Hey you all out there in Fender world! I have a newer Highway One MIA Strat with that humbucker down by the bridge. Well I put 12 gauge's on her which freaked the tremolo. Like Clapton I jammed a piece of wood in the bridge rendering it un-wammy-able. It plays great!!! But some of my friends told me I should have it "set up" for such a drastic change.

So here's the question should I have a pro set it up even though I don't care to use the tremolo and could this cause neck problems?

Best
Damian

How could I tell? I've played on it for a few weeks and it sounds great.

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What leads men to art and science is to escape from everyday life, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from personal life into the world of perception and thought.

Yeah have it set it up man. Or at least take it to a good tech and ask if anything is out of whack. The heavier gauge strings will cause much more tension on the neck, it'll probably need a truss adjustment as well as intonation. Worst case scenario (Emphasis on worst case) you will have too much relief due to the increased tension on the neck, so much so that the truss rod cannot fix the problem. Trust me, you don't want that >_> Plus it will probably play and sound even better once you have it set up ^^ I myself play heavier strings and it was much better after my local tech did those few things.

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

I just bought a HSS Highway One too. Fender ships their guitars with 9s Fender Bullets. I switched to 11s on my American Deluxe right after I bought it. I had to totally reset the truss rod tension, adjust bridge saddle height and intonation and tremolo spring tension to adapt to the higher gauge strings.

I have both of my Strat bridges set to float. I find that it is easier to tune as well as to keep in tune rather than having the bridge plate flush to the body. I don't see much point in getting a tremolo if I'm only going to use it like a hardtail but that's just me.

The Stratocaster setup guide on this sight has all the information you need. Take your time, see if you can't do it yourself. If you want to play like Hendrix or EJ then you'll eventually have to learn how to do it anyway. I got good enough at it that my friends pay me to set up their axes.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

manabu108, Capo, Nevin1985

Thank you all for your input.

_________________
What leads men to art and science is to escape from everyday life, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from personal life into the world of perception and thought.