Help! a few questions about my new guitar

kevin1 · #1 April 20th, 2008

I just got my first guitar. It's a fender stratocaster. I have a few questions.

1. Okay, so I was getting some "fret buzz" (i guess thats what it is called) when I was plucking my strings. So I decided to tighten everything up just a couple turns on the tuning peg, keeping everything relatively tuned, and i noticed that the bridge started to raise up a bit out of the body of the guitar! is this normal? the strings weren't even that tight, but i immediately loosened all the strings and tightened the screws holding the bridge into the body.

2. How close should the three pickups be to the strings? Will it matter?

Thanks for the insight.

Father Goose · #2 April 20th, 2008

Hi Kevin.

Sorry, I have no experience with a Strat bridge but I'm sure someone will be able to assist you.

...and welcome to GFB&B!

kevin1 · #3 April 20th, 2008

Thanks

And to elaborate on my problem,

The "fret buzz" i'm talking about (it might not be fret buzz because i'm not sure) occurs pretty much only when I pluck the strings firmly and it sounds as if the string is like scratching across some part of the neck.

and so when I tune the pegs higher to stop them from hitting the neck, the bridge is way raised up and the guitar is tuned too highly.

it's really annoying.

Father Goose · #4 April 20th, 2008

Seems like it was not properly set-up.
If you're not familiar with the workings in a guitar I'd suggest taking it back to the store and ask them to set up the Strat. They should do this for free. Ask if you can stick around when they do this to pick up some tips.
This being your first guitar (and a Strat too!), you wouldnt want to damage it.

Some answer on gtr set-up issues here ...
Electric Guitar Repairs, Set Up's and Adjustments

Good luck!!

Buchanan · #5 April 20th, 2008

Fathergoose is right. Just take it back to the shop you got it from (unless you got it from the internet of course) and have it professionally set up. Welcome to the forum and gongrats on the strat!

kevin1 · #6 April 20th, 2008

thanks I I'll follow the advice.
I bought from guitarcenter.com. So i should be able to take it to one of their stores and get them to fix it. Thanks for the advice.

Father Goose · #7 April 20th, 2008

Always glad to help.
Do let us know the outcome!!

wjp01908 · #8 April 21st, 2008

Hi Kevin

Sounds to me like you need to get someone to show you how to tune your guitar correctly - the tuners are not there to adjust your action up and down - they are to enable you to set the strings at the correct pitch.

A strat bridge is usually "floating" This means that it is held in one position due to a balance of the string tension and some springs that are fitted inside the guitar. At the normal pitch the height of the strings should be correct.

If the strings are too slack, the bridge will sit flat on the body of the guitar (which in itself OK - some players prefer this) but the action (adjusted at the saddles) will need to be set with this in mind. It may be too low otherwise.

Conversely if the strings are too tight, the bridge will be pulled foreward and up (raising the action a bit in the process).
Do this too much and there is a good chance that something is going to break - with luck just a string.

Take it back to the shop and get them to show you how it all works.

Some guitars set up with very low actions do buzz sometimes - usually, if this doesn`t sound through the amp, this is considered OK.

Apologies if I`ve misread your level of knowledge on this - it can be difficult to tell from posts, where people are at with their playing

Regards

Will

kevin1 · #9 April 21st, 2008

Thanks for the info.

Is there some happy medium between floating and sitting flat that will ensure I don't break anything and still sound alright?

So just to clarify, I probably need the action to be raised to stop the buzzing and the bridge to be lowered?

Thanks again, I really appreciate all this help.

fly135 · #10 April 21st, 2008

kevin, There are two adjustments that control the action. The saddle height on the bridge, and the truss rod that affects the curvature of the neck. The spring tension on the bridge can affect the action but it shouldn't be used to adjust the action. The bridge should either be adjusted to float at the specified height, or perhaps tightened against the body to not float at all.

Sounds like you need a professional setup for starters. There are other factors that can cause string buzz. The height and width of the slots in the nut and variations of fret height. Those two are not easy adjustments.