Dear All, pls advise me on the following problem.

Recently my 96' American Made strat began to give me probs. Cannot seem to get a sound when bending on the 1st E string on the 7th and 8th fret. Suspected that maybe action needs to be adjusted or frets need a change.

Kindest Advice please. Cheersss!!!

You probably need to raise the bridge. Seems to me you have what is called fret buzz. This happens when a lower fret, lets say the 7th, is depressed, but a fret somewhere down the neck, say the 14th, extends farther out from the neck. The string will rattle against the fret farther down, which will cause the note to sound thin, make a slight buzzing noise, or sometimes even cancel a note all together. Almost all guitars get a little fret buzz, and most of the time it happens right where you said, at the 7th or 8th fret. As far as fixing it, there are a few things you can do. You could open up the back of your guitar and tighten or loosen the springs until you get the buzz is minimized, or there are usually two screws on either side of the bridge that will adjust the height of your bridge. This may not be as widely effective as adjusting the springs, but it will have less effect on the action.

Hope that helps

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1988 Kramer Striker 200
1941 Gibson Hollowbody
2010 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
2010 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III

Your guitar is wood, which despite being "dead" continues to inhale and exhale due primarily to changes in atmospherics. Specifically, ambient moisture can cause wood to expand, contract, and deform as the humidity varies. Your guitar may require an adjustment to the bridge or the trem system within. However, before charging in haphazardly and possibly creating more problems, check your neck for proper relief first. Adjust to specs via the truss rod if necessary. If that fails to resolve the issue, then proceed to inspect the other areas likely to cause your specific dilemma.

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

Thanks for all your advice. I have sent in to my local repairshop and they have even out the frets alittle, the high estring on the 7th n 8 th fret sounds a tiny bit better when bending but cannot be compared to the rest of the frets and strings where sound is right.

THey have suggested refretting the whole neck to rectify the problem whereby i am a bit confused if this is gonna work.

Main Problem : No sound or sound thinning while bending the 1st estring upwards.....on the 7th n 8th Fret.

I'd get my guitar out of that repair shop if I were you. The problem is at worst a low fret, the fret has worn low for some reason. Either excessive play on that fret or particularly soft fret wire.
Probably due to play.
The notion of refretting the entire neck is nothing more than a scam to drum up work for themselves. Your frets will almost certainly be ok with a level and crown. At worst it is entirely possible to do a partial refret where the hack/tech will simply replace the low fret.
Do as Retroverbial says, check your neck relief. The bow of the neck manifests itself at the 8th fret, though it's only the nut end of the neck that moves. Then raise your string height.
If it's still bad, get it in for a level and crown.

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No no and no