Hey guys I have a Highway1 Strat that has a hard tailed bridge setup and I think its where this squeaking noise is coming from when a play around the 7-14 frets. Any ideas how to fix it?

Cheers

Welcome.

Unfortunately, your first sentence does not make sense. Please try and rephrase it.

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Hi Sgt_Kulpepper, welcome to the Forum.

Can't for the life of me imagine why a bridge should squeek, but only when you play from the 7th to the 14th frets. What kind of music are you playing just on that part of the fingerboard - to which your bridge takes exception?

My mother had a dog that howled whenever she played the original Evita cast album. Maybe your bridge has similar selective taste?

Cheers - C

PS Readly and willing to be more helpful - but we'll need much clearer information...

Hahaha OK guys Ill try to explain it better this time.

Ive played around with my guitar a bit more and it seems this squeaking noise isn't just limited to when I play around on the 7th to 14th frets. Playing the open low E also makes this squeaking noise happen sometimes.

I'm 90% sure this squeaking noise is coming from bridge as when the noise happens all I have to do is put a little bit more pressure on the bridge and it stops. The bridge is setup opposite to a floating bridge which is hardtail correct?

I'm thinking maybe I need to either tighten or loosens the screws a little that hold the bridge onto the body of the guitar but I'm not game to do anything just yet.

Cheers

OK, I'll give it a try - though it's very hard without hearing the sound in question, because your "squeak" might be my "scrape".

Essentially, any such noise can only come from one part moving against another. So, some possibilities:

The trem arm is loose and maybe its threads are damaged. It is moving around inside its hole in a way that is audible through the amp.

The bridge pivot screws are badly adjusted and the screw holes or knife edges on the bridge plate are scraping up and down them when the trem is used, again in a way that is audible when amplified.

There is metal fatigue in the springs and they are emitting sound when used.

The trem is badly installed and is touching the inside of its cavity during use.

The strings are making a sound as they travel back and forth across the nut during vibrato use.

Ditto, at the string tree.

The last two make a sound that is perfectly audible plugged or unplugged and is sometimes perplexing to those who have not encountered it before.

We can suggest fixes to all the above. And so can a decent tech - perhaps this is a case for a visit to your local luthier?

BTW: point of information. We've recently been seeing several people refering to a trem set flush to the body as "hardtail", which has caused confusion here more than once.

A tremolo bridge set not to float - i.e. so that you can only bend the strings down, not up - is a "non-floating" trem. A "hardtail" is a Fender style bridge that doesn't include a trem arm or sustain block and is screwed imovably to the face of the guitar. Like this:

http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 0139100324

Cheers - C

Sounds like your pivot points need to be lubed. Since you have the claw tight, it should not move though, which means you may need to tighten the claw some more.

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Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

Frankly, I think this is the crux of your problem. Specifically, you should loosening those 6 screws a bit until you can see the back of your tremolo plate firmly mating with the body of the guitar.

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