Hi all.

Have a problem with some of my guitars (mainly 3 Fender strats and a tele). I have them regularly setup but it seems certain chords sound outta tune. For example an open A sounds out on the 2 high notes, while the bar chord A is in tune. An open G sounds out on the low note but fine as a bar chord.

I've read several forums and no-one can give a definitive reason for this. Some say it just happens and to put up with it, others say the guitar needs setup (Not in this case as one was setup last week and the other a month ago), String gauges (I use 10's but am considering switching to 11s), Nut not being cut right (all 4 are stock as they came, one is the 60th anniversary tele which I've only owned for a month), neck warp (Can't see any and they get setup regularly).

Have you guys come across this? Any solutions? I have an acoustic and SG this doesn't happen on. Also when I say I get them setup regularly I'm talking every couple of months and not all by the same person.

The guitars in question are:
Fender 1995 USA limited edition Stratocaster
Fender 1999 USA Richie Sambora Stratocaster
Fender 2009 USA limited edition Stratocaster
Fender 2011 USA 60th Anniversary Telecaster

Thanks, G.

_________________
Ibanez 91 RG560
Gibson 94 LP Classic
Fender 95 FSR Strat
Fender 99 Sambora Strat
Fender 02 P Bass Special
Gibson 05 Thunderbird
Custom 06 B-Bird
Moon 08 Bryan Adams
Fender 09 FSR Strat
Fender 11 Hoppus Bass
Fender 12 Paisley Tele
Fender 13 Mendel Bass

Since the guitars you are having this problem with all have single coil pickups maybe check the pickup height and try lowering the pickups. If you have them set high you can get weird intonation effects especially on the wound strings.

I like all my Strats with the pickups almost flush with the pickguard, they always seem to sound better, clearer, more sustain, more even string to string response, etc, and then let the amp do the work from there.

Anyway that may, (or may not) be your problem but worth mentioning.


Snowy

First, why do you have to have them set up so often? Heck, once I set my Strat and Tele they both stay put pretty well for months, as long as I don't change my string gauge. You didn't mention what kind of climate you live in. Are your guitars exposed to high humidity or very dry conditions all the time? Do you routinely leave them out of their cases/gig bags when you're not playing them? I can't help thinking that it might have something to do with climatic effects on the wood of the guitars in question. Without being able to see the guitars myself, this is just a guess, though.

_________________
"It's about sound and sound alone. Looks are irrelevant. You can have the best-looking guitar on earth, but if the sound isn't there it is nothing more than a beautiful piece of trash. The sound it makes is the soul of any guitar."

I'd try lowering the pup height as mentioned above.

Does the same guy do all of your setups? Might be worth trying
someone different?

Good luck!

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

Don't leave home without it!

I played my acoustic pretty exclusively for a year when I decided to go looking for a Strat. I started noticing some of them seemed to have intonation problems. Often the low G note. I finally realized I had too heavy of a touch from playing the acoustic and I needed to lighten up. You might check that you're not trying to kill certain notes in certain positions.

_________________
'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

+1
It sounds to me that you're putting too much preasure on the frets while playing. Especially if it's all the guitars. If the guitars are properly tuned & set up, you shouldn't have intonation probs. Setting up so often is a waste of money. Another possibility is that you have the action, esp. at the nut, set unusually high. Do you request a very high action when setting up? If not, I would try lightening up on the fretting &/or usung heavier gauge strings to relieve the problem. cheers

Either your pickups are too close to the strings or your frets are not correctly crowned. Or both.

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 guys. Thanks for all the replies.

When I say I get them setup a lot, I meant I have a lot of guitars. So I'm always taking one in every month.

It doesn't happen on my Gibson SG, Moon acoustic or Ibanez RG only the Fenders.

I did mention that it's not always the same guy who does the setups.

Pickup height has already been lowered but I could try that a bit more.

My action isn't that high but higher than average I guess.

I live in Dundee Scotland. Not the hottest place in the world, lol. Quite wet normally except today

I would think it odd that every Fender has exactly the same problem caused by the frets needing crowed especially if they are so widespread apart in their production life. The nut maybe.

I have tried the lightest touch (just before any buzz. It does help a bit but doesn't solve the problem. Placing a capo on the frets has just the same issue on the lower ones but not on the higher ones.

Also I don't pay for my setups as a do a little work for my Drummer who part owns the local music store.

Thanks, G.

_________________
Ibanez 91 RG560
Gibson 94 LP Classic
Fender 95 FSR Strat
Fender 99 Sambora Strat
Fender 02 P Bass Special
Gibson 05 Thunderbird
Custom 06 B-Bird
Moon 08 Bryan Adams
Fender 09 FSR Strat
Fender 11 Hoppus Bass
Fender 12 Paisley Tele
Fender 13 Mendel Bass

Almost every guitar has this issue to some degree. It's just that most guitars are not bad enough for us to really notice it with the "naked" ear. Of course some of us have better ears than others too. Pickup height can definiely be part of the problem but so can relief adjustment, string guage selection and action height. Guys who use non-standard tunings and very heavy or very light string guages usually have the most problems even if they don't actually realise it. If you have an exceptionally gifted ear you may never find satisfaction until you try Buzz's solution. His method requires a mod to the guitar, some different methods for tuning up and a stricter control over setup parameters.

http://www.buzzfeiten.com/

_________________

Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I don't know that I'd be inclined to trust any tuning/setup specialist who goes by the nickname of "Buzz!!!!"

_________________
"It's about sound and sound alone. Looks are irrelevant. You can have the best-looking guitar on earth, but if the sound isn't there it is nothing more than a beautiful piece of trash. The sound it makes is the soul of any guitar."

The capo thing makes me suspect the nut action. But why just the Fenders? Do you have a feeler gauge to measure the string height at the 1st fret? The recomended height is around .018".

Does the person who sets these up agree that the intonation is off? You say it 'seems' off when playing some chords. How are you determining this? What tool to measure a chord voicing?

4 Fenders and they are all off? Doesn't seem right. I have 42 Fenders and none of them are off and I rarely mess with any of them to adjust the intonation.

Hi Guys.

I have thought about the buzz thing but I've also heard of compensated nuts as an alternative.

The check the intonation I'm fretting the chord then using a Boss TU3 to check it. They are off on around the first 3 frets or so. On any note that is out I place my finger gently against the string so it's muted, then I apply pressure until it starts to ring clear and then check it. All sharp on the notes that are off, none are flat.

I haven't confirmed this with my tech, just wanted to run the options or fixes by you guys first.

I don't have a feeler gauge to check the nut height. I'm not sure what one of them is to where I'd get it, but I'll certainly look into it. Unless you guys can suggest a place, or type to get?

I have also heard what you're saying about guitars being off to the nth degree but it just on my Fenders and none of the others. Though I did just string my 2009 strat from 10's to 11's and a slight adjustment. This seems to play pretty much spot on. Sounds in tune and checking it shows it's slightly off but not enough to hear it.

I have my 95 strat in just now getting noiseless pickups fitted. I'll ask them to put 11's on and set it up. It's it's fine I'll change all to 11's ad I find it easy enough to play them. Just wonder why it happened with 10's?

My Sambora Strat has always sounded out to me. I did ask the guy on the shop and he agreed. It was setup a while back and was better, but still not 100%.

Like I said I'll check with a feeler gauge if I can get one and let you know what I find.

Thanks again for all your help so far.

G.

_________________
Ibanez 91 RG560
Gibson 94 LP Classic
Fender 95 FSR Strat
Fender 99 Sambora Strat
Fender 02 P Bass Special
Gibson 05 Thunderbird
Custom 06 B-Bird
Moon 08 Bryan Adams
Fender 09 FSR Strat
Fender 11 Hoppus Bass
Fender 12 Paisley Tele
Fender 13 Mendel Bass

Actually if you have an 18 gauge string, you can use that instead of a feeler gauge. Just loop it, & run it back & forth between the 1st fret & strings. If you see that it doesn't bind then it's .018" or more. You can try a heavier gauge if need be if the gap is greater.

Where on the Fender site does it say the string height at the first fret? I couldn't see it in the guide but I was just scanning it, but have used it before.

_________________
Ibanez 91 RG560
Gibson 94 LP Classic
Fender 95 FSR Strat
Fender 99 Sambora Strat
Fender 02 P Bass Special
Gibson 05 Thunderbird
Custom 06 B-Bird
Moon 08 Bryan Adams
Fender 09 FSR Strat
Fender 11 Hoppus Bass
Fender 12 Paisley Tele
Fender 13 Mendel Bass