I bought my 1997 Collectors Edition strat a month or so ago off craigslist. The guy kept it under his bed, so it was in brand new condition. The factory set up on the guitar was without a doubt the best feeling 'new' guitar I've ever played. It had heavier strings than I'm used to so I'm guessing they were 11s, which puzzeled me because I know Fender puts 9's on stock. Regardless, the action was a little high, but I loved that there is close to ZERO buzz, and I felt like SRV playing it.

My stupid guitar teacher broke the tremolo bar and couldn't get the stuck piece out so he bought me a new block. The set up on it now is sub-par, even after being set up by my teacher, and from a guy at a guitar shop. There is 5x as much buzzing now, after both set ups, so I don't get it. I doubt its the new trem block, but I just don't freakin get it. How could it stay perfect for 16 years, then after the tremelo was taken apart one time, it can't be set up for jack ****? I'm having the guy attempt to drill a new hole in the original trem, so I'm hoping that fixes the problem. To add to my guitars troubles, the new trem block rubs the side of the block cavity, which I dont think was the case before, but I don't know for sure. Hopefully when my guy fixes the original block, it won't have that problem of rubbing againt the cavity, otherwise I need to have it routed.

That sounds annoying. I agree...it's not the block.

That said, the block should not rub on the cavity, as that's likely to cause tuning issues (friction). Either your fixed, old block will stop the rub, or you could remove the new block and perhaps grind it down instead of routing the body. The 1997 block is probably just Fender's screwball metal mixture, so putting on a better block (steel) would be a nice idea.

So what else changed? The strings? If the set with the 11 first was discarded, what replaced them? It would not surprise me if lighter strings led to more perceived buzzing.

Did they change the nut? If not, then you can rule that out. They didn't have a reason to mess with your frets, so let's hope they didn't.

Assuming the strings are a gauge that you like and plan to stick with, all that really remains is to check the neck relief (truss rod), and the bridge height, and adjust each to your liking.

I play 10s on my Gibsons and when I first got the Strat it was def heavier, so I guessed at 11s. 10s were put on by my teacher, and when I had it set up by my other guy, he put on daddario 11s. It feels really close to the original strings, and the 11s did help a little with the buzz.

I guess I should say that I'm willing to sacrifice low action in order to get a less buzz as possible, because originally, the action was higher then I've ever played, but playable. I hope that helps.

The strings would feel heavier on the strat because of the longer scale length when compared with the gibson

Hi azteC, It's really kind tough to diagnose something like that w/o actually picking up the guitar & having a good look at it, esp. after someone "set it up". But it shouldn't be buzzing. If you don't want to take it back to the shop & have him check it again there, maybe try somebody else who knows what they're doing. It's obviously not set up right. Another thing I would suggest is even if you don't want to try setting it up yourself, you at least could do some measuring & perhaps be able pinpoint where the problem is. You could use this guide. The truss rod & action setting sections.
http://www.fender.com/support/articles/ ... etup-guide
You could also send some pics to us of the neck, close up side view, & of the bridge area, front & open back & side view. Maybe someone here might detect some abnormality. Hope you get it sorted.

hi , when they removed the old block , they had to realese the screws on the trem claw to remove the strings , they should have taken a size of how far from the body the base of the bridge was and noted it down , then when putting it back together it's just a simple matter of getting the ruler out and adjusting the springs to the size it was before (thats just me though ) so you might get away with realesing the screws a wee bit , but if your "teacher has had a go and some tech who knows what they have adjusted , so i think you need to take it back to the tech and tell him you want it set up with no buzz , that should sort things out . And a wee question what the hell was your teacher doing to it to break a bloody trem arm ? , hth , cheers
Alan

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Just a thought but if someone c*cked up my guitar I certainly wouldn't take it back to him for a second attempt and the chance of doing further damage.

To be honest getting the broken part out should be a 'doddle' if he knows what he is doing. No way should he need to drill it out, that will really destroy the treads and so you will have no whammy bar at all. He might drill the centre to put a stud remover in but he doesn't sound skilled enough to get dead centre in the broken part. If the drill wanders he will again destroy the threads

Get it home while you find a better solution.

Always been wary of guitar shop "in house" guitar techs. A lot of them here in the UK are not actually employed by the shop but are, in fact, self employed and only paid on a basis of work done paying the shop "rent" for the use of a room or what ever. In truth that means the more work they get through the more money they get which can lead to cutting corners. If you want the guitar looked at by a tech go to someone who only does that, not someone based in a shop.

I was thinking the same thing.

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"If it ain't one thing, it's another."

It is just a simple setup issue. No one can set a guitar up to suit you on the first try. You need to learn to do these adjustments yourself Take it somewhere else and have them set it up to the factory specs Since you were obviously fond of that setup.