Strat fret buzz coming through the amp

[skolacki]

If you haven’t tried yet ,lower the neck pick up ,or like you said bad fret job , frets or neck pick can create buzz and a metallic type of buzzing , neck relief should be around 10 thousands with a feeler gauge ,press down on first fret and 15th check in the middle of that . Around 7th or 8th fret, you can use a capo at first for an extra hand

My business card comes in at .015". Just checked. It was rubbing a bit so I would say I'm close to .010. Are you meaning the neck pickup can pull the strings towards the fretboard? I don't have it set super close. I like how it sounds where it is. In fact, after yesterday I'm not too concerned about the neck anymore. But I will call the tech and give him a chance because it shouldn't rattle at my current action height. As mentioned I set them all at 3/32" from the 12th fret. With 9's on there it plays good.

 

[Admin M@]

Strat? I love them.
Have a pro check the nut, neck pocket, and relief.
Consider having it plek'd.

Or live with it. It could be argued that fret buzz is part of the Strat sound.

 

[skolacki]

A Strat has a lot of great sounds, not just from the neck pickup, and they’ve been part of popular music since they were invented. Gorgeous cleans, lows that are crystal clear and sound like a grand piano, great sounds in the in-between settings for the pickups … but they can be a PITA if they’re not set up right. When you get the sound you are after, like Hendrix or Trower, they’re magical.

The Strat’s string scale length is an important part of the Strat sound, because it increases the string tension, and that’s why a little lighter gauge string feels better. Lighter strings don’t have as much output as the thicker gauge for a given metal composition, so that’s one thing that affects the sound. The harmonics that occur along the string, and that are sensed by the pickups, will change position if the scale is changed too but adjusting the pickup locations would probably help keep the sound similar.

I have a PRS Studio which has a shorter neck length, and uses their Narrowfield pickups, and it gets a surprisingly Strat-like sound even with mahogany and maple body construction. My PRS DGT gets a surprisingly good Strat sound on its neck pickup when it’s tapped, so much so that people are fooled when David Grissom, its co-designer, uses it in his recordings. The player and note choices and technique can cover for minor differences in sound and make the experience even more believable for the listener, and having the guitar and amp putting out the right sound makes it more fun and puts us in that zone.

Yes magical! I've been playing the Bridge of Sigh's riff since I was a young guy. But yesterday it sounded right for the 1st time. Yesssss! Then we screwed around with too rolling stoned. Haha! That was great. And I didn't even have a univibe going. Next jam I'll have that too. Didn't realize it's in the phasor block. I had a slow rotary, sounded cool, but not that sound.

The reason I asked about the single neck on a short guitar: I have a Hamer Jr, made in Indonesia. $300. Great guitar. I saw a guy selling one on Reverb and he shoehorned a single into the neck. Food for thought. I really like that guitar, but a little reluctant to rout into it. But I might do it.

So far I've had no tapped buckers that sounded like a Strat. I like P90 necks for sure. Mayer's PRS (Not the Silver Sky) whatever model it is gets a good single tone.

 

[skolacki]

Strat? I love them.
Have a pro check the nut, neck pocket, and relief.
Consider having it plek'd.

Or live with it. It could be argued that fret buzz is part of the Strat sound.

After yesterday I may just live with it. The rattle is not bad where I'm at now. Playing with bass and drums you can't hear it.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Yes magical! I've been playing the Bridge of Sigh's riff since I was a young guy. But yesterday it sounded right for the 1st time. Yesssss! Then we screwed around with too rolling stoned. Haha! That was great. And I didn't even have a univibe going. Next jam I'll have that too. Didn't realize it's in the phasor block. I had a slow rotary, sounded cool, but not that sound.

I sometimes use the Univibe sound because "it's that sound" but I love the sound of a guitar through a Leslie/rotary even more because of the Beatles and Cream's song Badge. I have Strymon's Lex on my pedal board, and a rotary block on many of my presets, more than I do a phaser block.

Yes, the neck pickup and a Marshall-type amp loud is that sound. I had one of my Strats out a little while back and was playing Spanish Castle Magic along with some Bridge of Sighs and similar stuff, and it sounded wonderful.

So far I've had no tapped buckers that sounded like a Strat. I like P90 necks for sure. Mayer's PRS (Not the Silver Sky) whatever model it is gets a good single tone.

Remember, the string length and pickup position makes a difference. Mayer's Super Eagle has a longer Strat-like scale and the ability to coil tap. The Special 22 Semi-hollow is like a less-expensive version of that guitar, with the same pickups but a slightly shorter scale, and has a bit more of an ES-335 sound, but does a nice job of Strat sounds too. The 509 would fool you into thinking it's a Strat too.

 

[EdgE]

Yes some times the neck pick up(if up to close to the string) can pull on the string, you can get some weird stuff going on , metallic over tones and of of tune. 15 thousands isn't bad and the action 3/32 isn't bad either. I have found some guitars because the way they resonate ,its just how it is ,as long as it doesn't interfere with the notes, play louder so you can't hear it

 

[Andy Eagle]

First you need to identify if the frets are perfectly level. Then set the relief to no more that the thickness of your high E. Then you need to see where the relief actually is . Often on a neck that presents as straight and no fret issues but buzzes too easily basically everywhere the cause is the relief is not where it is needed. It is too high up . A good guide is if you fret on 1 and 14 it should bottom out at 7 and when you fret at 10 to the end it should be dead level. If it bottoms out at 9~10 and you still have relief in 10 top the end it's going to buzz easily and everywhere. If your neck does this the best solution is a Plek.
The reason I say Plek is that necks like this usually are perfect without string tension and the issue is caused by the fact that wood is not a perfectly even predictable material. This piece even with the truss rod doesn't flex in the most beneficial way. The plek will read the relief with the string tension and correct for the flex in the frets. The old school way (by hand and judgment) was to dress a fall away from about 10 to the end. If you decided to get corrective fret work DON'T accept a stewmac string tension jig as an alternative because pushing the neck from behind never replicates string tension.

 

[skolacki]

First you need to identify if the frets are perfectly level. Then set the relief to no more that the thickness of your high E. Then you need to see where the relief actually is . Often on a neck that presents as straight and no fret issues but buzzes too easily basically everywhere the cause is the relief is not where it is needed. It is too high up . A good guide is if you fret on 1 and 14 it should bottom out at 7 and when you fret at 10 to the end it should be dead level. If it bottoms out at 9~10 and you still have relief in 10 top the end it's going to buzz easily and everywhere. If your neck does this the best solution is a Plek.

Bottom out at 7, do you mean I will see the greatest relief at 7? Trying to understand. Finding where the relief is makes sense to me. I’ll have a quick look tomorrow. I’m on shift and usually don’t have a lot of time but I also have a fret rocker to try out. I appreciate the advice.

 

[Andy Eagle]

Bottom out at 7, do you mean I will see the greatest relief at 7? Trying to understand. Finding where the relief is makes sense to me. I’ll have a quick look tomorrow. I’m on shift and usually don’t have a lot of time but I also have a fret rocker to try out. I appreciate the advice.

Yes greatest relief. Do it by eye using the G string fretted as a reference . Feeler gauges and straight edges are no use for this .

 

[Andy Eagle]

To add to above; the reason you get relief in the wrong place is that a neck will just flex the most at the weakest spot particularly if that is near the middle usually between 7~9 and the problem arrises when it's more like 9~12. Twist can also appear only with string tension and perfect without.

 

[skolacki]

To add to above; the reason you get relief in the wrong place is that a neck will just flex the most at the weakest spot particularly if that is near the middle usually between 7~9 and the problem arrises when it's more like 9~12. Twist can also appear only with string tension and perfect without.

Daaaang. You have a real understanding of guitar necks. That’s awesome. I’ll have a quick look later today and post back. Thanks man.

 

[skolacki]

First you need to identify if the frets are perfectly level. Then set the relief to no more that the thickness of your high E. Then you need to see where the relief actually is . Often on a neck that presents as straight and no fret issues but buzzes too easily basically everywhere the cause is the relief is not where it is needed. It is too high up . A good guide is if you fret on 1 and 14 it should bottom out at 7 and when you fret at 10 to the end it should be dead level. If it bottoms out at 9~10 and you still have relief in 10 top the end it's going to buzz easily and everywhere. If your neck does this the best solution is a Plek.

Well I checked out my neck. The fret rocker I bought shows the 12 and 21 high. Also checked relief and from 1 to 14 it bottoms out around 6 or 7.
Between 10 and 20 I can still get some movement when pushing but its not much at all, so I'll call it flat above the 10 except for my high 12th fret.

So, I'll get ahold of the tech and hope he makes it good. And again thanks to all for the great advice!

 

[Andy Eagle]

Well I checked out my neck. The fret rocker I bought shows the 12 and 21 high. Also checked relief and from 1 to 14 it bottoms out around 6 or 7.
Between 10 and 20 I can still get some movement when pushing but its not much at all, so I'll call it flat above the 10 except for my high 12th fret.

So, I'll get ahold of the tech and hope he makes it good. And again thanks to all for the great advice!

From this it sounds like just a couple of high frets. When you have had the fret dress try again with the relief and see what you got. I would suggest to your tech that a slight fall away in the upper register would be something you would like . This compensates for any slight relief in the neck flex up at the top. If you fret a note on the 15th fret and look at the clearance over the next fret you will see how critical a tiny flex or lift in the overall profile would be. Think of flex up here as each fret is progressively slightly higher than the previous . As you can see by doing this observation that is pretty undesirable.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

0.010-0.015" is way too much relief. Fretting 1st to 17th fret, 0.005" is a good starting point, with 0.002—0.007" being the acceptable range. If you need 0.010" or more, something isn't right.

3/32 at the 12th fret is also really high action. That's what I use on the low E on my dreadnought, and it's set up for bluegrass.

 

[Andy Eagle]

Well I checked out my neck. The fret rocker I bought shows the 12 and 21 high. Also checked relief and from 1 to 14 it bottoms out around 6 or 7.
Between 10 and 20 I can still get some movement when pushing but its not much at all, so I'll call it flat above the 10 except for my high 12th fret.

So, I'll get ahold of the tech and hope he makes it good. And again thanks to all for the great advice!

Don't rely too much on a fret rocker because they only show the relationship between three frets and if one of the outside ones is not perfect the information it gives about the middle is wrong . It just gives you a basic idea that fret work is probably needed. Even if I find one fret is the bulk of the issue I would still dress the whole area.

 

[skolacki]

I’m taking it back to the tech next month. He zoned in on frets needing crowned within 2 minutes of looking at it. They weren’t too bad but some flat areas. I don’t think he dressed it. Kind of annoying but still totally playable as is. I paid for fretwork and a good clean action. So hoping he’ll make good on it. I think my problems are all at the top and shouldn’t be too tough. Andy you mentioned tapering the frets at the very top and I’ll ask about getting that done.