Unstable Strat Neck!

contiContiCONTI said:
Hmmm, I'm in Italy actually (havent updated profile), but I dont think the humidity was particularly drastic. The shop is basically in the same neighbourhood as my house, just a 15-20minute walk away. But at this point I'm thinking the only cause could be the environmental changes. I've been thinking about it quite a lot and keep going over the parts to check for anything unusual but I keep finding nothing. So must be tempertaure or humidity as you suggested, maybe not the best quality of neck too.
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The inside of the shop and the inside of your house may have enough of a difference. Good shops will have a good humidity control system to keep it relatively constant. Houses don't typically have that.
 
ErikH said:
What's the humidity difference between the shop, outside, and your house? A drastic change in humidity can wreak having on guitar necks. I had done a setup on 3 of mine last week and just a couple days ago I had to readjust because the humidity levels went all over the places from then to now. They're stable now but man, one day playing great, the next, WTF? We've had a messed up weather pattern here in north TX this winter too. Heck, the entire continental US has had messed up weather patterns this winter. I know you're in Scotland and humidity shouldn't be a problem but in the cold, it can drop pretty low.
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Temp & humidity can wreak havoc on wood.
 
I would take the neck off to see if there was a shim in there. I would then wood glue toothpicks in the screw holes of the neck before putting the neck back on just in case the neck screws are not grabbing the neck firmly. Not saying this is your solution or course of action but this would be the first route I would go.
 
Securb said:
I would take the neck off to see if there was a shim in there. I would then wood glue toothpicks in the screw holes of the neck before putting the neck back on just in case the neck screws are not grabbing the neck firmly. Not saying this is your solution or course of action but this would be the first route I would go.
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Thank you for the suggestions! Will try this out tonight probably. Going to re-adjust the neck myself in my own home and see if the same thing happens without the temp/humidity change.
 
Temp & humidity can wreak havoc on wood.
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Especially if it was cured improperly. After all - when it was a living tree it responded to temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure. It still does...
 
contiContiCONTI said:
Thank you for the suggestions! Will try this out tonight probably. Going to re-adjust the neck myself in my own home and see if the same thing happens without the temp/humidity change.
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1/4 turn at a time. Let it sit for a bit afterwards. Check it, adjust in smaller increments if necessary.
 
ErikH said:
1/4 turn at a time. Let it sit for a bit afterwards. Check it, adjust in smaller increments if necessary.
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Great advice Erik. I would also suggest marking the truss bar nut with a Sharpie so you can see how much it is moving.
 
Been going crazy over this. Spent the last 2 hours adjusting neck and saddles over and over again. The buzz won't go away. This is not what you want to be doing after paying for a pro set-up... before I gave the guitar to this guy, yes it was in need of a setup, but I never had problems like this and it isn't a new guitar either. These days its so hard to trust people with your things, services are such low quality because money is the first motivation behind all the work, not passion. Now I'm sitting on an unplayable Strat which was once my number 1 instrument.
 
Are you sure it's the frets? I once had a loose strap button driving me crazy... I almost slammed the guitar to the wall b/c I couldnt find the cuplrit... LOL
 
nexion218 said:
Are you sure it's the frets? I once had a loose strap button driving me crazy... I almost slammed the guitar to the wall b/c I couldnt find the cuplrit... LOL
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Yeah, its the very classic fret buzz sound, and its coming straight from the frets when I try and locate the sound accurately
 
Obsessive Compulsive said:
That's typical for a one-piece neck.
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Nope not even close. All my Washburn USA Customs from the mid 90's have one piece quarter sawn maple necks and all 5 are very very stable. And that includes both the Silverado and the prototype for the MG 122 with one piece maple necks with no separate fingerboards. I almost never have to touch any of them.
 
Get some feeler gauges (~$5) and measure the relief in the neck, then adjust the truss rod yourself (1/4 turn at a time, wait an hour between adjustments). When fretting at frets 1 and 17, aim for 0.25mm at fret 7.

Get a cheap hygrometer ($10) and keep an eye on the humidity in your house - you probably need a humidifier in the winter, but at least this will tell you why your neck is bending. It's very likely the shop where the setup was done is properly maintained at 40-50% humidity while your home could be as low as 10% in the winter.

Quit messing with the bridge. Your seasonal adjustments to your setup start and end with the truss rod.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk
 
contiContiCONTI said:
These days its so hard to trust people with your things, services are such low quality because money is the first motivation behind all the work, not passion. Now I'm sitting on an unplayable Strat which was once my number 1 instrument.
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I would remind you that you played the guitar for 15-20 minutes at the shop and it played great before you left, even with heavy-handed, "SRV" style playing, as you stated.

You've probably gone and made things worse with random adjustments and trying to do too many changes at once. If you made multiple bridge and truss rod adjustments inside a 2-hour window, I would be inclined to suggest that you're doing it wrong.

First thing I would have done is called the shop (again) and explained the situation. Clearly the tech could get it playing great, so maybe he'd have a clue as to what's going on...
 
Masta' C said:
I would remind you that you played the guitar for 15-20 minutes at the shop and it played great before you left, even with heavy-handed, "SRV" style playing, as you stated.

You've probably gone and made things worse with random adjustments and trying to do too many changes at once. If you made multiple bridge and truss rod adjustments inside a 2-hour window, I would be inclined to suggest that you're doing it wrong.

First thing I would have done is called the shop (again) and explained the situation. Clearly the tech could get it playing great, so maybe he'd have a clue as to what's going on...
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Yeah.

Are you sure it's "fret" buzz and not saddle buzz? A buzz from a loose saddle string slot can sound a lot like fret buzz.
 
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