frustrated HW1 owner...anyone else had fret rattle issues?

[bluepill]

hi guys, after months of looking around and reading threads here i bought a new HW1, very pretty in wine and rosewood, my first tele after 16 yrs of playing and owning too many guitars

all good right....well nope!

playing it in the shop the guitar fret rattled badly, i mean all over....the shop said it needs to set in, play it for a week and see what happens...so i did

a week or so playing, rattles rattles rattles...took it back and the shop set it up, not much better, they dropped the E strings...put them up when i got home and played on...setup at this time was even higher action than the fender setup guide i got with the guitar

not long after back in the shop, being sent to the fender warranty repairs in melbourne...took a few weeks...got it back, same thing..perhaps midley better but looks like they did sweet FA

so back to the shop, the guitar gets flown up to sydney for repairs there, comes back..lots better but still rattles, especially when bending on the high E, i mean it just goes dead

so back to the shop, how many time now..****. the shop owners at this point hate me but are still cool and understand the frustration as well as they play it and same thing (of course).

so the shop owner says he is seeing a luthier for another reason and hell take the guitar, then i ring today to hear the following

'the luthier says its a known issue on some fender strat and teles due to the fret radius, and that you can lower the fret hight in the middle of the neck so when you bend it doesnt fret out'....what the ****!! i mean common i own about 15 guitars atm, many 400 jobs from ebay and ive never had this before

so i need to go back to the shop in a few days to try and up the action / string height, and if no fix a call to the fender importer will be made...so in the last approx 3 months, the guitar has been in the shop for 2 months!!!

so question is, any other HW1 tele owners had this issue?

if this is a design issue, then imo these guitars should never have been made....sorry for the long write up, one frustrated guy

[boris bubbanov]

I've got 4 Highway Ones, 3 Teles and One Stratocaster.

Based on the Wine Trans color (which replaced the trans red) we know your guitar is an "Upgrade", mid 2005 or later guitar. We know it has REALLY BIG frets and we also know it has the cheap die cast Fender/Schaller tuners made by Ping, overseas possibly in China.



I'm not sure if you are referring to fret buzz or if you are suggesting you have loose frets; I'll assume the former. I'd say it is quite hard to set up a guitar super low with such large frets without some inadvertent fret buzz. You gotta tolerate it, or raise the set up.

Or your could level the frets down to a normal size as I did on one Highway One, replace the neck with a big aftermarket fattie (normal frets) as I did on 2 others, a Tele and a Strat. My 4th Highway One is an earlier model with smaller frets, it is OK as it is.

Replace those cr@ppy tuners with some good Gotoh 'klusons' if you're getting the typical junky noises from there I remember.

[bluepill]

yeh its pretty much the latest version, so yep jumbo frets, but surely if jumbo frets rattled as bad as they do on my tele (and i mean fret buzz), jackson, ibanez, yamaha etc would have sold vey few guitars in the 80s?...and im no action **** trust me!!

tuners seem fine tho...they the least of my problems :)

[HOBBSTER01]

Have the frets been leveled and crowned?
Also,what fret is actually fretting out?

[bluepill]

hey guys, well it sounds like everything has been done to the guitar fret dress wise, but as it wasnt in the shop where i bought it so im not entirely sure...and yeh it buzzes almost everywhere on the high e when bending, and you dont even need to bend up a whole step for it to buzz out

anyway do you guys think i just got lemon, or this is something normal on the new hw1?

[telechucker]

No, Bro - I think you got a lemon. I bought a brand new Hwy 1 Strat at a shop in Caulfield earlier this year (I think about 6 mos. ago) and it was fine outta the box. Saying that, I play Country, Rock and Blues with a little higher action than most and use .11's. My only gripe is the new run of Hwy 1's has a nasty skinny neck. Now, I know I'm talking Strats and not Teles - but you'd think they came from the same neck of the woods ; so to speak. Regards.

[marty h]

i have a new 2007 highway one texas tele and i set my strings low,it has hardly no buzz

[beep.click]

I think we're talking lemon, here.

I have 2 Highway One Teles -- 1 rosewood; 1 maple. Both "upgrade" models, with the big frets. I haven't done ANYTHING to the frets on either one. NO fret buzz, no issues at all. FWIW, the maple is strung with .009's, the rosewood with .010's. The maple neck is one of the best necks I've played in my life, PERIOD.

[robt57]

my 07 also is a "upgrade" model, with the big frets. I tend to bend a lot and more than a full step more than most I'd wager to say, nada problemo. Are you using very light gauge strings by chance?

[Mark Davis]

You got what I call a weak neck.

Try this. strum the strings not playing a chord just strum them and press down lightly on the tip of the front of the headstock. If the strings hit the 1st ffret and all go dead with the slight pressure then you need a new neck.

Id have the dealer send the guitar back to Fender as a defective neck and get you another one. They should have really done that the first time it came back unfixed.

I had a Jaguar BASS that did this same thing no matter what I tried couldnt fix string buzz all over the place my dealer sent it back to Fender they determined the neck was defective as I thought it was and I got full credit and bought a HWY1 bass which played perfect on all frets.

So send it back for a replacement you have already had enough techs look at it and its still not right.

[bender-freak]

i agree with the "lemon" theory...i've had my Hiway1 for well over a year now, blondie, maple board, big frets,...love it, bone stock except for added Hipshot and titanium saddles....action is extremely low on this guitar, lower than i can get my gold-top LP, just the way i like them, and there is not a hint of buzz or rattle...hope you get it all sorted out...

[livepulse]

Very sorry to hear about your problems mate, hope those issues will be over soon!

My question: what is a "lemon"? I'm not an native english speaker so...

[bender-freak]

Originally Posted by livepulse

Very sorry to hear about your problems mate, hope those issues will be over soon!

My question: what is a "lemon"? I'm not an native english speaker so...

"lemon" means faulty/defective/ no good/not worth the hassle of messing with it, etc...original poster should try to get a refund...

[Mark Davis]

In California they say there is a lemon law that lets yiou return any defective item within 30 days of purchase.

The lemon started with cars.

[mjb1967]

I vote lemon, cause I have had 2 HWY strats and 1 tele with no problems after a pro set up and fret dress...can you exchange it?

[bluepill]

hey guys
thanks so much for all the feedback!! its good to hear that the HW1's in general dont have this issue and that infact it looks like i have a lemon, cause they really do cover everything i look for in a tele!

also good to hear some of you guys with low action...well i dont mind it on the high side but good to know that the jumbo frets can handle it....as youd expect from all those jumbo fret hair metal guitars :)

oh yeh string gauge is 10s, which is lighter than i usually use (11-49), but for some reason the tele feels better with lighter strings

ill try Marks weak neck theory when i go to the shop tommorow (where the guitar is) and see if it passes that test....either way i agree its been through enough techs and i will be inquiring about the next step, calling fender AU and hopefully get a replacement...i hate to say it but after so many issues im not really best friends with the guitar...sounds bad i know but its been a hard road

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by livepulse

My question: what is a "lemon"? I'm not an native english speaker so...

It's an oblong, yellow, citrus fruit.

I think the saying probably originates from when you buy a faulty product, it leaves you with a sour taste - or it just leaves you sour.

[livepulse]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

It's an oblong, yellow, citrus fruit.

Thanks for clearing that up! I had no idea!

I thought it might have to do with a faulty product but i've been wrong before...

When i was a kid i always thought that "brothers in arms" ment something like friends holding hands or armed together...

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

I'm not sure if you are referring to fret buzz or if you are suggesting you have loose frets; I'll assume the former. I'd say it is quite hard to set up a guitar super low with such large frets without some inadvertent fret buzz. You gotta tolerate it, or raise the set up.

Replace those cr@ppy tuners with some good Gotoh 'klusons' if you're getting the typical junky noises from there I remember.

I think there's truth to the big fret factor because my Highway One Telecaster has the jumbo frets, my Stratocaster does not, and both are same low action set up done with same tools. Some playing makes the Highway One more prone to the strings hitting the frets. Hybrid picking where the strings are getting grabbed and pulled in a plane that's different from strumming and some funky upstroke picking with a thick pick can make it obvious.

As far as the tuners go I cannot complain. They're not as nice as the lockers on my Stratocaster or open gear tuners on my V series Martin, but they hold strings, tune easily and the instrument stays in tune.

[DaleH]

I have an 2006 upgrade tele with jumbo frets rosewood board and low action and it is fine.
9.5 radius ,there's no fretting out or buzz at all.

[Moose Studio]

I've got a 2007 HWY1 Tele. Low action, no problems. I love the big frets!

[bluepill]

so today i went to allans music in the city and played every tele there including a new HW1, so about 6 teles inc the expensive butterscotch one with the seymour mini bucker in the front (Excuse my ignorance on the models:) and i hate to say it, but i think fenders current quality control is absolute ****...they all buzzed or fretted out when bending on the high E string around the 10-17th fret (it varied)...amongst other fret rattles

the only exception was 1 mex tele, but that was 1 out of a few mex's there...have my time again id play all of the mex teles i could and choose a winner but now it seems ill have to live with with my HW1 and the fret buzzing...i have to go to a few more shops and play a few more HW1's but considering the shop are willing to exchange the guitar for another, i doubt my chances of getting a better one (no buzzing) are very good

im glad you guys havent had the same issues!

[Gareth John]

I bought an Epiphone SG and the neck on that wobbled (Like a weak neck) it really put me off buying "cheaper" guitars. If I played a g chord, my palm had enough strength to raise or lower the pitch like a trem arm. I bought it for £150, and got £200 for it trading it in for a mex standard strat (fat better guitar) with a stable neck. I really hope that that was a dud because it's really put me off epiphone. I've been wanting a Danelectro but now I'm not so sure (no where to play one around here to find out).

[telechucker]

Bluepill - one further thing I can suggest, bro. You're a Melbourne, Australia guy, right ? Please call my guitar tech, Paul Gale at Soundworks in Ringwood. He's a Fender dealer and a hell of a great human being. You should be able to find his phone number easily via the web on a search of Victorian Fender dealers. He'll see you right - at least tell you what he can and can't do for you - straight talk, no crap. He's built and modified several guitars for me - even sent me an email tonight telling me my Baja has arrived ! What a pal ! He should be able to let you know what to expect ; maybe even help you deal with Fender Aust. Hope this helps. Regards.

[Telething]

hi Bluepill.
I bought a highway 1 two years ago.
Ordered on line from musicians friend.
Dint like it at all,(entry American) level.
The neck was rose wood and the fret ends tore up my hands they were so sharp.
I could not get the action adjusted to my liken.
I only now will play a guitar for hours at the store to make sure she talks and every thing feels good to me.
Traded it in 2 months for an American (Alder 3 tone sunburst) rose wood.
Sounds like you might have got a lemon.
You should of had good results by this time after all the Go rounds.

[ole6string]

Just to give another perspective on this.... I would agree that alot of fender necks buzz and some become unfixable. I had a MIM Strat that the neck started buzzing, had 3 warranty necks all bad, I ended up selling the thing for parts.

That being said....... if every guitar that you are picking up buzzes could be your technique partly to blame as well. I went through a spurt of playing alot of acoustic guitar for a while and everytime I picked up an electric it was almost unplayable due to the buzz and rattle. After many months of frustration and pulling my hair out I realized it was my technique. Lightened up my right hand a bit and presto problem solved. I was actually able to lower the action on all my electric guitars once I refined my technique a bit.

Just a thought that might be worth looking into.

[Ronkirn]

i think fenders current quality control is absolute ****...they all buzzed or fretted out

While I am certainly no big fan of FMIC today.. I would express the need to be cautious... many shops will, in an attempt to "improve their stock's marketability" adjust their guitars to what they think appropriate... FMIC has no control over that.

Ron Kirn

[Talmir]

I have a 2007 hw1 and have had no problems at all.. I think it was a lemon, and as Ron Kirn says.. It might have been the store setup.

[OutlawSteph1975]

I had one with the same problem several years ago. It was a neck defect. Mark is right on. Fender needs to replace the neck.

[red57strat]

Originally Posted by Ronkirn

While I am certainly no big fan of FMIC today.. I would express the need to be cautious... many shops will, in an attempt to "improve their stock's marketability" adjust their guitars to what they think appropriate... FMIC has no control over that.

Ron Kirn

That's what I was thinking. I'd have someone else look at it and try guitars at a different shop.

[Mike Fleming]

If you take a fender with a vintage radius neck, and then set it up according to fender spec, you are almost guaranteed to get it to buzz/fret out when you do bends up high on the E or B string. It's a function of physics, due to the curve of the neck's radius vs the height of the string's saddle. There are ways to minimize this that don't necessarily impact the playability too much. For instance, make sure the neck has as little relief as possible, and then set the action at the saddle just a little higher than normal. Too much relief combined with normal saddle height causes a valley around the middle and upper frets, increasing the chances of buzz/fret out. Also, after the neck is straight you can have a tech introduce fallaway into the upper frets, making them progressively lower, just a little bit, from the 13th on up. It's common to do this to guitars, both acoustic and electric (although it's often done to the fretboard/slots instead of the frets themselves) in order to account things like bulge at the neck joint, a closing neck angle (when you don't want to reset the neck yet) and to improve playability in general (like preventing fret-out).

Beyond that, an expert fret levelling and setup (including nut action) should put the rest of the neck in playing order on just about any guitar that doesn't have any issues like truss rod or wood defects. I agree with the poster above who mentioned technique - Fender's recommended setup specs are great but they require a pretty light touch in my opinion.

There are always guitars out there that are just dogs, but I think there are maybe fewer of them than we realize.

[bluepill]

Originally Posted by Mike Fleming

If you take a fender with a vintage radius neck, and then set it up according to fender spec, you are almost guaranteed to get it to buzz/fret out when you do bends up high on the E or B string. It's a function of physics, due to the curve of the neck's radius vs the height of the string's saddle. There are ways to minimize this that don't necessarily impact the playability too much. For instance, make sure the neck has as little relief as possible, and then set the action at the saddle just a little higher than normal. Too much relief combined with normal saddle height causes a valley around the middle and upper frets, increasing the chances of buzz/fret out. Also, after the neck is straight you can have a tech introduce fallaway into the upper frets, making them progressively lower, just a little bit, from the 13th on up. It's common to do this to guitars, both acoustic and electric (although it's often done to the fretboard/slots instead of the frets themselves) in order to account things like bulge at the neck joint, a closing neck angle (when you don't want to reset the neck yet) and to improve playability in general (like preventing fret-out).

Beyond that, an expert fret levelling and setup (including nut action) should put the rest of the neck in playing order on just about any guitar that doesn't have any issues like truss rod or wood defects. I agree with the poster above who mentioned technique - Fender's recommended setup specs are great but they require a pretty light touch in my opinion.

There are always guitars out there that are just dogs, but I think there are maybe fewer of them than we realize.

hey mike, one of the techs that has already looked at the guitar mentioned the first line in your post, that the HW neck radius is to blame....ive got to be honest im absolutely astonished that this is the case!!

having been an engineer for quite some years (elec) , the first question that comes to me is why the hell would you release a design with known issues? and then put in a setup guide that highlights these issues? i have a real problem with this i must admit, but if i do end up with the guitar i will try to setup as you suggest, thankyou!

telechucker, i believe the guitar has been to soundworks already, although as the shop i bought it from arranged it i didnt get a chance to talk to Paul, and not even sure he worked on it...i might give him a call this weekend, thanks for that suggestion! (good luck with the baja, there nice:)

as for technique, well i thaught that myself, but 3 people including the guys in the shop i bought it from have played the guitar with the same results, and the fret buzz / out is clearly there...

anyway guys ill keep trudging on this weekend and play as many HW1s as i can to see if its worth gettng the guitar swaped, luckily my 92 mex strat has no issues and keeping me fender warm :)

[bluepill]

hey guys, quick update....may need to read my first post to get the jizz :)

last weekend i drove around to 3 guitars shops and played a **** load of teles including 4 * HW1s....well what did i find, pretty much every tele fret rattles when bending on the high e / b string around 10-17th frets (and i mean buzz out big time!!)

so i went to the shop where i bought the guitar, took it home and started to play with it...kind of figures that if i swapped for another one id have the same issues anyway

so got home and ending up with a steel rule and sanding stone on the frets and well, it has helped...but created issues elsewhere around the 1-5th fret, and the low e... not sure why but then again i was playing around with the neck relief too so need to let it settle....i also think the nut needs to be raised....i did however get some gfs pickups into here and there pretty cool for the $
(i know the above sounds like a novice hacker, and pretty bad, but i find some reward in setting up my own guitars and have done it on many les paul style ones with good results)

anyway short of it is i will give it a few weeks of trying to fix, and then shes on ebay or trade in...im not sure i want to go to a luthier and spend another $100 on it after the saga thats already happened.

it has been a very disapointing run, and as much as i do love the highways (and all other teles), they have got to be some of the worst quality new instruments...i mean some mexicans played better than the custom shop jobs, figure that out

so perhaps ill hold out for an older *** or mex, im not sure but i dare say ill soon be back to the strat, *** 335 and ibanez artists...upsetting really!

[mrothacker]

One thing that I dont think that has been mentioned that I had a problem with recently is that the bridge on my thinline was wacky and my guitar had the same symptoms . The E and B strings were buzzing or more like rattling when bending abovethe 10th fret or so. I noticed that the springs on the bridge were what was rattling . So I restretched the springs and the problem went away . So get your guitar put your palm on the springs and while keeping it there pluck a note on the E or B string and bend , if the problem is gone restretch your springs , if the problem is still there maybe it is time for a new neck .

[Guido]

I had one same problem, after re-fretting it and a new nut cured the problem

[bluepill]

refets, new necks...ouch, its a brand new guitar!

as i mentioned they would swap the guitar, but every other HW1 i have playted has the same issues....and yeh its a fret buzz, not rattle (i think)...sorry for the lame terminology!

[Post Toastie]

I returned a Hwy 1 Strat that had a twisted neck, the fretts rattled no matter how i adjusted it.Took it back and a sales guy picked it up played a few notes and said Yep bad neck.

[Ronkirn]

the shop said it needs to set in, play it for a week and see what happens.

RUN AWAY.... what a crock.... the above is a coy way of saying, "I don't wanna fool with it, if you don't buy it, some other turkey will waddle in and do so"

If you are buying a "project", sure. you should expect it to need some work, but if you are buying a musical instrument, you should be able to play the darn thing right there, on the spot.... perhaps it might need some "tweaking" later to accommodate your specific parameters, but a musical instrument doesn’t buzz from the get go… and certainly not all over… and if it does… the loon that was trying to sell you should have said, “ Opps Sorry man, that one slipped by our tech, can ya wait a few minutes while he dials it in?”

When a guitar is shipped from Point A to B, much can happen. It can sit in a truck at 130 degrees, then get stuck on a plane where in 10 minutes it can be at 35,000 feet where it’s -50 inh the cargo hold… then back on the ground, and chunked in a nice dark brown truck again, baking at a slow simmer…. that might Juuuuuust create a scenario where the guitar buzzes after it arrives at it’s destination, even after it acclimates to the ambient temperature. That’s why better shops, will check out each one, and adjust accordingly. That doesn’t mean a full setup, just checked so they are sure, when a potential customer isn’t “turned off” buy a POS… That eliminates Best Buy…et al…

“play it for a week and see what happens.” . . . whatta jerque…

Ron Kirn

[Singin' Dave]

Originally Posted by Ronkirn

RUN AWAY.... what a crock.... the above is a coy way of saying, "I don't wanna fool with it, if you don't buy it, some other turkey will waddle in and do so"

If you are buying a "project", sure. you should expect it to need some work, but if you are buying a musical instrument, you should be able to play the darn thing right there, on the spot.... perhaps it might need some "tweaking" later to accommodate your specific parameters, but a musical instrument doesn’t buzz from the get go… and certainly not all over… and if it does… the loon that was trying to sell you should have said, “ Opps Sorry man, that one slipped by our tech, can ya wait a few minutes while he dials it in?”

When a guitar is shipped from Point A to B, much can happen. It can sit in a truck at 130 degrees, then get stuck on a plane where in 10 minutes it can be at 35,000 feet where it’s -50 inh the cargo hold… then back on the ground, and chunked in a nice dark brown truck again, baking at a slow simmer…. that might Juuuuuust create a scenario where the guitar buzzes after it arrives at it’s destination, even after it acclimates to the ambient temperature. That’s why better shops, will check out each one, and adjust accordingly. That doesn’t mean a full setup, just checked so they are sure, when a potential customer isn’t “turned off” buy a POS… That eliminates Best Buy…et al…

“play it for a week and see what happens.” . . . whatta jerque…

Ron Kirn

Just read through this whole thread and this post above pretty much sums it up for me. If you can't get a refund/exchange, sell that kindling on eBay (honestly of course) and consider the lost money a valuable lesson learned - NEVER buy a guitar that doesn't feel/sound right to you from the first time you play it!