Choking notes when bending

GoranS · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:09 am

Hi,

two of my strat do this; the note chokes when bending at the 14'th fret. Sounds like the string hits the next fret and choke out.

Action is set a bit higher than recommended, I like it that way, but they still chokes. What to do?

One of them is a 2005 Highway One, and the other is a 2008 Am Std neck. Both rosewood. Have a 2008 maple that is excellent, no choking anywhere...

/G

SlapChop · **Joined:** Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:41 pm **Posts:** 1257

It sounds like you have a high spot on the 15th fret.

I would take the guitar to a REALLY good tech and have the frets leveled.

Miami Mike · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:42 am

try tapping the 15th fret down with a rubber hammer. Sometimes that's enough to remedy the problem. :wink:

GoranS · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:58 am

Must be that hammer-on thing everybodys talking about...

I've tried the hammer method but I'll give it another try. My 2005 neck will probably be refretted with some harder fret-wire since it has serious bumps where played. That would prolly take care of the choking problem too...

/G

Ceri · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:21 am

GoranS wrote:

Must be that hammer-on thing everybodys talking about...

I've tried the hammer method but I'll give it another try. My 2005 neck will probably be refretted with some harder fret-wire since it has serious bumps where played. That would prolly take care of the choking problem too...

/G

Hi Goran: so happens just yesterday I was reading the book Fret Work Step-By-Step, and was looking at a chapter concerning this very issue. To help with choking on high frets it showed how to do a partial compound radius fret leveling just on the high frets on the treble side. Very challenging stuff, not for the beginner!

Mind you, that was on a Strat with a "vintage" 7.25 inch radius fingerboard. I'm sure you have modern 9.5 radius fingerboards on your Strats and so I'm surprised you are experiencing a choking issue.

We know your high playing standard, so I don't doubt you have a real issue. Therefore the conclusion must be that you have significant problems with your frets and/or fingerboard.

It's a trip to the luthier for you, I'm afraid!

Cheers - C

GoranS · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:29 am

Hmm, Ceri, I was afraid of that...

I have a 7.25 radius 50's classic too and there's no problem with that. A really nice guitar. All the rest have 9.5 radius fretboards including the ones with problems.

The choking problem on my 2088 neck is limited to just one fret; 14. If leveling #15 then the issue might move upward... So, I'll find a luthier.

Thanks for your kind words... :oops:

/G

Miami Mike · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:35 pm

Forum member 357mag was talking about the AV62 that he picked up and he went on to say that it was a great guitar and...

Quote:

What I felt was odd was that these Strats come with a vintage 7.25 radius. I expected it was going to be tough to play but it wasn't. So I asked my tech to measure it. He said the neck is indeed a 7.25 radius but the frets are actually 9.5. He added that this is a common technique that luthiers do to make Fender necks easier to play.

Know you know...

I thought that was interesting.

Edited to Congratulate Ceri for hitting the 5k club! :wink:

straycat113 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:55 pm

It is no big deal as this has happened to me many times and the funny thing is it is always around the 14,15,or 16th fret. A good tech should have your guitar back the same or next day.

GoranS · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:20 am

I'll go hunting for a good guitar tech then. They are rare to find around this parts, but I think I know one...

It's on my latest Partsocaster I have the problem. It's an original 2008 Fender Am Std neck mounted on a 2005 Highway One custum painted body. There's pictures in my WWW-link...

Funny thing is that I had the problem also on the neck belonging to the Highway One body. I intend to use that neck on my next project; I want to put a Tele-body on it and is thinking of refretting or possibly re-crowning it. That ought to take care of that problem...

Thanks for your answers.

GoranS · **Posted:** Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:06 pm

Thanks again for your answers.

Since I was planning on refretting an old neck I bought some tools from Stewart-MacDonald. So I took care of the choking string fret myself. Took a couple of minutes with a fretfile.

/G

nikininja · **Posted:** Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:29 pm

Goran what i have done with all my strats except 1 is put a drop off on the upper frets. Frets 18,19,20,21 and 22 all get progressively lower. so the 19 is lower than the 18, the 20 is lower than 19 and so on. Its not something fender do to their guitars though some other manufacturers do.

I cant see it solving your problem as your action is set slightly higher than recommended. Its worth considering though.

GoranS · **Posted:** Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:52 pm

That's a good idea nikininja!

The thought crossed my mind when doing it, because even if I got rid of the choking there's still more string rattle in the upper area on that particular guitar. I will definitely take the approach in to consideration, and good to hear it has been done.

Thanks!
/G

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Choking notes when bending

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