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#1
10-02-2014, 08:55 PM
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Action Needs raising?
I just got my first decent guitar, a fender MIM strat and I got it set up by a local guitar tech and as I am sort of a beginner I did not know how I needed the action to be but after playing for a week or so, I find that I experience buzzing all over. My guitar teacher is saying it might need a slight raise in action as being a beginner I am lacking that smoothness of touch in the picking arm. So, should I go for it?
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#2
10-02-2014, 09:20 PM
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Action Needs raising?
It's easy to do on a Strat and very reversible. Go for it. If you're handy, there are a ton of YouTube videos that show how to do this. Honesty, even if you're not handy, you could just adjust the screws a quarter turn, then test if the buzzing stops.
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#3
10-02-2014, 09:32 PM
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#4
10-02-2014, 09:44 PM
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Another nod to it being an easy adjustment. You will need a very small Allen wrench to fit the saddle adjustment screws. Another way to reduce buzzing is to go one gauge heavier strings, but if you have beginner's fingers I would not go that direction.
Some buzzing may be unavoidable, but you can have quite a bit before the pickups start to amplify it. It's a trade off we make for that easy playability and light feeling under the fingertips.
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"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." -Zig Ziglar Acoustics 2013 Guild F30 Standard 2012 Yamaha LL16 2007 Seagull S12 1991 Yairi DY 50 Electrics Epiphone Les Paul Standard Fender Am. Standard Telecaster Gibson ES-335 Gibson Firebird
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#5
10-02-2014, 09:48 PM
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Learn do your own basic set ups, it is not hard to learn, you only need a few inexpensive tools, and you will save a ton of money over the years. Most instruments need seasonal adjustments to them, why pay someone a bunch of money to turn some screws and nuts?
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#7
10-03-2014, 04:20 AM
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I agree with the rest of the advice, though. I foolishly played with poor setups in my early days because I was afraid to adjust anything. There is no longer any need for that, the internet (especially YouTube) is full of good info on doing setups. Just keep track of what you've done, and if you don't like it just undo it. I have high-end electrics, and no longer even consider taking them to a tech for setups. BTW: always get neck relief set right before fiddling with the action.
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#8
10-03-2014, 05:17 AM
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#9
10-03-2014, 05:19 AM
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#10
10-03-2014, 07:21 AM
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After my tele was set up (first electric), I got home and it buzzed.
I don't know why, but every time I get someone to look at a guitar, it plays nice at the store and buzzes at home. I think I just play timidly at the store and then try to rock at home  Anyway, all that said, I had no online tutorial or know how... and I raise my action at home. I realized I didn't like it at first and eventually adjusted it again and then set the pickup heights. Again, I had no knowledge how to do this, but trial and error made it nice. Probably nobody else would like it, but its my guitar my set up and I rock out on it
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#12
10-03-2014, 10:16 AM
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a little bit of unplugged buzz is normal on an electric that doesn't have a quarter-mile high action, but if you are hearing buzzing that isn't allowing the notes ring out clear and true when you are plugged in, then your guitar tech handed you back a guitar set up that isn't correct.
take it back and have him/her do it again. have it set back to factory specs. -action, neck relief, pick-up height, trem, etc... this should be your baseline. then take it from there. imo, you should learn how to play on a guitar in a stock condition until you know more. 
Last edited by arie; 10-03-2014 at 10:43 AM.
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#13
10-03-2014, 01:01 PM
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If an accomplished player can play your guitar without having it buzz, then what is needed is for YOU to develop the skill set required to play an electric guitar...
It takes a MUCH lighter touch with both the fretting hand and the picking hand on an electric, as opposed to an acoustic guitar. You are going to have to get used to it sometime or other, and you may as well start out with that focus in mind. It isn't all that difficult, once you get the hang of it. I absolutely do not agree that you don't have the ability to do this... the human machine is incredible and highly capable of adjusting and compensating in the most minute areas.... trust yourself and learn to play correctly. You also may want to have heavier gauge strings on that Strat, in which case it will need to be adjusted for whatever gauge you choose to have on it. I'm pretty sure I started out with 9's on my electrics, then 10's, until now I have 11's on both my Gibson ES345 and my Taylor T-5; both of those guitars are a slightly shorter scale than a Strat, so they spec' out closer to 10.5 than 11, I'd guess. Learning how to do basic adjustment on your instrument is a good thing to know, but it is not necessary for your progression as a player.
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