My 1979 strat's B string all of a sudden seems to have lower action and feels looser than normal. I have no idea what's up and how to fix it. Any help is appreciated.

Possible damaged nut slot, weakened intonation screw spring, or tired tuner?

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

hey thanks Arjay..if it is the nut slot what would you suggest. This has been my guitar a long time now and would you replace the entire nut slot? How do you keep the integrity of a 1979 strat when something like this happens? Seems like maybe the groove got too deep in the nut slot??

A distinct possibility for an instrument that age.

A nut replacement -- competently performed -- shouldn't have any effect on the guitar's value. Find a qualified luthier in your area (not some "tech" at your local GC) and let him or her set that Strat right again.

HTH

And welcome to the forum.



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

thank you so much! I appreciate the advice.

Post some pics of your Strat if you think of it -- we all enjoy vintage "guitar porn".



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

will do tomorrow! thx again

Looser than normal ? So the string is not in tune ?

If yes;

Looser = not in tune = lower action= tuner

Um, no, those are not of equal value.... He never mentioned it was in tune. Saddle or nut may have slipped.

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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Could be that the height adjustment scews for the saddle have loosened, and the saddle dropped, or more extreme, the threads are striped and it just slid down.

If its the nut, I've fixed individual nut slots on bone nuts (they got too deep and the string was buzzing on the first fret) on a vintage guitar. I was able to do it without replacing the nut. Just used some bone dust,and watered down super glue to make like a filler. I filled the slot in, then reslotted it, and dressed it. Good as new.

the string is in tune...just lower action and feeling looser...I dont have to time or money to take it in and it's just really bothering me. uggg.

It wouldnt explain the lower action, but the loosness: is it possible that the string isnt running under the string tree like i should?

When the action is low, it will feel loose. Is it in tune???

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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Why don't you just raise the string to the correct height, retune, and see what happens?

No tools...but also...believe it or not never had to mess with the strat in all these years..so i never really learned how to fix it either.