I just bought a fender HSS strat I got it home and after playing it a bit noticed that I had a couple frets that were buzzing and I had payed for a setup on the guitar when I bought it the guitar was brand new I took it back to the store and they said they tapped down the 19th fret because it was to high i tried it out before I took it home and the 20th fret was buzzing and once again the said that fret was to high and they would have to tap it down my big question is is this normal? and should i just get another guitar? its been two weeks of going between the store and my home and I live 30 miles away from the store I have played the guitar maybe 10 minutes since I bought it
Thanks for anyones help

Do not let it go. Its worth the trip back. Either there's something fundamentally wrong with that strat (which i kind of doubt), or it just had a half-assed setup done to it (which I suspect). Either way, they need to address it. Just make sure you play it thoroughly before you take it back home, and make sure they know that you live 30 miles away, and dont want to have to come back a 4th time if it still isnt addressed. Im luckily that I have a luthier a couple blocks away from me, and he is freakishly good at what he does. He actually is one of the few shops in the country that are authorized to do warranty work on Fender Custom Shop, and Master-built guitars. But he wont accept payment for anything until the customer plays the guitar, and is happy with it. If you feel that this problem is one of those things that leaves a bad taste in your mouth (that its new and has these problems, so maybe its indicative that it didnt have the quality control it should have) return it and get another. Even higher priced US made guitars have consistency problems from one to another. The worst offender Ive noticed lately is Gibson, though fender isnt too far behind (PRS is the one company that doesn't seem to have this problem on their Maryland built guitars). So you may have one of the bad ones, or it just may need to be properly setup. You definitely don't want the 19th fret to pop up out of the fretboard a year from now when you're out of warranty. Good luck

Fender's overall quality has been slightly slipping the past 6 or 7 years or so IMO. Northing as serious as Gibson's recent quality issues but still present nevertheless. Several friends have made complaint about various smaller issues. I had a 2004 AD Strat with exactly the same issues as yours and I live about 40 minutes from the city. After several trips to the shop and still not having a playable guitar my solution was to sell it off. I had it for sale for almost a year before it finally sold for the price I was asking but I wasn't in any hurry.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Upper fret drop off has never been included in stock fender guitars. Something I've always thought a bit unusual. I cant imagine why those two frets in particular would be raising. If 21 goes the same way, they havent identified the problem is my bet. I'd look to the microtilt and any shims that may have been put into the neck joint.

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No no and no

In Fender's defense, they can't control nor be held responsible for every little nuance of every guitar they ship. This happens once in a while and is certainly NO big deal. However...

In your case, by whomever hammering down the 19th fret, made the 20th fret too high. IMO, the 'tech' who did it is a hack. The only time you hammer a fret down to solve a height issue is when the offending fret is in fact, not all the way down in the fret slot. Besides, if your 19th fret is buzzing, it is the 20th fret or to a lesser extent, the 21st fret which is the offender, NOT the one which is buzzing. So, if your 19th fret was high, your 18th fret or to a lesser extent, your 17th fret should have been buzzing.

Hopefully, this hack didn't smash the fingerboard out of shape when he hammered that 19th fret.

Take the guitar back and diplomatically demand complete satisfacton.

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You dig?

Thanks everyone I went to the shop to pickup my guitar and the frets where flat and the wood was damaged after a brief discussion with the manager they decided it was best to just order another guitar for me I think they thought I was being picky but this guitar will more than likely be with me for the rest of my life

thanks for all the advise

Picky? If they gave you the guitar for free, maybe then you could have been accused of being 'picky'! Paying good money for a superior instrument entitles you to certain guarantees. Among some of them are even, well crowned frets and unsmashed fingerboards! You did the right thing and I'm sure the manager caught the mess his hack made which is really the reason why you are getting a new guitar instead of them arguing the point with you and taking another shot at trying to fix it.

Good for you!!!

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You dig?