Hi everybody,
New to the strat. Are the pivot screws in the bridge supposed to be level with each other? The treble side is higher than the bass side. The bass side is almost flush with the pickguard. It's a bit higher. The treble side is higher, by about 2x. Is this correct?

Thanks,
kb

I am thinking you should take your guitar to a tech and ask him if you can watch him do a setup. You will see him set the outside strings to a good playing height then the inside to the radius.

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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

With all due respect, I've set the string height. I'm not sure about what height the (I think they're called) pivot scrrews need to be set to.

Need some clarification to really help you out.
What model Strat is it?
When you say 'pivot screws' are you referring to the screws that secure the bridge to the body, or are you talking about the saddles where the strings cross being different heights?
How the screws to the bridge are set depends on if there are 2 of them or 6 of them.... if there is 6 the OUTER 2 screws should be screwed down to flush with the bridge and then BACKED out 1/4 turn each. The inner 4 screw should be about 1/16 of an inch from flush.
If you're referring to the saddles.... they should follow the radius of the fretboard in an arc. I would advise you take it to a tech to really get the setup right for you if you aren't confident with adjusting truss rods, action, string heights, etc. Best not to 'practice' setups on your #1 axe until you've done a few on some beaters. The nice thing is that if you mess it up, it can always be fixed!

2008 or 2009 American Standard. It's not the saddles I'm referring to, it's the two outside screws closest to the bridge pickup. I'm confident with adjustments. This is my first strat and I'm not sure about these two screws. The manual doesn't say anything about them except mention them as (I think) pivot screws. They hold the bridge down in the front; toward the neck of the guitar.

Thanks for helping.

To answer your origonal question sir, the front of my bridge is still factory set, and it appears level.

Did not mean nothing by it but you have posted (Bridge Pivot Screws) ,(Micro Tilt Adjustment), (Fretting Out) in the topis about how to adjust these parts. I could not tell you how guitars I get that people have done nothing but made thing worst. because they don't understand what they are doing. And I have let people watch me do setups, less business for me though.
I could not tell you how much this stuff is done by feel and the best playing setups will often have a buzz when done to where the player likes the action to be. You can look at a guitar and play it once and know what the problem is most of the time if it involves the setup. I have seen people do all kinds of stuff to guitars and I can look at it and say heck loosen the neck and pull it straight or complain about freting out on a fret like your other post that could be a few things high fret or someone over zellious with the fret end working on the sprouts est. est.
Sit back learn what the parts are and how they work. This stuff is not rocket science. It not like getting into the amp side of things.

_________________
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

Very good. Level with what? Level with each other? How far are they from the pickguard; lower or higher?

Thanks!

Both screw appear level with eachother, and the front of my bridge is about 1 to 1.5 mm above the top of the pick guard.

O.K. two point Amer. standard bridge, just use the trem arm to pull the bridge back flush with the body and adjust the two pivot screws to the point where the tremolo plate sits entirely flush at the body front and back.

_________________
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

You da man

Thank you. Now that's useful information. Like I said, the strat is new to me. I've been playing and adjusting my instruments myself for longer than I care to admit. I'm being cautious. I've read the manual. I'm asking for clarity. Thank you.

Thanks! That helped. It plays really nice now. The fret still goes out on a bend, that's gonna need a file and crown. Thank you everybody for helping me diagnose my issue.

Play on!

-kb

Whether you want the plate flush with the body or floating, the answer is the same. Take a look at the pivot screws or posts or whatever you want to call them. The lower portion is threaded, and the threads allow you to adjust the height. But the upper portion has a waist. The knife edges of the plate should settle into the narrowest part of the waist with the edge of the plate in contact with the body.

If you are setting the bridge to factory specs then the rear edge of the plate will be floating about 1/8 inch above the body. This allows you to use the tremolo bar in both directions, to both lower and raise pitch. But if you want the plate flush with the body, the plate will have to be brought down to the body by applying more tension with the claw screws and/or springs. In this case the pivot posts will have to come up out of the body a little in order for the plate knife edges to settle into the waists of the posts.

But wherever you want the plate, the heights of the posts must be adjusted so that the knife edges of the plate go into the waists of the pivot posts with the leading edge (at least) of the plate in contact with the body.

It's probably good for the posts to be sunk into the body a tiny bit more than that, because that would serve to "clamp" the plate to the body. You want the plate to be in solid contact with the body, whether the plate is floating or flush.

_________________
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Hot Rodded Am Fat Strat Texas Special (now featuring Kinman Traditional II pickups)
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Good job guys! I knew we'd help this one get settled.
I prefer my trems floating a bit, but out other player has all of his flush to the body. It's all a matter of personal preference. Being a Jeff Beck disciple, I MUST be able to pull up, though not as radically as JB does! His bridge is very high in the back, allowing him to pull up a full step, and also allowing him to use the back edge of his hand to push the trem down in back. That's the secret to some of his more "interesting" sounds. If I could play like that, and he had a feather up his butt, we'd both be tickled!