02R96 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I've been tweaking the setup of my American Tele, and one of the areas I can't seen to settle on is string height. Compared to other guitars I've played, it always seems too high. The neck is a Warmoth maple with a compound radius. It has an aftermarket vintage style, three saddle bridge and a Graphtech nut. Strings are Fender Bullets, 10-46. 4/64 is my adjustment starting point (as recommended by Fender). When I lower the strings I get a lot of fret buzz which I cannot remove by adjusting the truss rod. I can stay pretty close to 4/64 with a touch of tweaking on the low strings, but that's about it. So is this just the nature of the beast? That is; is a Telecaster (by design) not capable of action lower than the 4/64 that Fender specs? My goal is to improve it's playability by making it smoother. Or am I mistakenly trying to make a Tele feel like a Les Paul? :idk Dan "I hate what I've become, trying to escape who I am..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Fender recommends having a capo on the first fret when taking your measurements and allows for some bow as opposed to a flat neck on the Strat and Tele...I'll let the techies advise you but you may want to consider that you're not running a stock neck and/or you have a certain feel you're after with a flat neck...comparing other Tele's and maybe a $20-$50 setup at your techs store would be a good starting point...some fret buzz when unplugged is OK but not when you're plugged in...I like your string guage but the bullets aren't really necessary on Tele's with no trem as they were designed more for the Strats (I don't use the bullets on the Strats either), so you may want to try other strings just for the fun of it as they can change the feel even when staying with the same guage... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkjimiphoton Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 i think a lot of tele guys go for a kinda buzzy action and play really light...seems to add to the "twang" http://www.sweetrelief.org/ https://www.wepay.com/donations/memorial-stone-for-juliane-pocius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartholomew Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Try putting a piece of business card as a shim between the neck and the body towards the head-stock end of the body so it changes the neck angle. My tech put a piece of sandpaper in mine and it works like a charm. I ignore factory settings, lower the saddles till it really buzzes bad and then go up until it mostly stops. Am not a twang player - do jazz standards, blues, rock & roll, pop and sometimes blow my brains out with a Les Paul and a vintage 67 Clyde McCoy Vox. Been round the block but am not over the hill... http://www.bandmix.ca/jamrocker/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fumblyfingers Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Some thoughts...... not being a qualified tech or anything...... I have never tried shimming at the front of the neck pocket but you could try that..... You could also shim the neck at the rear of the neck pocket which will drop the headstock....making the strings lower.....but then compensate by raising the saddles and increasing the trussrod relief. I have been using wood veneer for a while now, for my shims. It works great. You can use the adhesive to your advantage, in that it holds that shim wherever you put it but is not too tight a bond. Or you can remove the adhesive with a solvent if you fear it will "soften" the contact area....perhaps mess with the tone transmission....neck to the body. Don't forget to set the string radius at the saddles. I usually toss out standard 3 saddle setups right away, so I have never set one. But I always try to get the curvature of the bridge, to somewhat match the neck. Remember to give your truss rod adjustments time to settle down. Maybe your nut needs looking at. Have you isolated what string(s) is buzzing and where on the neck? Could it be a fret(s) too high or low? You gotta figure you are in for a bit of frustrating tweaking yet to go because you have fit an aftermarket neck with a different radius to stock..... and a different nut to boot. Yes? Basically the original setup, inasmuch as the build of the guitar and the relationship of the neck angle to the body, nut cuts etc all of which were made and adjusted/corrected as the build went along.........this has now been totally compromised. Correct? You have to start over from scratch. I think the recommendation of taking the guitar to a qualified repair person is the best one yet. That said.....as mentioned, some buzz with Fenders is "normal"..... adds to the character......plus Fenders seem to like a slightly higher action to play really clean and you have to dig into them more than an LP. Longer scale too, so more string tension. Good luck. Hey, you could always call Warmoth and ask their advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesape Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 My old Tele has a shim made from a piece of cable tie at the front of the pocket. The action is extremely low, and my 8's don't buzz. My 7's didn't either. A shim that won't compress over time is ideal. I haven't done anything to this guitar in over 20 years, other than change the occasional broken string. It's ridiculously fast, and can tonally cover the Strat-centric tunes at any gig. The vid is long and shreddy, but it showcases the guitar's playability well. Never a DUH! moment! Well, almost never. OK, OK! Sometimes never! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Pieces of feeler-gauge blades make excellent, precision shims for bolt-on necks. Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I used to cut shims out of those big triangle shaped Fender picks. Heck old Fenders often came shimmed out of the factory. The beauty of Fender was their quality standards were so loose. You could find heavy Strats or Teles, light Strats or Teles etc. Somewhere there would come guitar off the line for everybody. LOL "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02R96 Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 >>> Pieces of feeler-gauge blades make excellent, precision shims for bolt-on necks <<< That's a great idea Caev! I know a cheap (Chinese made) set can be had for only a couple of bucks. Dan "I hate what I've become, trying to escape who I am..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I've used razor and shop-knife blades before, too, but I did future persons a favor and ground off the sharp-edges... Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02R96 Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 OK, so this sounds like a good weekend project. I've never shimmed a neck before (although there have been a few I'd like to ring). What size feeler gauge would be a good starting point? The idea is to move the neck closer to the strings with respect to the bridge? Dan "I hate what I've become, trying to escape who I am..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Right; if the neck is angled/tilted backwards, the highest frets at the end of the fretboard will be raised towards the strings. The shim will go in the neck-pocket, closest to the neck-pickup in the pocket. Start with, say, a .012" feeler-gauge or so, and up or down by trial-and-error if necessary. Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fumblyfingers Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 The reason I went with wood was to keep the medium the same. But yes, almost anything will work and the feeler gauge idea is solid. Plus having the sizes numbered will be great if you want to make more than one adjustment......it gives you something to go off. Gypsy jazz players often use a pick under the Sel-Mac bridges. I was stuck once and I actually used a piece of a matchbook cover under a neck...until I could get something more permanent was the idea but it stayed that way for a while. Let us know how it turned out. Pics maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 The reason I went with wood was to keep the medium the same. Wood veneer pieces make good neck-shims, too. Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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