Hall Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 All of the 'America is best' is just hype. I bought a Chinese Modern player Strat (as new used) for £195. It played better than my Charvel. So I sold the Charvel. Nice low action and no buzzing. No sharp fret ends and for the money it doesn't get better. I think (no offence meant) Americans have a false image of themselves and the world. They see themselves as a great country. But the world sees it different. You spend more on arms than the rest of the world combined. The biggest prison population by percentage of population in the world. Which is also slave labour in disguise. Without going on, forget where it's made. Just buy the best for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I assure you I am not doing anything wrong. What example could you give of something I'm doing wrong that would make it unstable? The truss rod is set to Fender's exact specs, using their exact procedure with a feeler gauge and capo. The tremolo is adjusted properly. The saddles are set to the correct radius and to Fender's recommended height. It can not be set to Fender's recommended string height with strings larger that 8.5-39 without serious fret buzz. My Tele's almost never need any adjustments whatsoever, and I set those up myself also. Having owned 3 newer USA Strats that were difficult if not impossible to get playing well, a pattern is starting to emerge here. I'm sure Fender has made some great instruments throughout the years, but these newer Strats are not that great. If they are as good as ever, I've had extraordinarily bad luck having three duds in a row I guess. A professional luthier has confirmed that there is a problem with many of Fender's necks, which Fender is aware of and chooses not to fix. The fretboard slopes upward where the neck and body meet, preventing the action from being set low without buzzing. It requires a full fret job to fix, which I had done on my recently acquired 2011 Tele. I'm not paying for a fret job on a brand new guitar to make it play right. Two different Strat players have told me that their guitars always buzz a bit. They have the attitude that its an inherent flaw of a Strat and you just have to live with it. One guy said he didn't care because he always uses some level of distortion. I don't like fret buzz at all. My opinion is that a good guitar of any type should be capable of being set up with good action and zero fret buzz. I have a light touch, so its not my playing style that's causing the fret buzz. Anyway, I'm going to decide tonight whether to exchange it. They had some nice amps and plenty of other tasty gear at the shop. So you're keeping an expensive , unplayable, brand new, guitar that you hate just because it looks cool? If it's the last five frets that are giving the problem why not just level them and solve the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aster1 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I have 3 newer American Strats 2010 & 2014 (with one being a 60th Aniv). All just perfect fit, finish, & sound to me. I nit pick any flaw and I'm not saying yours isn't flawed. I agree about a great Luthier being magic with a guitar too. I'm blessed with a warranty station for Fender, Gibson, Martin, Guild, etc. here in my city. They are very good and it's worth $80-$100 to really setup a guitar after I break them in just a bit. If somethings wrong with that guitar it should go back and the Vendor know about it. Unless they know they won't know to fix something in the process or someone that "couldn't care less" about quality working for them. Best wishes and get it working properly so you don't just "Hate on Fender" with things. If the DON'T work with someone & fix a defect properly then "HATE ON" as they deserve it to the max. Only if you've given them every chance to make it right however. Aster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 So you're keeping an expensive , unplayable, brand new, guitar that you hate just because it looks cool? If it's the last five frets that are giving the problem why not just level them and solve the problem? I adjusted it again today. It still sucks and its going back tomorrow. I'll exchange it for store credit and hopefully get a nice amp and some effects instead. I'm done with Strats for now. I have 3 newer American Strats 2010 & 2014 (with one being a 60th Aniv). All just perfect fit, finish, & sound to me. I nit pick any flaw and I'm not saying yours isn't flawed. I agree about a great Luthier being magic with a guitar too. I'm blessed with a warranty station for Fender, Gibson, Martin, Guild, etc. here in my city. They are very good and it's worth $80-$100 to really setup a guitar after I break them in just a bit. If somethings wrong with that guitar it should go back and the Vendor know about it. Unless they know they won't know to fix something in the process or someone that "couldn't care less" about quality working for them. Best wishes and get it working properly so you don't just "Hate on Fender" with things. If the DON'T work with someone & fix a defect properly then "HATE ON" as they deserve it to the max. Only if you've given them every chance to make it right however. Aster Definitely not a Fender hater. I love both my Teles. Just never found a Strat that worked well other than a 1990s MIM that a friend owned. I really want to find a Strat that works, which is why I've tried three times in the last two years. I'm taking a break from my Strat search for a while. Maybe the right one will find its way into my hands eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I"ve run into only a few of these, all of them great, bought this one. Works pretty good! rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 That is one bad a$s case. A Strat with a bound 12" radiused board needs something special as well as Rct! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Everybody is just jealous of our freedoms. That's why they hate us so much. As far as slave labor, NOT! We need to go back to the chain gang. Maybe they wouldn't be so apt to offend & reoffend if they knew they had to work instead of laying around. With the new three strikes law, I get to beat the crap out of my dog even when she just whines. I love it and it makes me a whole person. Who wouldn't be jealous of that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Gibson Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Good Lord, where did that come from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 That is one bad a$s case. I had a case like that- but in black with red interior. Liked it so much I had to have it. Paid full retail new, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 A professional luthier has confirmed that there is a problem with many of Fender's necks, which Fender is aware of and chooses not to fix. The fretboard slopes upward where the neck and body meet, preventing the action from being set low without buzzing. It requires a full fret job to fix, which I had done on my recently acquired 2011 Tele. I'm not paying for a fret job on a brand new guitar to make it play right. Two different Strat players have told me that their guitars always buzz a bit. They have the attitude that its an inherent flaw of a Strat and you just have to live with it. One guy said he didn't care because he always uses some level of distortion. If it's the last five frets that are giving the problem why not just level them and solve the problem? I might throw some of my experience into the ring here: I don't think factory specs count, nor can you set up a guitar to a spec and expect good results. All guitars vibrate differently, strings vibrate differently from different guitars. So I think specs might be a good guide and helpful to some, but I set up guitars based on what they are actually doing and how they react when I play them. Only ever had one "Strat" that had what I might call an issue: It had a real thin neck (made by Jackson?), with a variation in the grain right in the middle. So adjusting the rod, it would bend sharply there. But still, it had some pretty good action to it. Had more than a couple Strats that I raised the action on a non-buzzing, "perfect" set-up Strat because with the 7" radius, notes fret out when bending. And some that I just raised them because they were too low- not because they were buzzing and fretting out, but because they were just...too low. Also, you can get the guitar PERFECT and really low action without buzzing, right on the edge, with PERFECTLY dressed frets and perfect neck adjustment. I have done this. But once you play it, you start wearing frets, and it will buzz a bit, because perfect don't last with perfectly dressed frets. A little anal or detailed, but all different guitar designs have a range where the truss rod will adjust, depending on where the rod starts and ends in the neck. All have a heel area where the rod doesn't do anything. One design isn't better than the other, because there is no "perfect" for a truss rod/relief/bow/ adjustment that works best along the whole length of the neck. Any "bow" you give the neck to make the guitar play well at the 1st fret or long string vibration will be a compromise when playing up higher, as a bow to allow the string to vibrate will bring the heel up somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 That is one bad a$s case. It is. It's a G&G, made in USA. I'm surprised since it's an EJ that it isn't held shut by big rubber bands. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 I might throw some of my experience into the ring here: I don't think factory specs count, nor can you set up a guitar to a spec and expect good results. All guitars vibrate differently, strings vibrate differently from different guitars. So I think specs might be a good guide and helpful to some, but I set up guitars based on what they are actually doing and how they react when I play them. I was just using the factory specs as a guide. Of course I tried all kinds of variations to the truss rod and string height adjustments after dialing in Fender's specs. I finally fixed it today by sprinkling some magic powder on it and turning into this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyA Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Wow that's crazy! I've got like 8 Fenders and 6 of them are strats, 2 MIM, and 4 USA, and two Tele's....The American Deluxe is a 2001 with micro-tilt feature and my newest one is a 2013 American Standard Sienna Burst with ash body and maple neck.....they all play flawlessly....I did have a problem with the AD after I let a well known luthier change out the lock button but instead of just doing that he did a complete setup on it and it buzzed even when I put the action back to spec, then I discovered he had screwed with the micro tilt so I found out you have to back the screws out of the base plate a few turns before adjusting the micro tilt and bingo it was perfect again. I have bad luck period with the just purchased Gibsons, a new Les Paul Custom and ES 335 Satin....both had bad nuts and then the custom had improperly seated frets and the ES 335 also had the screwpost sticking out of the bridge hole 2/32 and sharp to wear it cut my hand. Anyway they are replacing the Les Paul Custom with a new one and I should get it Thursday in the box unopened. They are replacing the nut on the ES 335 and still waiting on Gibson to say what they are going to do about the bridge screwpost. That's amazing you got American Strats with bad necks, especially when they can be corrected with the Biflex Truss Rod and Micro tilt feature. I guess we are tit for tat then on bad Fenders and bad Gibsons in a row. The micro tilt feature should be used to change the angle and raise the action up 1/64 for those last five frets....the headstock needs to be pitched forward and that's what the micro tilt does. Turn the guitar over, loosen the bottom four screws on the plate and not the top ones next to the neck a few turns, put the allen wrench in the micro tilt hole and give it a half turn clockwise, then screw the plate screw back down, Play and see if that solves your problem, if not but it's less then do it again till it disappears, if it is worse the turn it counter clock wise till it is less and again till it's gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 Wow that's crazy! I've got like 8 Fenders and 6 of them are strats, 2 MIM, and 4 USA, and two Tele's....The American Deluxe is a 2001 with micro-tilt feature and my newest one is a 2013 American Standard Sienna Burst with ash body and maple neck.....they all play flawlessly....I did have a problem with the AD after I let a well known luthier change out the lock button but instead of just doing that he did a complete setup on it and it buzzed even when I put the action back to spec, then I discovered he had screwed with the micro tilt so I found out you have to back the screws out of the base plate a few turns before adjusting the micro tilt and bingo it was perfect again. I have bad luck period with the just purchased Gibsons, a new Les Paul Custom and ES 335 Satin....both had bad nuts and then the custom had improperly seated frets and the ES 335 also had the screwpost sticking out of the bridge hole 2/32 and sharp to wear it cut my hand. Anyway they are replacing the Les Paul Custom with a new one and I should get it Thursday in the box unopened. They are replacing the nut on the ES 335 and still waiting on Gibson to say what they are going to do about the bridge screwpost. That's amazing you got American Strats with bad necks, especially when they can be corrected with the Biflex Truss Rod and Micro tilt feature. I guess we are tit for tat then on bad Fenders and bad Gibsons in a row. The micro tilt feature should be used to change the angle and raise the action up 1/64 for those last five frets....the headstock needs to be pitched forward and that's what the micro tilt does. Turn the guitar over, loosen the bottom four screws on the plate and not the top ones next to the neck a few turns, put the allen wrench in the micro tilt hole and give it a half turn clockwise, then screw the plate screw back down, Play and see if that solves your problem, if not but it's less then do it again till it disappears, if it is worse the turn it counter clock wise till it is less and again till it's gone. I forgot to mention that I tried all kinds of adjustments to the Micro-tilt, too. Raising it only made things worse. The best result was leaving it all the way down, but it still wasn't great. I'm done with Strats for now. I've had nothing but problems with the necks, and my Gibsons have all been perfect out of the box. My Epiphones have been great too after a fret job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 I was just using the factory specs as a guide. Of course I tried all kinds of variations to the truss rod and string height adjustments after dialing in Fender's specs. I finally fixed it today by sprinkling some magic powder on it and turning into this: Well, well! What sort of magic powder did you apply? :o Congrats, Ranger! I forgot to mention that I tried all kinds of adjustments to the Micro-tilt, too. Raising it only made things worse. The best result was leaving it all the way down, but it still wasn't great. I'm done with Strats for now. I've had nothing but problems with the necks, and my Gibsons have all been perfect out of the box. My Epiphones have been great too after a fret job. The Micro Tilt is a useless feature and has always been in my opinion. It already made the three-bolt mountings of the 1970's more unstable as they were anyway. I just tightened the allen screws on the eight Fenders of mine having it to keep them in place for whatever future abuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyA Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 I have always been able to play strats at Fender setup specs....Go here right from Fender http://www2.fender.com/support/articles/stratocaster-setup-guide/ Also insure you place the Capo on first fret when setting action. I have a 2013 American Standard Sienna Burst Ash model along with 5 other Strats and have been playing them since 1966. Never seen one that wouldn't play like butter when setup to Fender setup spec, afterall that's what sells them is the sound and feel. Yours is a 9.5 radius so the action should be 4/64 all strings measured at the 17th fret with capo on first fret from top of fret to bottom of string, with guitar in playing position. With capo on first fret and holding down Low E at 22 Fret and set relief at .010 at the 8th fret using feeler gage, again while in playing position. That guitar should play like a top, if buzz at the last few upper frets, the adjust the micro tilt to raise the strings and tilt the headstock forward there by lowering the angle of the upper frets. It should play like butter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyA Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Ha Ha! The micro tilt is useless if you don't know how to use it properly and more than likely damage it. That's because if you do not back off the to phillips screws at the bottom of the plate it will not raise or lower the action or angle. It works on every Strat I have owned, and I have owned a bunch since 1966. There isn't info or instructions on how to do it in the owners manuals so I can see how one would think it is useless. Go here to this link to see exactly how it's done and prevent damaging it. http://www2.fender.com/experience/tech-talk/what-is-micro-tilt/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 I've never had issues with Fenders. The only neck issues I've ever had with any guitars have been with Gibsons and fret issues with Epiphones. You don't get to be the largest producers of guitars by consistently cranking out dogs. Luck of the draw. I think if manufacturers did a better job with QC and product return policies, and if stores did a better job screening incoming guitars and doing setups, fewer dogs would make it into the hands of consumers. Edit: Everyone likes guitars set up to their own comfort level. The lower you prefer the action, the less margin of error there is, the more tweaking will be required, and the greater the frequency of adjustments. Stores should set up a new guitar according the way the customer wants it, within reason, using the preferred strings and picks. At this point, the seller will find irreconcilable issues with the guitar (or the customer). Also, many (newer) guitars require occasional adjustments until they settle in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 I've never had issues with Fenders. The only neck issues I've ever had with any guitars have been with Gibsons and fret issues with Epiphones. You don't get to be the largest producers of guitars by consistently cranking out dogs. Luck of the draw. I think if manufacturers did a better job with QC and product return policies, and if stores did a better job screening incoming guitars and doing setups, fewer dogs would make it into the hands of consumers. Also, many (newer) guitars require occasional adjustments until they settle in. +++++1 Agree completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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