Newbie: Tried to change action getting a lot of buzz

[Gilles]

Hi,

I just recently started playing (5 months ago) with a 250$ Squier Stratocaster.
The action was really high. People were telling me, but I checked in a guitar book and it said for the bass string:
Low action: 1.6mm Medium Action: 2.0mm High Action 2.4mm

Well mine was at around 2.6, 2.8. So I decided to lower it to medium.

I played around with the 2 screws on the bridge and lowered the bridge to the desired height (Medium Action 2.0mm). The frets were all buzzing a lot starting from fret 6 or 7.

So I played with the tiny individual screws on the individual saddles to rectify it but I wasn't able to get good results. Getting a bit discouraged I put the bridge back to it's original high position.

Even tough it' back to where it was, string 6 is buzzing more than it used too and string 3 is buzzing a lot starting at the 7th fret onwards where it didn't buzz before.

Playing with the bridge height and individual saddles, I haven't been able to correct the problem.

I'm not enthusiastic about sending a cheap guitar for a tune-up unless I have too.

A couple of questions:
1: Can't I get low action because I was doing something wrong, or because it's a cheap guitar?
2: Is there something else I should look at beside the bridge and saddle to correct fret buzz?
3: Is this something I can fix myself or do I need to send the guitar in?

Thanks in advance.

[GTmaker]

OK..i'll take a shot at this one...

Those 2 screws on the bridge are used to set the "floating" action .
You should set string hieght with your saddle screws.

Here is some advice.... string buzzing, action, floating bridge, neck relief are all connected. Get a setup done professionaly once and it will give you a great ballpark to where everything should be. After that you can tweek it to your preference.
If your bridge is floating, you may want to consider having it blocked down. You can still use the wammy bar but it will only work one way. What it will do is stabalize your guitar for better tuning.

Anyways...good luck and keep on rockin.

[suttree]

a quick and dirty setup shouldn't break the bank, and i'd say it's well worth the money. you can learn to do it yourself, but as gtmaker points out, it's helpful to have seen things where they're supposed to be first. if you want to do it yourself right off the bat, then i'd say that you need to learn where to set your neck's relief (the amount of "bow" in the neck, set with the truss rod), and you need to make sure that the guitar's nut is cut correctly (what's really important here for buzzing is how deep the string slots are cut), before you try and set the action (string height) at all. a trip to the library should net you some guitar repair books, read em and understand all the forces at work before you try and change things too much (the nut, the frets [shape and height], the bridge, the saddles).

[devnulljp]

What they said.
Go get it done by a pro - shouldn't cost too much ($30~50 or less? It's been a while)- then you'll know what you're shooting for. As you've found out, randomly tweaking screws can get you into more trouble than when you started.
Have a look here (http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/action.htm) and here (http://users.powernet.co.uk/guitars/setup3.htm) as start points for learning how to do it yourself. But a pro setup is the way to go for starters IMO.
Good luck.
(Hey, don't knock Squire - Jeff Healey played a Squire, and I wonder if you know who this guy is ... with a Squire)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/Alexander_Dumble.jpg

His amps sell on the used market for the cost of a house downpayment.

[Gilles]

Thanks for all the awnsers, I'll send the guitar in.

Who is that guy in the picture btw?

[laristotle]

Amp builder Alexander Dumble (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumble_Amplifiers)

[RavenT]

Hi Gilles How is you action now, playing better then it did before or not? Reason I ask is that I have a friend that had his Yamaha sweetly set with the fine touch. He had work on the guitar. Had a problem to wire it to a new speck he was trying. But it in to a very well known music store in Montreal and he had ask them to change one of the pots since he broke a log off. When he got the guitar back the tech did not change the pots like he wanted wired it on the inside part were a little hint of a log was. And he re did his set up. It took he weeks of tweaking to get it just right and the tech screwed it up in a few hours.
Always better to learn to do it for your self then to bring it in a shop. Even after he told them not to touch the action on it that it was perfect as it is. I see that you are from Montreal, So if you are still having problems with your action I can teach you how to set it up. Just drop me a line if you want to learn to do your set up.

[Hamm Guitars]

Hi Gilles,

Before you do anything - make sure that the neck is straight while the strings are on and tuned to pitch. You might need to adjust the truss rod if you have a back bow. (A back bow wouldn't normally make your strings buzz on the 17th fret though.) Also look for loose frets or a fret that is not seated in the slot all the way (likely one of the higher ones given your description of the problem.

If no problems are found after the above inspection, then your neck angle is likely off.

If this is the case, fixing it would involve removing the neck and checking for existing shims and removing it if it is close to the neck heal. If there is no shim, you will have to add one towards the headstock end of the neck pocket. Check the pocket for debris and things like piant runs before adding any shims.

You could go with the quick fix if you like:

Loosen the neck bolts so the neck moves slightly. Cut a strip off of a business card and slide it into the neck pocket at the headstock end. Tighten the neck bolts back up, re tune and try setting your string height again.