So, I bought a Squire Stratocaster 70's Classic Vibe

[Chas007]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

On the other hand if you are serious about learning to set up your own guitar there are plenty of tutorials on the web.

That's what I'm doing. I have a setup video of a Squire Stratocaster that I'm using as a guide. There is nothing I'm doing to the guitar in this setup that can't be undone.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Chas007

That's what I'm doing. I have a setup video of a Squire Stratocaster that I'm using as a guide. There is nothing I'm doing to the guitar in this setup that can't be undone.

The trick is learning the particular order in which to do things...

https://hazeguitars.com/blog/setup-f...hings-in-order


You're not floating your trem so you can bypass that step. But unless you have the proper tools, I would advise not slotting your own nut*. I'm pretty good at that, but it too me a bit of time to get good at it. The rest of the stuff ie elementary.

*A good set of nut files (Music Nomad makes some reasonably priced ones), and a few few blank nuts could help in learning to slot nuts.

BTW I disagree about decking tremolos for two reasons. You loose half the fun of playing a Strat, being able to bend above and below the note, and secondly, when floating, I think the tremolo assembly seems to get into the tone of the guitar giving it a cool resonance. I've seen this time and time again. I have set up more Stratocasters than I can count and I loved when people had me set them up as floaters.

When it comes to Strat setup this guy wrote the book...

[Chas007]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

The trick is learning the particular order in which to do things...

https://hazeguitars.com/blog/setup-f...hings-in-order

But unless you have the proper tools, I would advice not slotting your own nut*. I'm pretty good at that, but it too me a bit of time to get good at it. The rest of the stuff ie elementary.

*A good set of nut files (Music Nomad makes some reasonably priced ones), and a few few blank nuts could help in learning to slot nuts.

Thanks for the link. I bought and installed a pre-slotted nut made for the 9.5" radius on a strat. It and the tuners were no problem to install. I did have to drill the holes bigger for the tuners, but they look and work great.

I've got all the tools needed except for the nut files. I think some other keys to being successful are, taking your time and adjusting in small increments, and of course being patient.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Chas007

Thanks for the link. I bought and installed a pre-slotted nut made for the 9.5" radius on a strat. It and the tuners were no problem to install. I did have to drill the holes bigger for the tuners, but they look and work great.

I've got all the tools needed except for the nut files. I think some other keys to being successful are, taking your time and adjusting in small increments, and of course being patient.

The pre-slotted nuts still to be filed for nut slot depth, the thing they are helpful for is the string spacing is right. The intonation will be sharp at the first few frets if they aren't slotted correctly.

[Chas007]

I did have to order a set of nut files. I got a set for 10-46 strings so I can use them for 9's or 10's.

Before I used the nut files I could get the intonation at the 12th fret close, but not perfect. The first few fingered string notes, such as F, G, B, C, E, F and so on were a little sharp. The cowboy chords of E, C and A did not sound quite right.

I used the nut files and brought the string height at the first fret down to .020 mm or .008 inch. At least they were really close to that, maybe just a tad bit higher. That measurement is taken with all srings open. No strings were pressed down. Got that measurement off of the internet, where someone said that was Fender's recommended measurement.

The results were amazing! It fixed the sharp notes I had near the headstock. I did have to make a few minor adjustments to the saddle for fine tuning of the intonation, but overall tuning and intonation is much more accurate and stable. I'm very happy with how it turned out. No more buzzing! :-)

I learned a lot, but a couple of the most important were, take your time and make small adjustments. I was very surprised at just how "big" of a difference some of the small adjustments made.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Chas007

I did have to order a set of nut files. I got a set for 10-46 strings so I can use them for 9's or 10's.

Before I used the nut files I could get the intonation at the 12th fret close, but not perfect. The first few fingered string notes, such as F, G, B, C, E, F and so on were a little sharp. The cowboy chords of E, C and A did not sound quite right.

I used the nut files and brought the string height at the first fret down to .020 mm or .008 inch. At least they were really close to that, maybe just a tad bit higher. That measurement is taken with all srings open. No strings were pressed down. Got that measurement off of the internet, where someone said that was Fender's recommended measurement.

The results were amazing! It fixed the sharp notes I had near the headstock. I did have to make a few minor adjustments to the saddle for fine tuning of the intonation, but overall tuning and intonation is much more accurate and stable. I'm very happy with how it turned out. No more buzzing! :-)

I learned a lot, but a couple of the most important were, take your time and make small adjustments. I was very surprised at just how "big" of a difference some of the small adjustments made.

That is fantastic, and well worth the time you took going a little bit at a time!
And yes, slotting the nut is probably the most important part of getting intonation right on the part of the guitar where frankly most of spend the most time! Cograts to you!!!

[highfigh]

Originally Posted by Chas007

You're right, I will reset the relief when I get the stings on it. I'm replacing all the strings. I was in the process of tuning back up to pitch while setting up the intonation when the string broke. It wasn't staying in tune very well either.

I saw that Fender and Squier had offset Telecasters and decided that I wanted one. I found a Squier and after playing it (badly, after not playing anything for over a year), I bought it. Nice looking guitar but the tuners were among the worst I have EVER touched and I worked at a music store in the '70s, so I touched a lot of bad guitars. I started on an old Stella and moved to an Eko arch top that had really bad tuners- neither had tuners that were as bad as the Squier. I had to rotate the knob 30-45 degrees just to make a difference in pitch and unless I tuned up from a half step lower, they would slip.

Make sure the tuners aren't the problem WRT not staying in tune but they shouldn't affect intonation- the only things that should affect that are the neck, bridge saddles, incorrectly cut nut slots and incorrectly cut fret position but they won't cause it to change quickly- it's either correct, or it's not. A string with a bad core can cause this but it should break by the time it's tuned to pitch.

The guy who worked on it needs to do something else for a job.

To be honest, I don't mind slightly higher action if the intonation is correct. I also test the intonation (fretted note and harmonic) by starting at the 12th fret, then repeat this at the 7th and 19th frets- these tell more than using just the 12th position.

[davidd]

I've had at least 6 CV Strats and Tele's over the years and not one of them needed any work other than the usual bridge setup (height and intonation etc.)

In my experience most guitar techs are hacks! They certainly aren't what I would call a "luthier"...

If it ain't broke don't fix it.