frets may be completely different.

You have to remember that you switched between two different brands of guitar. It'd be the same as switching from Fender to Gibson. Even though they are both strats, and the Squier probably says "by Fender" or "made by Fender" on the headstock. They are completely different guitar companies, for better or worse.

Here are the fret wire sizes, it varies from batch to batch even within the same company:

6230 This is the smallest wire found in older Fender necks. Size: .078" x .043"
6150 Vintage jumbo. Much wider but not as tall as the 6230. Size: .102" x .042"
6105 Contemporary narrow and tall, a very popular choice. Size: .090" x .055"
6100 This is Jumbo, the biggest guitar wire available. Size: .110" x .055
6130 Often refered to as Medium Jumbo. Size: 106" x .036"

hi rjim, i have a fender strat custom shop it playes like a dream, also i have a vintage advanced series strat copy , a no named strat copy, and last night i picked up a 88/89 $@! strat for 250 quid every guitar i own all play differently you will fimd going from your squire to your strat a big difference and you will get used to it, if u look on the websiteand go into support you will find the set up adjustment and care for the strat i use this and my instruments play a lot better give it a go i should help, good luck bob h