I recently purchased a 2006 MIM Fender Strat from my brother in law for $75. The guitar is the candy apple red with rosewood fingerboard and the 60th Anniversary edition (silver badge on back of headstock) long story short, the guitar was hardly played and the original strings were still on it! I replaced them, lowered the bridge back down and have noticed that the guitar does not hold tune at all. Now I realize this could be cuase it has never been set up, but I was tinkering with the idea of putting Grovers on it (i put them on my Epiphone Casino) and love them. Do these MIM Strats have issues with tunning? Any help would be appreicated

It just needs to be set up properly:

http://www.fender.com/support/articles/ ... etup-guide

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Bill

Definitely set it up, and use a mix of Carmex (yes, the lip balm) with some powdered graphite to lube the bridge saddles, grooves in the nut, and string trees. Also, make sure you're getting a couple loops around the tuning peg when you string the guitar up so that the strings get stretched properly. Seems like simple stuff but I really noticed my guitars staying in tune a lot better when I started paying attention to it.

The tuners should be fine.
I always put a couple of wraps around the post from the low E. Unless I have staggered tuners I go up to about 6 wraps on the high E post.

By putting your strings on in a locking fashion (see below) they won't slip on the post.
As others mentioned lube every point of contact aside from the tuners.

Thats saddles, nut slots and under string trees unless its a roller tree. I use the smallest amount of light mineral oil I can (am a whammy/trem user). Make sure new strings are stretched in well. Not doing so means when your are playing for a time your strings will keep going flat.

Easy way to test whats going on. Tune up to pitch then do some big bends on a string and recheck if it holds correct tune before moving on to the next one.

Thanks for all the tips. I didnt really want to change the tuners and figured it was just in need of a set up.Has anyone put the Texas Special pick ups on an MIM, thoughts?

Welcome.

These guitars do not have tuning issues. Unless the heads that are on there are known to be damaged, the Grovers would not be an improvement. I surmise your guitar just needs a really good setup.

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You dig?

Good to know its not the tuners, just need to get it up to Portland Fretworks

Why pay someone to set it up the way they want to? I sent you the Fender setup link. Do it yourself the way you want it. Its not that difficult.

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Bill

I tried the lubricants mentioned above without much success. What really worked immediately and permanently is Nut Sauce. I put it on the nut, the saddles, the contact points of the trem, and the ball ends of the strings.

The two most stable strings I've tried thus far are Fender Super Bullets and Dean Markley Blue Steel. The rest of the strings have breakage issues, intonation issues, longevity issues.

Also, when you setup your guitar, use millimeters and a magnifier headset unless you've got really, really good eyesight -- accuracy is everything. The difference between a good setup and a bad setup is tiny, we're talking 10ths of a millimeter being the difference between too hard to play and perfect.

RedStrat2006...Just so happens I have a 2007 MIM 60s Classic in CAR with a Rosewood fingerboard and when I bought it I had CS Texas Specials put in it and I LOVE IT! It stays in tune and has a very meaty full sound. This is the second guitar I have that has had the TS in it and these are the pickups that do it for me. The stock pickups are not bad at all, but the TSs have just a bit more oomph to them.

And don't be afraid to try setting up your guitar yourself as Blue Sky suggested, you have the instructions and it really is easy. Just take your time and follow the instructions, just keep adjustments small each step and you will have learned a skill that will save you hundreds over the years!

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

Stretch the strings.

/thread

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2002 mim Telecaster
Jimmie Vaughan Stratocaster
Mexican HSS Stratocaster
6 non-fender guitars
2 kids (not for sale)
1 wife (uh....no comment)