Hi knowledgeable pips.

I just changed from D'addario strings to Fender super bullets in .10 gage and I am experincing sharp notes (12-15 points) on the first three frets and dull/dead notes above 18th fret. Everything in the middle is intonated and sound good. I checked the action and it is ok, the same as before. Pressed the third fret and there is a movement in the strings (nut is ok). Did the clamp on the first and last fret and relief is good (.11 on 8th). I suspect truss rod did something. Do you guys think it might be a bad string(s). Nothing changed on the setup except the guitar was stringless for cleanup for about 30 min. It is a about four month old 09 MIM Std.

Thank you

Er... that's odd.

Hi daniel. At a bit of a loss on this one. Changing string gauges (if that is what you did) shouldn't affect the intonation on the lowest frets even if you didn't adjust the saddles. And if you didn't change string gauge then it's even less explicable. I go between Bullets, D'Addarios and Rotosounds all the time without anything changing. No problems.

Might the strings have been sitting around for a very long time (I mean years) and got oxidised and gone dead? I'm clutching at straws here.

Worst case senario: go back to D'Addarios and see if the problem goes away.

Then you can be one guy who really can claim to hear the difference between string brands!

...Don't worry: someone else will likely have better suggestions.

Good luck - C

Thanks Ceri

I am totaly confused too on this one as well. Yeah, I'll try tweaking the setup again if it does't work out I will change the strings again. I was just curious to try stability/tone of the Fender strings.

Is the bridge floating at the same level as before?

Not all 10 gauge sets are the same .... are the thicker strings the same gauge?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Hi,

The bridge is floating the same it seems at the glance I did not measure it.
That is a good point I will check tonight if the thicker strings are the same gauge. Saddle height might need readjustment. What bothers me is that intonation is +/- 2-4 cents everywhere in the middle except first 3 frets and 18 th and above is out of whack plus kind of dead (no clarity/muffled) sounding.

I 'll try saddles again plus pup height. I 'll let you know.

Bunch of thanks

D

Hmm.. puzzling. I would think this sounds like a change in tension on the neck.

Orville may be right.

I think you absolutely have to switch back to an identical set of strings that you had before, and check everything out. if these problems fix themselves if you do that i am at a loss.

Did you remove all strings at once and maybe accidentally send something out of whack? If you did, then going back to the original strings won't fix the problem, then you need to do a step by step set up, and trouble shoot.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

My 2 cents: If upon installing a new string set of the former brand/gauge, all the craziness go away, you MIGHT have gotten your answer. Meaning, it could have been a bad set of strings (which I honestly don't think is the case) or did the current string set change exacerbate a bunch of underlying problems which your prior set was keeping at bay? Let's face it, with premium brand strings, we should expect to be able to put on whatever set we want and still be able to nicely set up the guitar.

I'm sure you'll agree that the many symptoms which you are encountering are very difficult to pinpoint, sight unseen. Worth noting is the fact that some of these symptoms may very well be independent of some of the others. On the up-side, it could even be something as simple as one of the pickups is sitting too high and it's magnets are sucking in the strings, causing all sorts of false tones and readings. Consequently, before you throw the guitar even further out of whack by all this experimenting, you really should consider having it looked at by a QUALIFIED pro, especially if you would like to go with the new brand/gauge set. YMMV

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You dig?