Forgive me if this is a bit of a dumb question but I am just getting into doing maintenance (beyond changing strings) on my guitar and wanted to make sure I wasn't mistaken in my thinking.

I was getting some fret buzz on my 6th string so had a set-up done last week. After that, everything seemed fine until yesterday when I was playing a bunch of chord stuff and the buzz came back when I was strumming. If I strum lightly it is fine (it is also fine when picking single notes) but when I really get into what I am playing I have a habit of strumming harder and that is when the buzz starts.

I tried playing with the saddles to see if that resolved it and I also adjusted the truss rod. Neither of these solved the problem so I was wondering if going to higher gauge strings (from .09s to .10s) might help? I know I would have to adjust the action after going to a higher gauge but before went ahead and moved up a gauge I just wanted to check with those who know more about this that going doing so might solve the problem of fret buzz when strumming hard.

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2010 Fender Standard Stratocaster (Brown Burst)
Marshall Class 5

Assuming your nut is correctly slotted, it's likely that your frets were not properly leveled. Thus, switching to a heavier-gauge string is probably not the solution. Your neck needs the attention of a qualified luthier (and no, not the "cheerful tech staff" at your local GC). The neck needs to be removed and any fret abnormalities addressed by leveling, crowning, and polishing. A good craftsman will also adjust the trussrod for proper neck relief then set the string intonation and height for optimum playability. Such work typically costs $100 and is well worth the expense if you take your playing seriously.

Best of luck, HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

All you are going to do with heavier strings is increase tension on the neck. Thereby causing it to act as if the rod was set to give more relief. It's not the answer.
It honestly sounds to me like a culmination of technique issues and relief/action setup.
Reason being the problem only manifests when you play chords. It's when we all have a tendency to hit harder with chords.
I doubt it is a fret issue as it only happens on one string in one particular set of circumstances. Still stranger things have happened. It may be worth getting a small rule and checking the frets across the line of the low E.
I can't help but think you may be better off to recheck your previous work onthe action and relief.
I personally set my relief to 0.12" and my low E action to around 3/32.
Check back mate we'll get you through it.

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No no and no

Bit of advice as soon as you adjust the neck or saddles after a setup its like throwing your money away.
Before then you could have taken it back and said somethings up.

Play heavily on each string by itself.
The 7th fretwire could be high or the 6th fretwire low.
If its the elliptical movement of the string it could be happening around the 17th or so.
If you plan on doing your own setups you will need 6" steel rule in 64ths and a feeler gauge.

If noone else playing your guitar can cause it to happen then probably your technique is to blame.
I'm surprised that raising the saddle height didn't correct it.

Going to 10s will cause them to vibrate less but its not really a fix.
You will need to fully setup the guitar and check the the nut slots are ok if you change string gauge.

Thanks for the replies folks.

The set-up I had done was free so didn't cost me anything and my sales guy is good so he'll take it back in for another set-up at no cost.

I'll take it to them later today and have them set it up again. While there, I'll talk to their tech and decide whether or not to go to .10s (I had been considering it before the buzzing).

Hopefully, between the two of us, we'll be able to figure this out.

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2010 Fender Standard Stratocaster (Brown Burst)
Marshall Class 5

Going from .09s to .10s isn't that drastic a change, I believe most fenders come stock with .10s (at least I think so). When you increase gauge, you increase tension so when you pick hard the string won't flop around as much. From your description I'm guessing when you strum hard the string bounces around and makes contact with the frets. So .10s might be the ticket, it's worth a shot. You might have to adjust the truss rod and file the nut along with action, I believe that's what I needed done when I went from .09s to .10s.

(Also, saw you adjusted the truss rod. Never use the truss rod to adjust action, it should only be used to keep the neck in its proper shape. My tech almost slapped me when I adjusted the truss rod on my first guitar ^^)

I posted this reply originally was in the lounge part of the forums and I didn't get a chance to read any of the previous posts in this thread <_< Just my 2 cents coming from a guy who went from .09s to .11s cuz I like to strum hard ^^

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

I'm not much of a strummer but I like how the heavier strings feel! Got 12's on mine right now though I can't say if it makes much diffrence to tone as I didn't stay on the lighter gauges very long when I started playing. (had alot of influence from my jazz teachers!)

Sounds to me like it is basically playing technique. You are not getting clean fingerings in your chord playing.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Entirely possible but it happens primarily on the 6th string and also happens when that string is open.

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2010 Fender Standard Stratocaster (Brown Burst)
Marshall Class 5

It's the time of year when weather changes the set up on the guitar, i would get it set up properly first,if you still get fret buzz i would get a fret dress on average it could be about 100-150.

It could still be a right hand issue, does it happen when you play with your thumb?
It's very unlikely a fret height issue as it only happens on one string and at multiple frets. A fret high enough out of the neck to rattle a open string or the first fret would be visible. You'd have no need to put a straightedge over the frets. There could be a nut slot issue, but that has zero effect on fretted notes.
Also low frets just do not wear like that on new guitars, through heavy handed playing. You're more likely to wear a area of the fret which would impact the strings around it. In your case the A string as well.
It's a problem with technique or the setup.
Every Fender guitar (whatever the country of origin) is fret leveled and dressed by hand. Even at the hands of a novice fret fitter that doesn't result in low area's on the E strings. The common mistake is to put too much pressure on the middle of the frets, rather than not enough on the edges. Also the multiple area's of rattle rule out low fret issues. If it was a low fret the problem would be located to one area.

Another often overlooked area could be the pickup height. That should have been addressed with the setup though. Try lowering your pickup heights a few turns.

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No no and no

working the nut imo would be a LAST RESORT option. if your guitar was set up by a reliable tech, then it was set up with a certain gauge string set. if you change gauges either way (heavier or lighter), you'll screw up the settings.
best thing to do is find the gauge you're comfortable playing and re-set everything to factory calibrations. i've done it with two of my own guitars, and one for a friend of mine... we're all happy people now.
here's the guide i used:

http://www.fender.com/support/stratocaster.php

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I switched to the higher gauge strings today and the action seemed really high. I adjusted to Fender's recommended settings and was proceeding to lower the action a bit from there when I noticed that the trem really seemed to be lifting - obviously the higher gauge strings were causing this. I measured and it had lifted higher than Fender's recommended height so I decided to stop there and not to do any more work on it.

I will take it in Wednesday to have them throw another spring on there just to be safe. I never ever use the trem (I can't even remember the last time I had the trem arm attached) so I don't really care if an extra spring makes it really tight. While they are putting the extra spring on there I will have them finish adjusting the action for me and, after that, everything should be fine.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions everyone - greatly appreciated.

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2010 Fender Standard Stratocaster (Brown Burst)
Marshall Class 5

if you don't use the trem, you can lock it down so it doesn't move at all... instructions are in the afore-mentioned link.

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I took it in today and everything is fine now. I spent about 45 minutes with the tech and he went over everything again from the action to the pickup height. He played the hell out of the guitar and I played it quite a bit so he could judge how to set it up. He also altered the springs on the trem to keep it down. He didn't block it or anything, he simply tightened it but it is still usable should I ever decide I want to use it.

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

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2010 Fender Standard Stratocaster (Brown Burst)
Marshall Class 5