Recently setup my new Strat deluxe. Was getting some fret buzz before. I got the neck mostly straight and action as low as possible without terrible buzz. The only thing now, is that the string tension seems to have increased a little. It takes a bit more effort to do bends. I like things a bit more loose, what is the best way to achieve a looser feel?

I'm using Fender 9's, standard tuning, with no modifications at all to the bridge. If I remember from setting up my previous guitar, tightening the truss rod a bit seemed to make the string tension a bit looser. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

I thought that throughout the years I would get better at making adjustments to my Fender guitars. I wanted to be involved, and I was. These days, I will avoid fumbling with them and I bring them to a tech. He listens to me and gets it right every time. I realize now, I don´t even have proper lighting, nor a proper-height work bench. As my playing got better, and my guitars more expensive, I am now happy to bring them into the shop. Jeff Beck says he starts out a tour with light strings and then steps it up to a heavier gauge. Even though I have a weak left hand from an accident, I stick to the 010 gauge that Fender installs at the factory, in my opinion anything lighter decimates the tone, and tone is all I care for!

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Bill

Hi slyry: a little odd that you say lowering the action has made the strings feel harder. Most people do it because it produces exactly the opposite result.

Anyhow. The laws of physics say that there are only three ways you can reduce string tension. The first is to down tune a step or further which obviously slackens the strings at the same time as lowering their pitch. Some people play at a lower tuning for precisely this reason.

The second is to use lighter strings. If you are already using 9s there isn't much further you can go, but a few illustrious players have used 8s for their extreme bendability, including Jimmy Page and, if memory serves, Albert King.

The third is a little more radical and fairly hard to achieve on a Strat. You can shorten the scale length. In practice this means keeping the same string gauge but using it on a shorter scale instrument such as a PRS or a Les Paul. The same thickness of string at the same pitch over a shorter scale length will be looser. I guess you could achieve that on a Strat by tuning it so that it was at standard pitch when capo'd at the first fret - but few of us would want to play with a capo all the time. That just ain't comfortable, is it?

And that's the long and short of it. If someone tries to tell you the string tension can be adjusted by messing with the trem springs don't listen to them: they are mistaken. Physics doesn't work that way, unfortunately.

Cheers - C

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Ceri - everything you say is correct, but there is a fourth way, although it is related to your second... use a brand of strings with lower tension per gauge.

When I decided to switch to flatwound bass strings, I found that the main reason so many players recommended TIs was their extremely low tension. I did some research and was amazed to find how much difference there was in string tension from brand to brand... And, at least among bass strings, Fenders were among the highest.

No doubt the guitar needs a proper set up (I've found that finding the right relief setting makes a large difference in how "loose" or "tight" a guitar will feel), but finding the brand of strings that feel right to you is just as important, I think.

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Jim Bordner
Gravity Music - www.gravitymusic.com
Composer, producer, Egnater Artist

Ah-ha, you're absolutely right! I didn't think of flatwounds, I guess because they are not so popular with most players these days. But then most have probably never tried them - and they should, if only to discover the possibilities.

And whilst one manufacturer's 9 thou string is pretty close to another they are not identical. Mass, scale length and tension are the variables on one side of the equation that produce pitch on the other. Therefore, if the mass changes so must the tension to produce the same pitch. And that is why, as you say, it is indeed well worth experimenting with different brands to see if one suits a player better than another.

Good call!

Cheers - C

(Between you and me, of course, I just wanted to scotch the trem spring thing before it got started. I've seen that particular red herring lead to pages of misunderstandings and angry tempers on this subject before now... Haha!)

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And that's a concept that needs scotching.

You can get tension charts for most strings at JustStrings.com, and it's a real eye opener. GHS Boomers, for example... a .010 high E string pulls about 14.5 pounds at pitch. While my fave D'addario XLs pull just over 16 pounds at the same gauge... A significant difference in feel. I've got my guitars dialed in to feel "slinky" with the XLs, but the GHS strings would feel looser.

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Jim Bordner
Gravity Music - www.gravitymusic.com
Composer, producer, Egnater Artist

There's a whole bunch of related Geometry at play here affecting the "feel".

A little bit of relief in the neck (or adding a bit) can make the action feel a touch higher prompting you to lower the saddles to compensate and get it back where you like it, and this has the effect of reducing the break angle of the strings over the saddles, slightly reducing tension (or at least the "feel" of reduced tension). If you straighten the neck/remove relief, then the opposite will happen as you raise the saddles to reduce buzz, increasing the break angle and hence slightly increasing the string tension (or at least the "feel" of increased tension). This may be what you have just experienced.

Another thing affecting the break angle of the strings over the saddles is the neck angle/tilt, in which case you want to adjust the neck so that it is angled slightly more away from you when the guitar is in playing position (tilted forward).

When this angle changes you will then have to lower the Bridge Saddles to compensate for the increased action height, (getting the grub screw/allen screws depth in the saddles set correctly and easily is the reason for the micro-tilt adjustment). This has the effect of reducing the strings' break angle over the saddles and thus the tension (feel).

Your Deluxe has a Micro-Tilt adjustment that is designed to change the neck angle. On guitars without a micro-tilt the same effect can be achieved by correctly shimming at the "headstock end" of the neck pocket.

Snowy

Snowy, I believe that's all dead on. To get the combination of low action and low-tension feel I wanted from my main Strat-style guitar, we actually routed the neck pocket deeper than factory spec and used a thin slice of the wood from the pocket as a shim (glued in place now). The break angle is greatly reduced.

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Jim Bordner
Gravity Music - www.gravitymusic.com
Composer, producer, Egnater Artist

More tension on string with straight neck

Straight neck = long scale = more tension
Curve neck = short scale = less tension

But this is a very fine sensation

Gibson guitar are "short " scale and tesion on the strings is lower than a Fender

Howdy!

I reckon the reason why your strings "feel" tighter since lowering the action is because you no longer have same amount of the grip on the string when bending. With a higher action you can really dig in for bend. Lower it a tad and you compromise your ability to grab a string. Even with strings that have a lower string tension you "may" still have the issue.

That's my experience FWIW. A simple answer would be to find a happy balance between string grab and low-ish action.

Hope this helps

Andy

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Pending Greatness

here's my question: How did you lower the action? Did you do it by lowering the saddles, or bringing the tremolo from float to flush with the body? If you brought the trem flush, that's why you have more tension. If you already had it flush, and took some relief out of the neck with the truss rod, by making the neck straighter, again, you'll have a touch of increased tension.

Truss Rods have nothing to do with it, that will just cause high action or more buzz. If the action is low, either get thinner strings or get used to it. Not a whole lot you can do beside the strings.... Time to man up I guess.

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Thinner strings will give you more buzz, heavier less. All things being equal; the distance from the bottom of the string to the top of the fret are the same. you want less tension; use as few springs as possible, while still letting the tremolo stay in position when you're not playing. But, if you play an open string, then bend another, keep in mind the ringing open string will drop in pitch as you bend, because theres less tension in the tremolo.

Make sure the strings you're using have a round core, not a hex core. The hex cores are brighter, but stiffer.

Thanks guys. I did not touch the tremolo, it was flush from the factory...

What I did do was adjust the rod until the neck had very little relief. And then I just raised the saddles for the strings which had some buzz.

It is playing OK, just not as loose as I would like it. Good call though Andy, I have heard that claim before and it probably is true....

I'm going to try different strings anyway next time. This is the only guitar I've used Fenders on, I usually use D'Addarios...