hey i have a question i bought the new upgraded fender stratocaster HSS highway 1 the tuners are very bad is this a universal problem or is it just me and me and my father don't want to unscrew the pickguard scared we will break something could i possibly make a HH stratocaster out of it i have been woundering for a long time but no one will answer me i have emailed fender but didn't email back checked the technical specs NOTHING so if anyone can help me i would greatly thank you bye

The tuners are located at the headstock, not under the pickguard. Their pretty much a same old, same old affair, theres not much difference at all between brands and types. It's more than likely the way your winding the strings onto the posts that is impairing their function or stability.

Anything your not happy doing yourself you can pay a guitar tech to do.

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Do you mean the pickups sound bad?

He's probably referring to the tone pots....just a guess.

Puppet9782:

While it is possible that you have some bad tuners, there are some other things that you might want to check. First, take a look at your bridge. When you tune your guitar, is it lifting up off of the body more? If so then it needs to be adjusted back down. This is particularly common when changing to a larger string gauge.

Secondly, take a look at your strings. If the guitar has been restrung, they may have been wound backwards. They should be wound from the INSIDE of the head outward. Also check to see if the strings appear to be wound sloppily. I my self have always favored LOCKING the strings down. For me, I feel that it greatly improved tuning stability.

Another thing to look at is your nut. When you tune your guitar, are you hearing creaking or popping sounds. If so there is a small possibility that one or more of the slots are a little too small.

As you can see, there are a lot of small things that go into the setup of a stratocaster. There are a some good books out there on the subject. The Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlwine is an excellent one as is The Fender Stratocaster Handbook by Paul Balmer.

I hope this helped. If not, post again with more information. I am sure that someone here will help get the problem fixed....

TrueBlueFlipLover

The tuners are more than adequate on the Hwy 1. As others have stated above; check your nut, how you wind the strings in the posts, bridge, etc. Even cheapo tuners hold tune well if used properly with all other components of the guitar.

All Hwy 1's are routed HSS under the pickguard, so you will not be able to do HH. Go ahead and take a look. You won't break anything if you use common sense and take your time.

p.s. Is the period key on your keyboard broken???

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Can you define how bad?

Why are you saying "under the pickguard"?

Are you talking about the string tuners on the headstock?

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

when i was typing up that message i thought of 2 things that i could of stated such as my wierd tuners(which i will be checking everything possible that u guys suggested) and under my pickguard i am trying to get a Ray sound (From Dead Kennydies) and yes i have been experincing problems with my period botton to the man who pointed all of that out

OK eastbay Ray sound now were talking of a classy superb think outside the box player.

Question is mate which album do you prefer.
Fresh fruit was a twin humbucker strat or a coronado into a ibanez solidstate head with loads of solid state distortion. You'll get very near that sound with a boss turbo distortion. Not a overdrive, their far too soft sounding. Theres a smattering of echo here and there, like on the intro to holiday in cambodia. I'm not entirely sure what he used for echo then though I was fortunate enough to be right at the front and backstage of a kennedys gig around 03/4. He was using all boss pedals then into a marshall jcm900. No doubt he favours the harder edged sounding 900 compared to most valve amps. He also used a boss tremolo and delay on that gig. It was the tour with Jeff Penalty on vox, I missed the Brandon Cruz one.

I have a video of the making of the 'in god we trust' ep. Theres loads of clear footage on that of his rig. I'll take a look later and get back if I can find out anything on the distortion pedal he used. That was definately the same Ibanez amp head and grey twin humbuckered strat. The humbuckers looked like gibsons but they could be anything.

Listening closely to 'Plastic Surgery Disasters' earlier funnily enough. It doesnt sound like he'd changed gear that much. I'd put that albums sound down to better production.

Anyway I'm off to dig out the in god we trust vid.

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humbuckers thats why i want to know if i need routing

It depends on the guitar. American deluxes and standards have humbucker sized cavities. I have no reason to believe Highway ones dont have the same.
Some mexican guitars will have humbucker sized cavities others wont.
American Vintage reissue guitars dont have the same routing they will require wood to be chopped.

If your going to wire in a humbucker, your going to have to take the pickguard off. So you may as well take it off and have a look, put it back on, then go shopping when you have your info.

Go for a underpowered pair of humbuckers with good treble response like a set of gibson 57's.

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