My Goodness These Strats are Sensitive Critters

[Brent Hutto]

I've played around a lot with the setup of my Tele, both before and after its switch to CS Nocaster pickups. Sometimes you have to get the pickup height just right to get the best sound so I figured I was getting pretty used to how that works.

This hardtail Stratocaster is a whole 'nother order or finicky. I had it set up to pretty much the Fender setup guide specs except for not having hardly any relief dialed in. Just to see what would happen I raised all the strings about a half-turn of each height-adjustment screw. That got them up to a range of 0.070" on the first string to 0.85" or a little more on the sixth (at the 17th fret). Not a big change, just raises the action about 0.010" across the board, but now the Strat rings and rings and rings. A lot like my Tele, in fact, which is one of the sustaining-est guitars I've ever seen. In fact, I suspect I must have had a little micro-buzz going to kill the tone or something because a little raising like that shouldn't make the guitar so much louder and freely sustaining otherwise.

But that was nothing. I rechecked the pickup heights because it seemed a little muffled and bassy on the #4 switch position, neck+middle. Unlike the other two pickups which were set per Fender's suggestions with the treble side 1/64" higher than the bass, the neck pickup has the bass side the same or maybe slightly higher than the treble. So about 1/2 of the screw lower on the bass and 1/4 turn higher on the treble and the muddiness is completely gone. That's just a ridiculous difference from less than 2/64" total change. Plus the neck pickup alone just really blooms out nicely on single notes now.

So it is a common observation that 0.010" up or down on the action or a half-turn of a pickup screw can makes an immediately noticable difference in tone on a Strat? My Telecaster by comparison just needs a ballpark setup to sound right.

[robt57]

All I'll say is when I hard-tailed my Schecter VS Strat it got way brighter and beautifully articulate in tone. I did fight with my brain with the setup and PUP heights etc. So I guess I see what you are saying.


Tele wise, a step closer, but I'd have to say NOT.

But the other day I stripped it all out and put a Tele bridge and PUP in it with the PUPS and pots/switch out of on eof my Teles I took apart.

Now it really is Tele sounding!!

[Telarkaster]

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto

This hardtail Stratocaster is a whole 'nother order or finicky.

Imagine how finicky it would be with a floating trem!

Strats remind me of Ferraris: so nice but so many things that can go wrong...

[strummin67]

Originally Posted by Telarkaster

Strats remind me of Ferraris: so nice but so many things that can go wrong...

But not nearly as expensive to fix.

[Mark Davis]

I dont measure anything or go by any Fender specs.

I set the neck relief so it doesnt buzz and set the saddles to match the neck radius. The more brealk angle from the strings to the saddles will give you more sustain. WHat alot of people is crack the saddles all the way up and add a shim under the neck so the action isnt so high.

[Brent Hutto]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

WHat alot of people is crack the saddles all the way up and add a shim under the neck so the action isnt so high.

When I take the strings off to replace my saddles, screws and springs in a couple weeks I'm going to be tempted to put a bit of a shim under the neck. Even having raised the action some, both of my E-string saddles are almost down to the bridge and that may be why the first string is the weakest and least sustaining on the guitar. It doesn't have nearly the break angle of the B and G strings.

Until I had to take the neck off to dial out the truss rod last week, the thought of it scared me to death. Hopefully it's not just beginner's luck but that thing just comes right off and then snugs back into place just fine. So maybe added a .004" or so neck shim won't be as major surgery as it seems to a Fender-guitar newcomer.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

I dont measure anything or go by any Fender specs.

I set the neck relief so it doesnt buzz and set the saddles to match the neck radius. The more brealk angle from the strings to the saddles will give you more sustain. WHat alot of people is crack the saddles all the way up and add a shim under the neck so the action isnt so high.

+1

IMO, there's no mystery or magic with Strats - they is what they is, and you need to understand their limits and find the right tone sweet spot for yerself. I think the key has always been in the pups (specs and height from strings their set at) and keeping the trem reasonably tight and hard, not blocking it, along with a decent amount of neck angle (shim as necessary to balance well with reasonably elevated saddles). The rest is in yer brain and fingers - umm, helps heaps to have a killer tube amp, too.

My one and only, a Bullet/SRO-FAT/Lawrence mutt partscaster ...

[Brent Hutto]

Yummm, SRO-FAT.

I wouldn't trade my Cray right now for any other Strat but the neck has been a slight disappointment. One of these days I want to try a genuninely fat neck, apparently there has been considerable variation over time in just how thick the necks they put on MiM Crays actually turn out. Mine feels no different in normal playing than my MiM Standard Tele (not that there's anything wrong with that).

If anyone has handy a closeup of some Strat saddles with a well-proportioned height above the bridge I'd be interested in seeing it. Here's more or less where mine is at right now, although I've done a setup since then and if anything they are a millimeter or so higher:

[strummin67]

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto

When I take the strings off to replace my saddles, screws and springs in a couple weeks...

Are you going to be parting with them? I'm looking for a set.

[Brent Hutto]

Originally Posted by strummin67

Are you going to be parting with them? I'm looking for a set.

You mean the old saddles? Absolutely. I've no particular packrat tendency and don't really expect the Callaham ones to break and need a spare

So sure, you can have 'em. But I'm pretty sure I'm not going to spring the extra 30 bucks for a new/better bridge plate. So only screws, springs, saddles and height screws will be coming off.

[strummin67]

I'll PM you shortly.

[Brent Hutto]

I'm going to revamp my setup at the same time I change out the stock bridge for a Callaham hardtail. I currently have it set to something like the Fender owner's manual recommendations and I have an 11-49 string set with a 0.021" wound third string. As I've mentioned before, the top and bottom E string saddles sit awfully low and I may shim the neck slightly to bring them up.

Here's the thing. If I play softly the guitar doesn't sound bad at all. And if I play on the top four strings, like with a heavy pick playing warm, jazzy chords on the neck pickup it sounds fabulous. But anything involving the bass strings or especially strummed chords with open strings it just gets hot and midrangy. And the middle and #4 switch positions can be a little nasal sounding.

So what should I change? I'm thinking of backing off to 26-36-46 in the bottom strings and making the wound G string much lighter (like 18 instead of 21) while leaving the top two strings the same (11, 14). I also want to bring the height of the neck and middle pickups down, especially on the bass side. And maybe a 0.004" or so shim in the neck to get some more break angle, plus the upgraded saddles will maybe clean up the somewhat congested woofy mids and lows.

Any other suggestions. I'm going to be pulling the whole thing apart while I do the hardtail and neck shim so now's the time for whatever is a good idea on a used Robert Cray Strat setup.

[titok16]

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto

I've played around a lot with the setup of my Tele, both before and after its switch to CS Nocaster pickups. Sometimes you have to get the pickup height just right to get the best sound so I figured I was getting pretty used to how that works.

This hardtail Stratocaster is a whole 'nother order or finicky. I had it set up to pretty much the Fender setup guide specs except for not having hardly any relief dialed in. Just to see what would happen I raised all the strings about a half-turn of each height-adjustment screw. That got them up to a range of 0.070" on the first string to 0.85" or a little more on the sixth (at the 17th fret). Not a big change, just raises the action about 0.010" across the board, but now the Strat rings and rings and rings. A lot like my Tele, in fact, which is one of the sustaining-est guitars I've ever seen. In fact, I suspect I must have had a little micro-buzz going to kill the tone or something because a little raising like that shouldn't make the guitar so much louder and freely sustaining otherwise.

But that was nothing. I rechecked the pickup heights because it seemed a little muffled and bassy on the #4 switch position, neck+middle. Unlike the other two pickups which were set per Fender's suggestions with the treble side 1/64" higher than the bass, the neck pickup has the bass side the same or maybe slightly higher than the treble. So about 1/2 of the screw lower on the bass and 1/4 turn higher on the treble and the muddiness is completely gone. That's just a ridiculous difference from less than 2/64" total change. Plus the neck pickup alone just really blooms out nicely on single notes now.

So it is a common observation that 0.010" up or down on the action or a half-turn of a pickup screw can makes an immediately noticable difference in tone on a Strat? My Telecaster by comparison just needs a ballpark setup to sound right.

here in hawaii you dont get alot of electric...i mean its all acoustic...i bought my son a squier strat in 1993 and he didnt like it so i use that...but the frets are grooved...reason...i play 4 gigs a week 2 hours long each one...i do 30 songs....all my own work...not one cover...instrumental too...youd think theyd kill me but they dont...this youtube i had to use a LP epiphone....which is a real junker...i got a ibaneez destroyer in 1990 in a shop for $25....the neck is way better....this tube is a song i wrote
aloha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PgMHOa_fPg