New tele feels very stiff. Setup question

[ponycar]

1. Nut, height, lubricate
2. is it quarter sawn?
3. String brand, familiarity
4.relief
5.saddle height

 

[Sax-son]

Sounds to me like you just have to get used to stiffer string tension. Playing a small neck, frets, and .09 strings will not give you much of a workout. Once you get used to that stiffer higher gauge strings, you should notice an improvement in tone.

 

[Thebluesman]

To make it easier to play=lower the action.+now add heavier strings[.010's to start[experimentation ]with string tension.

 

[Thebluesman]

With lower action..find the relief that now suits your playing style.+the new strings-[.o10 gauge]

 

[Thebluesman]

To lower action at the nut=file string slots to new depth etc.& then lower the (adjustable) saddle height accordingly etc..
re adjust relief to now suit.

 

[Thebluesman]

Adjust the intonation[after new strings eg: 010 have stabalised accordingly]=play

 

[Thebluesman]

Within a short period [play,play,play]=you will only know then....by playing, [the resulting 'feel']=what set up suits you specifically or not.

 

[Thebluesman]

most electric guitars are 'adjustable' within limits etc=adjust it,tailor it..to suit you.,your playing style/musical preferences etc=find the set up that now suits.

 

[Wrighty]

Thanks. Relief was what I thought to look into closer as well. My old one is a big fat U shaped neck. New one is a skinny C shape maple/rosewood. I doubt that has anything to do with it, but who knows.

Could be that I'm just not used to it yet, but there's something definitely stiff about it. Anything else I may be overlooking?

The different necks will force your fretting hand into a different playing position, angle, distance between thumb and fingers, spacing between finger tips etc. it will only me fractions of an inch or degree but it will all contribute to a different feel, which you may well describe as being ‘stuffed’. Lots of players who transgress between playing sitting to playing standing or vice versa experience the same thing, on exactly tge same guitar!

 

[Fenderdad1950]

IMO, you are experiencing the difference between two necks

 

[Chicken Curry]

Is this your only Tele? Teles are just a stiff design.

 

[Fullcircle]

Is this your only Tele? Teles are just a stiff design.

No it’s not. My 4th. All but one have the same strings, same radius, same action and relief. It just feels …stiff. Hard to describe but it may just be a different neck shape and/or just a guitar my hand isn’t all that used to yet.

I think it’s getting a bit better but it could very well be one that I just don’t bond with.

 

[boris bubbanov]

The thickness of the neck can have everything to do with it. I doubt those 2 truss rods are different, in basic specifications and wood varies more than steel in my experience. I'd suggest the relief of these necks is a sort of tug-of-war and your older, thicker neck had an easier time contending with the tension from the rod. The newer neck isn't as likely to be capable of fighting the rod with the same vigor, and thus the rod "wins" the struggle and that's IMO a thumbnail explanation for why thicker necked guitars feel right when you might imagine it would be the other way around.

Having said that, there's just a natural degree of variation, one neck to the next on these and you just so happen to have gotten one of the stiffer feeling ones. The funny thing is, the next guy will insist on the added stiffness - an overly compliant feel is desired by some, while others don't want that at all.

What this guy said.

Every hunk of wood has a different amount of resistance in it, to the pull of the truss rod. In some instances the rod is just about entirely subdued and in other cases (thinner section necks especially) the rod is doing whatever it feels like doing. And the result is an overly stiff feeling neck.

Having said that, I like a fair bit of fight. I think an overly supple neck produces a guitar tone that tends to lack character.

 

[boris bubbanov]

Ok. Explain?

Exactly.

I'm not going to defer to the ladies, in this case. Sorry.

 

[blues]

No it’s not. My 4th. All but one have the same strings, same radius, same action and relief. It just feels …stiff. Hard to describe but it may just be a different neck shape and/or just a guitar my hand isn’t all that used to yet.

I think it’s getting a bit better but it could very well be one that I just don’t bond with.

Back off a quarter turn on the truss rod. See if it feels less stiff.

 

[Mikecito]

All I know is my tele feels much, much better going down from 10s to 9.5. if your action is good, I think it's simple to just slap some lighter strings on it.

 

[Blues Twanger]

I'm late to the party but one simple thing you could try is using a different pick.

I usually play an acrylic pick but found with one of my guitars I need to use a pick with a slight give to take the stiffness out of the feel.