Strat Bridge Setup

[Never2Late]

My Hamer Daytona got a new set of strings over the weekend - I went from 10s to 9s. My previous setup had the bridge semi-floating, Fender-style, with about a business- to a credit-card worth of gap between the bottom of the bridge and the guitar body. I could 'palm' the bridge down and get a 'touch' of vibrato going, but not much.

I had the guitar strung by a good tech, as the bridge setup was alittle over my head. My tech startled me when I picked it up, exclaiming that he had 'fret buzz' after the re-string and needed to monkey with the nut to get rid of it. Hmmm....guitar sounded fine, stays in tune nice...'barely' any fret buzz.... I had ZERO buzz when it went in for the strings, I figured the lighter gauge just vibrates more when plucked harder.

I then noticed that my bridge is DEAD FLAT on the guitar body, with no gap whatsoever between the bottom of the bridge and the body. My tech dropped it down and got it completely parallel with the body - no wonder the strings buzzed at-first, he lowered the action and brought the strings closer to the frets.

Before I take it back, or adjust it myself, is the 'Fender-style' setup of that business-card-thick gap really a setup standard for strats with a floating bridge, or does that matter? My tech does Fenders in his sleep, I can't believe he would make a mistake like this - might have been a late-night error or something. Not-having the guitar in front of me, can I just elevate the strings on the bridge and raise them up by a 'business-card' in height to compensate? Would this radically-change the intonation - having been intoned with the previous bridge-gap?

[triodecr]

9's have less tension on them when tuned to pitch vs 10's If your tech put the strings on and did nothing else, the change in string tension may allow the trem springs to pull the bridge flush against the body. The lower tension may also allow the truss rod to pull the neck straighter which may cause the strings to touch the frets and cause buzz. I would loosen the truss rod a bit and adjust the trem claw springs to get the bridge to float a bit. Just my 2c.

[burningyen]

What triodecr said.

[polara]

What Ben said.

And are you sure this is a "tech" and not a "string changer?"

[LordOfTheThighs]

Reminds of when I hung the Warmoth neck on my Parts-O-Caster. I had some string buzz, and some so bad, that the notes were just plain dead. (high notes on the high E string)

I took it to my local Buddy Rogers, to have it set-up. I go to pick it up, and it still has the issue. Yada Yada Yada, the salesman / tech tells me to just not play those notes. I just

about shit when he told me that. What a hack. I swear, I wonder how some people get by half-assing their way thru life.

Fortunately, I found a luthier who set it up, and it's played like a dream ever since.

[Never2Late]

What Ben said.

And are you sure this is a "tech" and not a "string changer?"

When I approached my tech regarding the string change, I put the word in his ear to 'not change anything'.....well, he didn't do that. He cleaned pots, polished frets, put a shim under my nut so it followed the curvature of the fretboard, tightened the neck bolts and other misc. hardware, etc. etc. etc. Guitar has stayed in-tune after a couple of days.

Wouldn't I 'tighten' the truss rod to compensate the less tension in the new strings? I thought it was standard that tightening the truss rod made the neck more curved 'upward'...or does this differ depending on the make of the guitar?

Thanks to all, BTW.

[tomteriffic]

What Ben said.

And are you sure this is a "tech" and not a "string changer?"

When I approached my tech regarding the string change, I put the word in his ear to 'not change anything'.....well, he didn't do that. He cleaned pots, polished frets, put a shim under my nut so it followed the curvature of the fretboard, tightened the neck bolts and other misc. hardware, etc. etc. etc. Guitar has stayed in-tune after a couple of days.

Wouldn't I 'tighten' the truss rod to compensate the less tension in the new strings? I thought it was standard that tightening the truss rod made the neck more curved 'upward'...or does this differ depending on the make of the guitar?

Thanks to all, BTW.

Actually, the rod would need to be loosened since it was set to counteract the pull of 10's, Now with 9's it needs less tension since there's less tension to counteract.

.

[Jakeboy]

First, check the relief on the truss rod...you may be able to get by with simply loosening the trem claw screws.....I decked my Strat like that for years and always had tuning issues....then I went to about 1/16" floating and have zero tuning issues even dive bombing.....

If you brought it in locating, you should have got it back floating, unless there was a simple misunderstanding...

[tbonesullivan]

are those a 2 point fulcrum system, or a vintage style system with the 6 screws? I think the daytonas have the 6 screw bridges?

there is a lot of debate out there over whether they should be "decked" to the top of the guitar or slightly floating. many people deck theirs, while others have the back floating a bit up. Could just be thats how your guy sets them up.

Anyway, strat trems, floyd roses, etc are not hard to set up at all. They take a bit longer but it's not rocket science. I'd recommend learning how to do it so you can get the trem exactly how you want.

[murkat]

Leo used a nickel.