Unfortunately I need some help

Rabid_riffs

Rabid_riffs

New member
I put my old set of graph-tech saddles on the strat I rebuilt and now I have string buzz when before I was was amazed at how perfectly it played, but the steel saddles kept gripping my strings when I would bend. I'm assuming it because my guitar was stringed with 11's and I put 10's on it because it's all I had around. I want to believe this is causing the string to sit too low in the nut but I'm finding it hard to believe. I'm wondering if graph tech saddles are just pieces of **** that wear out fast but this is a hard pill to swallow because they hold tune very well. This same string buzz was on the last strat I had, but I attributed it to the fact that most strats do have some type of string buzz... What I'm basically wondering is if anyone else here has used the old school all black graph tech saddles before and noticed anything odd. Sorry for the angry rant but I'm just frustrated. Maybe after I quit pissing my pants over petty things I'll go buy a set of 11s and see if my theory is corrects about the nut slots. If I'm wrong that would be the third set of good strings I've chopped off this week for the sake of tuning/tweaking somthing on my guitar...
 
Re: Unfortunately I need some help

Saddle height, and truss rod. Thinner strings means less tension resisting the the truss rod, and it's a strat so there might be some adjustment to the tremolo springs needed as well.
 
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Re: Unfortunately I need some help

Ok, if you bought the guitar used, and the previous owner had the nut installed, chances are they had it cut for 11s. Logically it would be cut deeper than for 10s.

As well, if you've detuned from what it was with the 11s, you've got even less tension on the neck than before.

Wound strings of an 11 gauge set will eat metal saddles, especially if they slide across them when you bend them or work the whammy bar. Graphtec-branded saddles and nuts are fairly resistant to normal string wear - part of what makes them the best solution for these parts. By design they let strings slip and slide willy-nilly, so if there's deep grooves in them, someone put them there either with a cutting tool or by changing tunings frequently with a set of hex-core D'Adarrios.

Unless you return to 11s, you will probably need a new nut cut for whatever strings you want to stick with, and you will need new saddles unless you have the current ones dressed and smoothed.

However, with thinner strings, I'm not convinced you'll need to raise the saddles, but you will have to look at the amount of relief/backbow the neck has.
 
Re: Unfortunately I need some help

You went to a diff gauge and now it needs a set up! when you had steel stock saddles on there be some lube on top of them to allow the strings to slide:) im just learning all this strat stuff now since im using one now. Come over to Stratalk.com the folks are really helpful there, nut might be the issue too. First adjust the neck, then saddles and intonation.
 
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Re: Unfortunately I need some help

Of course I adjusted the saddle height, I have the truss rod tweaked perfectly straight so I might put some relief in it. I installed the nut myself. And thanks for recommending me to the strat forum. I'm putting 11s on there soon anyway I prefer thicker strings
 
Re: Unfortunately I need some help

If I do put the steel saddles back eventually what type of lube do I get? I feel like they offered more pick attack
 
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