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Post subject: Truss rod adjustment - bass string always hits the frets
Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 1:39 pm
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Dear guitarists,

I restarted playing after 10+ years. I brought my Stratocaster Plus (1996, U.S.) back to life.

Situation:
Years ago I have fixed the bridge by tightening the two springs, then inserted a piece of cork to block it from moving on both sides. I want to keep it that way. The strings went low at that time, I remember that. Now I got the tools to adjust this, but...

As per instructions, I set the height of the strings to 4/64 of an inch each (distance of the string to the 21st fret). I set the truss rod as per instructions: 0.010 inch on the 7th fret by holding the first and last fret. But the bass E string still buzzes into some frets. I repeated the procedure to go to 0.012 and a bit beyond (perhaps 0.014 even, it's already too much for my taste), but the bass string still buzzes. It does so typically when I play from the 3rd to the 10th fret, more or less. Note: the other strings don't buzz probably because the frets are already a bit used - there's also a noticeable difference in height because of that (+0.002), but that doesn't bother me for now.

So given that the current height already bothers me: what should I do? Is there anything else I should do?

Thanks,
Spake


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Post subject: Re: Truss rod adjustment - bass string always hits the frets
Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:06 pm
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Strat Plus has a two point trem. Try re-adjusting the bridge height. That's the 1st thing that comes to mind if everything else is in order.

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Post subject: Re: Truss rod adjustment - bass string always hits the frets
Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 6:25 pm
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I will add this. Let the guitar sit overnight or two after making minor adjustments to the neck and check tuning twice a day. Keep it in tune and play it. The neck will move ever so slowly on its own after you make the initial truss adjustment. It needs time to fully settle down or up.

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Post subject: Re: Truss rod adjustment - bass string always hits the frets
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 2:59 am
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gldfshkpr wrote:
I will add this. Let the guitar sit overnight or two after making minor adjustments to the neck and check tuning twice a day. Keep it in tune and play it. The neck will move ever so slowly on its own after you make the initial truss adjustment. It needs time to fully settle down or up.



+1000

First time I read the proper neck set up ; we must take time .


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Post subject: Re: Truss rod adjustment - bass string always hits the frets
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:31 am
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Where on the fretboard is the bass string buzzing, which frets is it hitting? Could be a high fret.

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Post subject: Re: Truss rod adjustment - bass string always hits the frets
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 6:20 am
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Buzzing from the third to tenth frets sounds like a touch of back bow to me.
Your truss rod is too tight - loosen it a quarter turn and retune.
Leave it a few hours and try again.










le


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Post subject: Re: Truss rod adjustment - bass string always hits the frets
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:39 pm
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Do not hold down the first and last fret when checking the relief. Hold down the first fret and the topmost fret that is not part of the bendable neck. This will usually be around the 17th fret.
The reason for doing this instead of the first and last is that as instruments age, they can develop a bit of a "ski jump", where the high (18-22/24) frets are slightly higher than on a factory instrument. Measuring against the highest fret in that case will give you too little relief after adjusting, and buzz as a result.


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Post subject: Re: Truss rod adjustment - bass string always hits the frets
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:55 pm
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For my playing style, 4/64" on all the strings doesn't work. I always have to raise the wound strings higher than that, even on Gibsons and other guitars that have flatter radius boards than yours. Around 5/64" on the low E at a minimum, maybe a tad higher. Low E at 4/64" requires a really light picking style. If you like to dig in with your pick you will get some buzz on the big strings with them at 4/64".

You say that the current height (with exaggerated relief) bothers you, but having a straighter neck with the bass strings raised a bit at the saddles feels different than that (because relief affects the feel of the plain strings too). Try setting your neck back to .010" relief and raise the wound strings a bit and see if that feels right -- it'll definitely help the buzzing.

Ideally you should use a radius gauge -- set the low E to 5/64 and the high E to 4/64, then adjust the other strings until they hit the gauge. But you can get close just eyeballing it -- after you raise the low E, raise the A a little less than you raised the low E, then raise the D a little less than you raised the A string, then the G a little less than the D, and just nudge the screws of the B saddle a tiny little bit.


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