hi,

to cut a long story short!
brought a brand new highway1 strat at christmas, and i absoulutly love it more and more as time goes by! it came set up great apart from slight fret buzsz on low e and a string 12th fret and higher! didnt come through amp so wasnt that bothered but thought it just needed a set up!

so finally had week off work so could get it to the place i brought it from as they said they would do it for free! after finally getting it back after 4 days (i couldnt even pick it up because the man left it half done on the bench, while he went off sick) he said there is slight buzz on e and a string first fret, which is new, but he said its because ive got 9s on a strat, and hes never heard such a perfect neck on a strat!

ive now got buzz and rattle on nearly every fret! its awful!

can anyone help or give me any advice on what to do?

i really dont want to deal with that shop again, there customer service is a disgrace! ive been let down by them on a number of different occasions

i heard getting a good setup can improve a guitars performance by loads. im actually quite devastated by this, if i wernt a grown man i would fully be crying my self to sleep, lol
thanks alot for your help!!

Contact customer services. The place you bought it from is a fender dealer right? The least they should do is point you towards another repair person in your area. There will be a price to pay to have it put right by someone else. You may have a good case for getting the shop you bought it from to pay for the setup/repair.

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thanks for your help nikininja, ( u always helpful) problem is i hate confrontation, and they really moody at guitar shop! probaly will pay sumone else! but i might send them a spineless moody email!

I love confrontation its a shame my phonebill would pay off the national debt if i dealt with them for you . Maybe get a friend or family member to deal with it for you.

You could do with contacting customer services anyway. If someone is ruining their guitars fender will want to know about it.

At an outside guess i'd say the tech has tried to lower the string height and adjust the neck relief a few days apart. So their not set to work together. He probably had a backlog of work from being off sick so rushed the first few on his to do list. So didnt spend the time needed on your guitar, making sure the neck settled down properly.
Its unlikely to be a major issue and i'm sure that if you spoke to the shop explaining your dissatisfaction and that you understand the problems incurred by the guy doing the work. Generaly being polite and unconfrontational, then you should get it put right free of charge. Its very hard to be mad and aggressive at someone who's always smiling and being a nice person.

My general rule of thumb in these situations is to always allow the opposition to retain some dignity. If their too stupid to see that your being a good guy go to fender customer services then take out a small claims suit.

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I would take it back. When I do setups the shop has the customer check before they leave and if they are not happy its priority! The other shop that I do call work for lets me put a card in the case with a Thank You and hope you are Happy with results and on the back and does same I will write some brief detail notes on the card . Neither lets me give my contact info because they want the customer to use them and not me direct. I just get my cut!

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I find this statement by him to be quite strange: "there is slight buzz on e and a string first fret, which is new, but he said its because ive got 9s on a strat"


Because you have 9's on a Strat? Can you say BS!!!

Did this guy do anything to the nut slots?

Sounds to me like he tried to set the action too low.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

yeah that got my alarm bells up! i wanted to try it, but there was loads of people and he was quite rushed and blunt, i should of taken out back to try! this is what worrys me, i took there with minor problem and its come out with major. so im wondering if hes even capable of doing the job,
hes one of these blokes who thinks he knows it all!

[quote="nikininja"]I love confrontation its a shame my phonebill would pay off the national debt if i dealt with them for you . Maybe get a friend or family member to deal with it for you.

You could do with contacting customer services anyway. If someone is ruining their guitars fender will want to know about it.

At an outside guess i'd say the tech has tried to lower the string height and adjust the neck relief a few days apart. So their not set to work together. He probably had a backlog of work from being off sick so rushed the first few on his to do list. So didnt spend the time needed on your guitar, making sure the neck settled down properly.
Its unlikely to be a major issue and i'm sure that if you spoke to the shop explaining your dissatisfaction and that you understand the problems incurred by the guy doing the work. Generaly being polite and unconfrontational, then you should get it put right free of charge. Its very hard to be mad and aggressive at someone who's always smiling and being a nice person.

My general rule of thumb in these situations is to always allow the opposition to retain some dignity. If their too stupid to see that your being a good guy go to fender customer services then take out a small claims suit.[/quote

im worried about taking it back there to be honest, he messed up so bad on what was probaly quite simple to fix,

also when i chased them up for the 2nd time about how it was going, the woman said "oh its on the bench started but hasnt had time to finish it today" so ive instantly got this image of my pride n joy my most tresured possension the most expensive thing i own abandoned stringless and unloved,lol u get the point! he goes of sick and not even a phonecall, and then like ya say hes either rushed it or is useless! doesnt scream customer service, and he charged me for the new strings he put on, get this then he phones and says they acidently over charged my card for the strings, instead of 5.49 they took £49.00. you can see why dont want to go back, maybe you right, i should tell fender!

anyway thanks for your help, i know of a apparently very good tech. does local musicians set ups n stuff, for the sake of 20 quid id rather take it there and know its getting the respect it deserves!! after all our guitars are priceless really arnt they

Louis where in the uk are you? I know a couple of good techs around the midlands and there are other people from other area's that all use people they trust too.

Infact if your near nottingham i'll do the setup for you whilst you watch.

Care to name the bad shop? Ive come across some right dummies in my time.

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Sounds EXACTLY like what happened to me and my highway one. Buzzing at the 15th fret onwards,,arrogant owner of a different small guitar shop said he could fix it for the $50 set up fee..came back 4 days later and it's STILL buzzing! I flat out refused to pay for the "set up",,but had to pay for the new strings they put on my warped guitar neck. My blood still boils till this day..

(actually I found out the tech put the strings in my guitar bag rather than on the guitar itself, so it worked out in the end).

Anyway, turned out the neck had a hump at the base near the body, which I'm guessing is what yours has too. I was able to return mine (bought it that week) but either way - it's a defective product and should never have been out on the floor. I'm really surprised you waited this long to take action, and it might be an expensive lesson. Be assertive next time! When you're meek, it just sends the signal that you're easy to be taken advantage of, and there's plenty of people who would love to separate you from your money.

when i 1st bought my hwy 1, came with 9s, went to 10s, had to do a complete setup, had fretbuzz allover the place, started from scratch.
1. adjust truss rod
2. bridge height from body to specs. cant remember the specs
3. string height from individual saddles, to specs 4/64. actually with mine
HWY 1, with jumbo frets, my string height went up to 7/64 bass side and 6/64 treble side.
4. intonation, and final tweaking. string height.
5. pickup height,
then no fret buzz.
strings are slightly higher, but its been a while, im really loving the action.

im gonna change my strings to 10s eventually to my am strat.

Blues, this sounds like a different problem than just general fret buzz due to changing string sizes. But yeah, if you change the string sizes, you need to do a set up.

oh cheers thats good of you to offer. im in norfolk! the guitar shop is the norfolk guitar and bass centre. really really nice shop, hardly any fenders tho. if you know anyone in my area youl have to let me know.

thanks

Yeah your a bit way out east. All i can suggest anywhere near you is the guitarshop in kings lynn. I've been there and they seem ok, but i've never used em. Aside from that theres the one in market square boston but if your going there im worth the extra 25miles travel (grantham).

Aside from them all i can suggest is ipswich or denmark street london. All options seem to be a jaunt.

Well if your ever passing call in for a cuppa.

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Hi louis1: like Niki I don't know anyone to recommend in Norfolk I'm afraid; sorry. I can suggest a couple of very good names in London if you want to come that far - but you certainly shouldn't need to.

You just have to ask around amongst guitarists and find the name of a respected tech and take your guitar there. I hesitate to mention any other forums here, but you could try logging on to musicradar.com and ask if anyone knows a decent tech in your area...?

I completely understand your reluctance to return to the shop in question. As Chet said, someone who tells you he's messed up your guitar because you've got the wrong gauge strings on it is not to be trusted to polish it, much less anything else. Total small spherical objects.

Still, at worst this fella's cut your nut too low (as previously mentioned). That's a royal pain in the behind - but not unfixable.

If the original guy was Fender Approved (which sounds unlikely) you have a clear case for getting the work put right under warranty. Remember, that can be done at any Authorised Fender Dealer, not just the place you bought it.

But if he was not Approved I'm afraid you will have to pay for a proper setup and possibly a new nut. Something like £40 - 60. Frustrating, to say the least. The only way round that is to take it up with the first shop, which might get heated. You would absolutely have consumer law on your side, though. Your Statutory Right is to have the job put right or/and get your money back.

Good luck - C