American Stratocaster Problems

hon pa

Hoping somone can help me with a bit of bother I've been having lately. So basically, I bought a second hand American Strat at Christmas and it had been going fine for the first month or so until I decided to change the strings on it, since than it's sounded very flat all the time. Ive compared it to my old guitars and its definitely somewhat off, it sounds fine when I play open strings but if I'm fingerpicking a chord its obviously not right.

I've noticed that the bridge is raised quite a bit on it and more than it used to be and read online that if I put heavier gauge strings than usual it can cause this problem, but the strings on it are light as far as I know. Im just wondering if anyone can let me know if it is more than likely the strings and if I should go see a proffesional or what, I'm fairly worried as I've paid quite a bit for the guitar

Cheers for any suggestions

68 lost souls

Pretty sure you put heavier string on it then were on it origionally. This will indeed pull on the bridgemore and have it sitting higher, it also means the saddle will be closer to the nut so it will not be inontated properly and that is why it is sounding off.

All it needs is to be setup correctly for the string gauge you want to use. This could be done by yourself if you are confident with fiddeling around with your guitar, if not it is worth bringing the guitar to a guitar tech. It shouldnt cost more than 40 euro or so plus the price of a set of strings. They will set the neck relief, string height, intonation, and check the electronics.

Blackhorse Slim

The strings are pulling against the bridge, and this tension is balanced by springs that you can access from the back of the guitar, usually covered by a plate. If the bridge is being pulled too high, then the spring tension is too low.

Loosen the strings a little, then tighten the screws on the springs to adjust the tension (not too much!). Then tune up to pitch again, and the bridge should be sitting lower. It takes a bit of trial and error to get the spring tension exactly right, so the bridge sits correctly on the body, but once you get it right you should find the intonation is fine - assuming the intonation was setup correctly to begin with. Then you won't have to change it again - until you change string gauge again

68 lost souls

Blackhorse leveling the bridge will not give the perfectintonation if he changed string gauge, it will get it close but the thicker or thinner string also effects the intonation. What you said shoud get him 90% of the way therre though.

This link might help.

http://www.fender.com/en-IE/support/articles/stratocaster-setup-guide/

hon pa

Thanks for all the suggestions, I wouldn't really trust myself to fiddle around with the bridge or the springs though so I'd say I'll take it to a professional with the information you've given me. Hopefully it'll be fine from now on!