hi

just changed my strings on my strat, i messed up a bit at times, but got the strings on all fine.

the new strings are really rattly, really really rattly! espeacialy the low e a and d strings.

i changed ernie balls for d,dario. (wrong spelling i know) they are nickel coated, is that the prob, or are they just rubbish strings??

any help would be greatly appriciated!

thanks

louis

Did you change string sizes? maybe from 10's to 9's? Or something like that.

All other things being equal, going from one brand to another should not have caused any problems with "rattle". A given brand of strings may have slight tonal differences from another and there will certainly be differences with issues such as "longevity" but as far as things like one brand being "rubbish" compared with another...even in reference to things such as nickel coated, none of this will cause the problem you are describing (unless you did something really foolish such as trying to put acoustic strings on an electric or as Joe suggested, you changed string gauge).


Since you said you "messed up a bit at times", my first conclusion would simply be that you did something wrong....you either have something messed up at the nut or the bridge or even how you have the strings wrapped on the tuners or something. Since it sounds like you're a real newbie at this, I would also ask...did you kink the strings at any point? If you have any bent spots in the strings, that WILL cause rattles and such...and the only thing you can do there is start over again with a fresh set of strings. Also, since this is on a Strat...you didn't perhaps have a spring fall off the back of the trem while you were changing strings did you?


What I would suggest is a simple process of elimination. -Where- is it rattling at? Near the headstock? Near the bridge? Elsewhere? Start there and look to see what exactly is rattling. Second to that, start at the headstock...check your work there and work your way down the neck...i.e. are the strings wrapped correctly? Are they routed under the string T's correctly? Is the nut secure? Did you make any truss rod adjustments? Are they routed through the bridge correctly? Are the strings seated in the trem block correctly? Check things one step at a time.

If that all fails, then perhaps some good pictures with close ups at all the points I suggested might help others to locate your problem.

Hope this helps!
Jim

Did you post the same thread in a couple different forums? I could've sworn I just read and answered this somewhere else on this same board.

Did you remove all the strings at once or one at a time?

to make me look like more of a fool, they are locking tuners.

i changed one at a time. and defenatly didnt change string gauge.

when i messed up a bit was just on the low e string, it wouldnt tune all the way up. just kept turning and turning, and it was securly locked, strectched the hell out of that string, i assumed iwas putting the string in at the wrong angle, in the end it just worked!

god knows what ive done!

by the way didnt post this on other forum

playing it now, the rattle on the strings is coming from the 1st and 2nd fret area..

the strings feel and sound really weird, really tinny.
it does actualy fell like they are a bigger gauge, it said 10s on the pack.

it feels like the action is lower, or the strings are bigger, arrghhh..

can changing strings lower the action???

is it hard to raise the action????

please any advice would be great, my guitar techs lives miles away, and he aint free

Did you use the fender guide for restringing with locking tuners? I have D'Addario .11's on my strat- have pretty much used D'Addarios for the past 5 or 6 years and have never had an issue. The tension may be slightly higher than the ernie balls, thus they may pull your trem up a little more which would lower the string height. Follow Fender's setup guide and you'll get 'er figured out. Different brands use different gauge strings, even if the high E is the same diameter. Good luck!

would you suggest whacking some ernie balls back on then??

defenatly feels like action lower on E A D strings only, G B E are ok.
because if the strings are rattling that means action to low, or is that wrong?

Were your old strings heavy top slinky bottom's? If so the guage on the bass strings is different .056 as opposed to .052 on the low E. The A and D are thicker too on the heavy top sets.

Long shot but maybe.

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No no and no

Yes, usually that means the action is too low- the strings are bouncing off your frets creating the buzz. I would honestly recommend following the fender setup guide, but a quick fix would be to tighten the springs in the tremolo cavilty a bit to compensate for the increased tension, and/or raise your saddles. I certainly wouldn't recommend changing back to ernie balls- in my opinion D'Addario's are much better. But, everyone has their own opinion.

pretty sure they were regular slinky.

do u know if it could be different tension on different strings...... ??
can the action lower when you change strings?

thanks for ya help

will check the fender set-up, but dont you need special rulers and stuff?

im not that bothered about the strings just dont want rattle anymore. all i wanted to do was change my strings, now i seemed to have shagged my guitar up....

thanks for ya help mate.

Sounds weird, especially as you say it's the first few frets causing the problem.

Did you make any adjustments to anything when you changed the strings?

Just one very obvious question... are you sure you're tuned to concert pitch? (A440)? If you're not, you could be suffering from low tension, thus 'loose' strings.

Different makes of strings shouldn't cause this, even cheap poor quality strings (although they'll give you other problems...)

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You need a few fairly cheap tools to perform the setup, but they are well worth the investment. Being able to setup your own guitar will save you lots of money in the future. If you've re-stringed correctly, I'm pretty certain it's your setup that needs help.

Oh, and I do know that different brands of strings have different tensions and can require a new setup, despite what others have said. Most, if not all string brands list the tension info on the packaged and websites- it's easy to lookup.

If your guitar was set up with low action before, and now these strings have slightly more tension, it could easily be just enough to pull your trem up and lower your action too much, which would cause a problem. A setup is the only way to fix this. Buy the tools and do it yourself, pay someone to do it, or put the same brand of strings you had on before. I'm pretty sure these are your only three options. I wish I could look at your guitar and fix it for you. I love this kind of work.