Hey guys I'm having a problem with my american 07 strat. It's going out of tune often and instead of the pitch going flat it goes sharp. It was doing it very bad, then I set the intonation and its not as bad but it still does it enough to extremely annoy me. So I was wondering if anyone else had that problem and if so what did you do to fix it?

Sight unseen, your strings and tremolo springs haven't arrived at their parity. I would have to presume that you didn't dive bomb the tremolo a few times with the strings up to pitch and then fine tuning once again before doing the final setup which may now, also include a claw adjustment.

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so what would be a claw adjustment, if my tremelo is too high would that do it?

The claw is the plate with two screws going through it into the wood in your tremolo cavity which the tremolo springs are attached to. Absolutely, if your tremolo is sitting too high, that claw needs adjusting. Tightening, to be exact.

Begin by turning each screw alternately and equally about an eight of a turn each. Retune your guitar, dive-bomb a few times and keep repeating the entire procedure until the tremolo plate is in a more equitable position. One to two nickels thickness off the body is best, depending on your preference. After you've achieved this, NOW is the time to set up the guitar which will have to be redone.

I would also recommend that prior to doing anything, ensure that your three tremolo springs are centered on the claw's second, third and fourth prongs, respectively.

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ok so i just all of those things and the guitar is still going out of tune more than it should

What gauge strings did you put on?

The strings could be binding in the slots of the nut.

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My other guitar is a Strat.

10's

Grab a pencil. A #1 lead would be the best. At the nut, lift each string, one at a time out of its respective slot. Lay the tip of the pencil parallel over the nut slot. Twist and ever so slightly push down on the tip of the pencil into the nut slot, thereby grinding some of the graphite into the slot. Clean the excess; replace the string; do this with all 6 slots. Once all 6 are done, do a few dive bombs. If any of the strings were hanging up in the nut, this should solve your problem. If it doesn't, you are going to have to take it to a competent tech for further evaluation and remedy.

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I must beg to differ. If the strings were not properly prestretched, the springs not flexed and the truss rod was prematurely adjusted, the PSI of any or all, for lack of a better word would be, "kinked" so the strings still could predispose in either direction, especially if they are hanging up in the nut.

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I've noticed that the beveled edge of most vintage style Fender made temolo base plates are machined wrong. The bevel goes past the mounting screw contact point causing the temolo to slide up and down the mount screws during use. (read the Calaham web site for info) Just about every vintage style base plate I've seen made by the current Fender is incorrect, causing tuning problems and almost impossible mounting screw adjustment. I bought a Gotoh replacement tremolo, and saw that the bevel was machined correctly, and my tremolo stays in tune better and I'm not fighting the adjustments anymore. I kind of miss the "Fender Fender" stamping, but the Gotoh is funtionally better. It's something the current Fender is overlooking. My '89 American Standard 2- point tremolo is fine though.

In accordance with the majority of what you've said, I would presume that's why Fender came up with the American Standard two point system in the first place.

Notwithstanding, popularity and what is widely perceived as a superior tonality, etc. kept the original design alive, complete with all it's original shortcomings. As I'm sure you're well aware of, just this year, Fender embarked on integrating the 2 point system with a more accommodating original style saddle. So, once again, reinforcing your points, we shall see what Fender may develop in the future.

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You are correct Martian. I am aware of the attempt by Fender to integrate the old and new. I have not had the chance to play one yet, but eventually I will play the "New" American Standard. I'm not too crazy about the narrow string spacing on the bridge, although the '89 Strat I have has it. I would have liked to have seen it closer to vintage spec width because of the pole piece mis-alignment of the narrower spacing to the neck pickup. Maybe Fender will narrow the single coil pickup pole pieces?

The truss rod of itself may be unstable at that point and have a proclivity to arch, thus extending the strings' traveling distance across the neck from headstock to heel.



Over simplified and I cannot go into elasticity equations, etc, consider wrapping a rubber band around say, a few pencils to bundle them. Unless the rubber band is manipulated evenly around the pencils, certain parts of that rubber band are more stretched and taut than the rest of it. Meaning, the rubber band is not utilized evenly nor to its maximum efficiency. Now, say some of those pencils are jostled around within the rubber band, that rubber band is going to be manipulated by the pencils where the stretching and tautness will be redistributed but again, not to the rubber band's maximum efficiency.

The OP also stated his tremolo was high. If this be the case, there isn't much room left for the strings to pull it dramatically forward before the block puts a stop to it. So, any manipulative play he would have by the percentages would be for it to go sharp and yes, a nut which is binding a string or strings would surely come into play here too.

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