Set Up Question

I recently acquired a classic 60's tele, and am having some setup issues. It was buzzing around the 3rd - 5th frets, so I adjusted the truss rod slightly, adding a little relief. Now, it frets out on the 14th fret and higher on string bends. I've gone back and forth a few times, adjusting very small amounts, and can't seem to find a workable spot. The frets seem level to me, but I'm certainly no expert. The action is low, but not crazy low and I'd prefer to keep it where it is.

Does it sound like I might need to shim the neck?

Those models with 7.25" radius fret boards do have that problem with certain bends above the 12th fret. It's the nature of the beast. Raising the action a little at least on those strings that are "fretting out" may help. I'd try that before I adjusted the neck angle.

If that doesn't solve the problem you may want to check for a high fret or two but my guess is that it's more likely the result of the action than the frets. JMHO.

Shimming is only needed if you can't adjust the action to the right height with the saddle adjustment screws.

Remember that changing the relief also changes the action, so after you have the relief set right you'll need to change your saddle height again.

High frets can only be detected with a good straight edge and/or a fret rocker. It only takes a few thousandths for a fret to be high enough to cause a problem, and you'll never detect that without an accurate way of measuring.

High frets can only be detected with a good straight edge and/or a fret rocker. It only takes a few thousandths for a fret to be high enough to cause a problem, and you'll never detect that without an accurate way of measuring.

That is an understatement.

The only way I know is that I use a red dry erase marker on all the frets and start to level them. I can tell pretty quickly where high/low ones are and if this is going to be a half hour of leveling or a half minute.

How much you're bending will make a difference if you're even able. I play a 2 tone bend in a song.....it's my test. I can't play anything less than 9 1/2" and do it unless I want the action at half an inch.

I can set up a Tele. But - - my guitar tech can set one up even better. He has lots more set up experience than me. I do a set up once in a while, and he does several a week. Heck, his naked eyeball probably is better calibrated that my ruler that measures 64ths.

If I was having set up issues on a recently acquired guitar, I'd take it to a tech. One that will listen to what you want and that will maybe even watch you play.

The way I see it, experience is the difference between a mediocre set up, and a really good one.

Every time on of these threads appears, people seem to neglect mentioning....
You do not adjust your truss rod based on string buzzing, action height, intonation issues or phases of the moon.
It is an adjustment in and of itself performed by fretting at the first and last frets and making sure there is a bit of daylight between the string and the middle-most fret.
I guess there's a bit of preference involved it you REALLY know what you like and are very picky about it, but I suppose about .010"-.012" would work for 99.9% of the world's guitar players.
This gets done before setting the saddle height, intonation and nut slot depth.

Every time on of these threads appears, people seem to neglect mentioning....
You do not adjust your truss rod based on string buzzing, action height, intonation issues or phases of the moon...

Well, it's an interesting point, but not 100% correct. Badly adjusted truss rods can, indeed cause intonation, action height and buzzing problems. Truss rod adjustment should be part of an A to Z setup, and not a short-cut attempt to fix problems caused by nuts, saddles, neck angle, etc.

Many times truss rod adjustment gets blamed for all the ills of a particular guitar, and usually it's solely because humans tend to place blame on the component we understand least. In fact, if you have to have .010 to .012" of relief on a Telecaster, you've got a neck with problems. If I've got a good neck with level frets, I seldom allow more than .003 to .005" of relief.