Hi guys I have problems with my american fender stratocaster California series 1997, i bought it a month ago from a friend of mine used for around 500 dollars and it looks great but ive been noticing alot of buzz and its lacking sustain and punch on the high B and E string and im a beginner so im not really sure on what to do! please HELP! haha thanks

What kind of buzz ?

Did you have another single coil guitar to compare ?

Lack of sustain ; strings replacement maybe and a good tun-up ? Pickup could be too close from the strings

Like this low end buzz it goes away when i touch the strings tho

Yeap i have a Fender MIM Strat which sounds amazing very little buzz as all single coils should have but the buzz on my american strat is very very noisy, yes i am very worried that its the pick up but why only the high B and E string that lacks punch and sustain? whats a tun up mate?

You have a ground problem on your guitar, for sure

A ground wire is defective . You have to remove pick gard and look all the wire and connexions.

First , look a the tremlo spring , back side of the body if you see a groud wire solderd on the spring claw. Id nor you have to put one.

if it is ok you have to look under the pick guard, send us some photos

Did you know if your friend have do some mods to his Strat ? He could have forget or damage a wire ?

Hi :
That should be because the previous owner didn't care for the maintenance of the guitar.
Try this :
Buy a new set of strings.
Take out the old one and clear the guitar (fretboard, frets, etc )
And then set it up in this order :
1) Neck Relief
2) Action
3) Pickup Height
4) Intonation

If you need more help please sendme a msg.
Go ahead and good luck

+1

Sounds like it's fretting out.
Probably needs a truss rod, neck tilt, or saddle adjustment. (any or all)

+1 stratele52


Certainly not fret buzz.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

..... jajaja good point (but im still wondering )Then the word BUZZ was wrongly used.

Does it happens when the guitar is unplugged ?

Yeah, that's what I thought from only reading the title of the thread, that he meant fret buzz. But a full read of posts reveals otherwise.

Therefore, this noise can not be there if the guitar is unplugged.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

OK !

So then you should call an electrician !!!

Electrician ..Seriously..

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Mona
"Music is What Feelings Sound like"

Hi thanks guys for your help! I will try to re-setup my guitar asap

i have tried it on alot of amps and that humming buzz sound is still there!
the annoying hum on the guitar guitar stops when i turn the tone knob to 0 tho?

the back wire on the tremolo string is soldered so i will take a photo of the wiring under the pick guard asap! Nope everything is original on the guitar he hasn't touched it since 2004 or so thats why i got it cheap haha.

Thanks guys.

Welcome.

Your particular complaint opens up a lot of guessing where you'll read a gamut of solutions from the highly plausible to the utterly ridiculous. Your best bet is to take it to a COMPETENT tech for evaluation.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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You dig?

you have a hum that goes away when you turn tone knob down to 0. Yup sounds like a grounding issue. If you don't know how to troubleshoot your wiring, take it in to a repair tech.

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

Hi guys

Yes you do have a point the best answer will be bringing it to a guitar tech asap!
Cause for now i am currently in Indonesia so i dont wanna be giving my strat to dodgy indonesian guitar techs who could easily steal some original components or charge me more for fixing it... So i will get it repaired when i get back in the UK

Thanks guys!