guitar trouble

[qcoyote]

i recently inherited a japanese-made fender strat from the 80's, i think... this is kind of hard to describe, but here goes: when the low E is tuned correctly, as you move up the fretboard pressing down on this string, it starts to sound like it is out of tune, and kind of 'quivering'. the first, second, third, and fourth frets sound okay, but after about the 5th fret it starts sounding out of tune. i know this may be a lousy description, but i'm hoping someone will be familiar with what i'm talking about.

does it mean the neck is bowed? or is it the pick-ups? i don't get it....


thanks,
mark

 

[Buck62]

Most likely, the frets need to be re-crowned.

An early 80's Jap-made Strat is a really good guitar, so don't get rid of it!

Take it in for the fretwork and you'll have a sweet guitar to play with for a long time.

Buck

 

[qcoyote]

thanks!

hey,

thanks for replying so fast...

sorry to be such an ignoramous, but what do you mean by having the frets re-crowned?

thanks!!!

mark

 

[ausrock]

qcoyote,

Track down the most reputable guitar tech you can find and get him/her to do a complete set-up on the guitar, making sure that the intonation and neck relief are done correctly.

Fender have downloads for all this information on their website for those wanting to DIY.

 

[Clive Hugh]

qcoyote, a couple of things for you to try. First being a single coil pickup it will exert quite a strong magnetic pull on the strings, if the pickup is too close one of the common faults is out of tuneness. So lower them about 1/16 (1.5mm) lower than they are now. If there is a slight change try a fraction lower ,it should come right.
Also plug into your tuner, tune each string to 440 or the middle and then fret on the 12th. fret. It should be the same, if it is sharp it means that the distance from the saddle to the fret is too short and so you tighten up the adjusting screw on the saddle to move it towards the back of the guitar. Just go 1/4 of a turn a time.
This will also raise the tension in the string so retune each time.
If it is flat it is the opposite of the above.
Are your frets badly groved? where you play the most? From memory most Jap Strats use narrow gauge fret wire so this is not that bad a problem, however if you have lowered the pickups and set the intonation and it's still wrong you could need a fret dressing, unless you are in a trade that files a lot like a machinist you would be better going to a guitar tech, as its easy to screw up and you can't put it back once you have removed it.
Anyway try this and let us know how you get on
Clive

 

[qcoyote]

okay

thanks everyone, i really appreciate the advice