Many good replies. I'll start here. Yes. The string sounds dead unplugged. I have been working on the setup all week. Tweaking here and there as needed. The guitar needed many adjustments right off the bat. As far as I am concerned it is setup as perfect as I can get it. The setup is to standard Fender recommendations.

Not sure about the nut slot being tight or not. I do know the nut seems perfectly cut for height on all strings.

The saddles seem fine except I notice the high E saddle sometimes moves away from the others. I can push it back easily enough. Thought that was weird.

The pickups have all been adjusted first by measuring, then by ear. I think I have them adjusted well. I did suspect maybe the pole peice was too close to the high E having a dampening effect. I concluded this is not the case.

I'm used to 10s so I'll get a pack and try that. This is the first time trying these brand strings. I usually buy D'Addario. These are a less expensive popular brand. I hope it's a bad string. I've invested hours into the setup and really like this guitar. Like I said before, I didn't notice this before I put the new strings on a few days ago.

Where is the string choking off? How high up the neck? If it chocked off open, I would suspect the nut. If it is fretted, I would wonder if it is just a dead string or low action/high fret.

What I did:

Replaced the block and saddles in my American Deluxe with Callaham Cold rolled steel block and stainless steel bent saddles.

Lowered the baseplate so it's flat against the face of the guitar.

Added 5 Callaham Stainless tremolo springs and tightened the claw so there is no movement of the trem when bending notes.

This easily tripled the sustain of an already great-sounding guitar. You are in effect sacrificing all practical use of the trem for this improvement, but IMO, it is worth every penny spent for the increased sustain, resonance and tuning stability.

You do not have to block the trem to get great sustain from a Strat. Mine, and countless others, possess excellent sustain characteristics, and I float my trem more than 1/8".

Here's what you DO need to do:

1. Make sure it's set-up properly. This includes pickup height, which can be choking off your string, and string, height, neck relief. etc. A really good set-up changes the sound of the guitar.

2. Make sure you have a decent inertia block on the trem. Cold-rolled steel (like the Callaham) sounds awesome, and really makes a Strat ring out.

You are correct sir! A good setup can make anything, even a cigar box, sound and play better! Every player should attempt to learn good setup and repair skills so they can explore all the options that adjustments can provide and wring every last bit of tone from that wood. It doesn't always take cubid dollars to improve on a stock instrument.

I am happy to report it was a bad string. It sounded dead open or fretted. When I went to take it off, I only unwound it about two turns and it snapped back at me. Must have been partially broken by the tuner peg. I put a new string on and it sounds normal.

I am now interested in the Callaham upgrades... always wanting to improve. Thanks everyone.

yup, strings make a world of difference and you do get the odd one every now and then which just doesn't give it to you...

callaham bridge saddles and inertia block - yes yes yes, hell yes. the single best thing you can do for your strat to make it sound more alive. you will not regret it for a second.

there's a real vibe going on around callaham's strat parts - and I wouldn't be surprised if this has influenced fender's re-design of the bridge saddles and inertia block on the US Standard more towards vintage spec. If I was Fender I'd give Callaham piles of loot and employ him to make his beautifully engineered 1080 steel parts for the US instruments.

My experience has been tweaking the pickup height usually solves any dull sounding tones. YMMV?

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