A few months ago I bought myself a brand new MIM Strat, Lake Placid Blue with Maple fretboard. And I deserved it.

Had the local music shop set it up for me, and I've noticed the action is lower at the low end of the neck....when I'm playing some high notes my fingers really seem to struggle with finding and bending the strings cleanly.

So I called the music store and they told me they set up all their guitars to have a slightly concave neck, at least for righties and they assumed it'd be the same for lefties.

I've read on this forum a lot about how it's not that difficult to do your own set up but the idea is still a little scary to me.

Does their story sound right to you all? I hope not, otherwise I'm never going to master the solo in Secret Agent Man.

Brian

_________________
It's the little things that make life great, and they're all around us.

It's possible that your nut is incorrectly slotted. Find a competent luthier (not some "guitar tech" at your local GC) and explain the situation to him.

Fretted necks always require an ever-so-slight concave bow -- this is known as "relief".

HTH

Arjay

_________________
"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

Hi Blueslefty,
Setups are a very subjective thing. Everyone likes it just a bit different than the next person.
As Retroverbial and the music store related, Strats play better with a little bit of relief on the neck.
I also agree with having a luthier (from me that reads-Authorized Service Center) set it up to your desire, especially if you're not comfortable doing it yourself.
If you want to get a bit more familiarized with what its all about,,,have a look at http://www.fender.com/support/articles. ... -to-guides

The only caveat for the above link, at least from my experience, is that we set stuff up at "mid-specs" for the most part.
In other words.....you could probably go a bit lower or a bit higher on the listed specs and be fine most of the time.
Best regards,
rob

_________________
______________
rob Schwarz
Director,Fender Customer Service
Proudly serving Fender Customers
for over 30 years

Thank you both, I appreciate the advice.

Brian

_________________
It's the little things that make life great, and they're all around us.