My first build turned out to be a fail. What are my options?

[Logrinn]

That video sounds awful, but all I hear is a prime example of a really bad amp sound that would make any guitar sound bad.
To check if a guitar have a problem like described in the OP I would definitely check the guitar without an amp.
I would then also, like Stratamania and Mayfly and other's have said, screw down the pickups way down (or even remove them completely) to make sure that there's no problem with the guitar. Pickups are easy to adjust or swap out.

But also - did you try with new strings? A string that is attached to the guitar and twisted along it's length will sound bad. A string with a kink in it will sound bad. And sometimes strings that look perfect and are attached perfectly will sound bad.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Do you have string trees? You could be getting a sympathetic vibration at the headstock. You could also be getting a sympathetic vibration from the trem springs. Maybe even something wonky with the saddles? All that is if you’re sure it’s not frets. Maybe try and raise the action a whole bunch to see if that changes anything. That would rule out frets.

No string trees. Staggered hipshot tuners, which work great.
Can't comment on trem springs/saddles, but... Trem is a trem. It holds in tune great, I don't think there's anything else I can demand from its setup.

Just on the outside change, you should dampen your trem springs also.
Use a folded hi e string to drag a piece of cloth (old T-Shirt) into the spring then slip the e string out and trim the ends of the cloth.
A tight fit for the cloth is a good thing. No harm to the trem operation but totally dampens sympathetic vibrations.

 

[TBurst Std]

All of these are good ideas.  If I was in this situation I would do all to begging with:
Deck the pups
Raise the action
Dampen the trem springs

Now play it acoustically. Issue? Yes or No.  if Yes, that provides investigation for what to explore

If No, plug in. Does the issue exist? If no then you can easily systematically figure out the culprit.

You may not realize it yet, but probably the greatest learning you’ll get out of this is ditch that “luthier” you took it to. If all you shared is all he shared , he’s a hack on his best days.  He should have at least eliminated a number of other things through a process as we have share here.

 

[barber76]

Here you go, I hope you won't label me as insane. Stratitis or not?
[youtube]https://youtu.be/DDXnOHPbPd8[/youtube]

Next step for me is to try lowering pickups, and see if it helps.

 

[stratamania]

Take a screwdriver and lower the pickups...

 

[Mx481james]

barber76 really sorry your having this problem .
I was leaning guitar repair years ago from a very competent luthier.
More then once your problem came up . On one instrument I was going crazy trying to figure it out. Nothing I did worked , many of the things already listed , probably everything that's been suggested lol.
One thing people have said was change the string . Let me tell you when my instructor came over and said did you change the string ? I said there new strings . He said change the G string . That fixed it and I then what back and adjusted everything else back where it was.
You have to hunt the problem down one step at a time . Simple deduction  as suggested. If it helps you make a checklist from what's been said here on one by one . These aren't space shuttles and one the end are pretty simple , but yes it can drive you crazy .
I'm sure your problem and the answers here have helped many people . Take the advice given it'll work

 

[Rick]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

 

[barber76]

Thanks for replies everyone, I'll post back after playing with pickups height!
Maybe will record sample again if notice a difference.

 

[adrianb]

Personally, the only (minor) issue is see is the 9th fret on the G string. No fail here on this guitar.

I was afraid you were talking about the mysterious warble that afflicts many guitars. I finally decided to retire my 25 year old Strat because of this and build a Warmoth. I'm hoping it doesn't end up having warbles too.

 

[JediOne]

I had a very similar situation on a American 2012 strat with Fat 50's.  They (Fat 50's) hated to be high and hated OD and distortion even more.  It was a "warble" sound and it drove me friggin' nuts.  And since I like my OD's and distortion, I switched pickups (seymour duncans) and never looked back.  What PUPs are you running?

 

[TBurst Std]

Have you lowered the pups and tried it? Takes longer to find the screwdriver than perform the task.

 

[jay4321]

I'm glad I read this thread after the fact, as described this pretty much screamed "try lowering the pickups" and this advice was given early on. Hopefully that's what OP did (eventually) and it solved the problem.

If so, I would find another person to take guitars to in the future. This is one of the most common, easy-to-diagnose, and easy-to-fix issues there is with guitars. 

 

[barber76]

I had a very similar situation on a American 2012 strat with Fat 50's.  They (Fat 50's) hated to be high and hated OD and distortion even more.  It was a "warble" sound and it drove me friggin' nuts.  And since I like my OD's and distortion, I switched pickups (seymour duncans) and never looked back.  What PUPs are you running?

Yep, sounds similar. Esp. when playing with od/dist. I'm using Rose Robusta pickups - btw, while I have no personal experience to compare, many times heard them described as "fender fat 50s on a budget".

 

[barber76]

Have you lowered the pups and tried it? Takes longer to find the screwdriver than perform the task.

I did. I think I still hear same issue with pups lowered all the way to the guard. But I need to re-assess it, as maybe I'm going nuts already. Moreover, I went as far as detaching the neck, and re-doing all the truss-rod adjustments from scratch - btw, it went surprisingly easy, playability remained great, just not fixed the issue.
One thing to mention - my guitar is not shielded. At all. Maybe I can do it too, though I don't immediately see, how it can affect the sustain/parasite overtones..

Unless I'm really stopping at the 3rd string 12-16 frets for any prolonged amount of time, it is not even too noticeable. Here is the axe in action:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/-F1A-07hDgg[/youtube]

 

[barber76]

Personally, the only (minor) issue is see is the 9th fret on the G string. No fail here on this guitar.

Really? I specially put into the video the B & D string on 14th fret to compare to G. Don't you notice the sustain on B being longer than on G? And D sustains much longer. Talking about signal volume, G has this waving loud-quiet-loud-quiet-... oscillation, much less pronounced on B/D. And not pronounced before 12th fret either.

 

[stratamania]

Personally, the only (minor) issue is see is the 9th fret on the G string. No fail here on this guitar.

Really? I specially put into the video the B & D string on 14th fret to compare to G. Don't you notice the sustain on B being longer than on G? And D sustains much longer. Talking about signal volume, G has this waving loud-quiet-loud-quiet-... oscillation, much less pronounced on B/D. And not pronounced before 12th fret either.

Good version of Scuttle Buttin' by the way...

Back to the warbling.  I am not familiar with Rose Robusta pickups but the warbling continuing on the G string seems to indicate that these pickups have a vintage stagger which were originally intended by Fender for wound G strings. Plain G strings as now used give more output. Add to this that your modern Warmoth neck which probably has a compound and thus flatter radius and it will contribute to what you are hearing.

There is a good write up about the phenomena at the below link by Chris Kinman.

https://kinman.com/magnet_stagger.php

Ideally you may need to consider finding some pickups with a flatter rather than vintage stagger. Quite a few manufacturers offer modified or more modern flatter staggers such as Suhr, Seymour Duncan, Kinman or Bare Knuckle, there are certainly others but those are just a few off the top of my head.


And a comparison of vintage and flat stagger from Bare Knuckle.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJpaiSfyFao[/youtube]

 

[barber76]

I am not familiar with Rose Robusta pickups but the warbling continuing on the G string seems to indicate that these pickups have a vintage stagger which were originally intended by Fender for wound G strings. Plain G strings as now used give more output. Add to this that your modern Warmoth neck which probably has a compound and thus flatter radius and it will contribute to what you are hearing.

The set I have has all pickups poles of same height. "Modern" version. Btw, they had the "vintage" option, with magnet poles in the middle slightly higher, but I went for the modern one.
Meanwhile, I don't want to keep junking the forum with this issue, unless I have any more updates. Very grateful for all the comments!

 

[TBurst Std]

Just a lark, put some new strings on. Don’t care how long those on it have been there. 

Occasionally, there is a bad string.

 

[stratamania]

I am not familiar with Rose Robusta pickups but the warbling continuing on the G string seems to indicate that these pickups have a vintage stagger which were originally intended by Fender for wound G strings. Plain G strings as now used give more output. Add to this that your modern Warmoth neck which probably has a compound and thus flatter radius and it will contribute to what you are hearing.

The set I have has all pickups poles of same height. "Modern" version. Btw, they had the "vintage" option, with magnet poles in the middle slightly higher, but I went for the modern one.
Meanwhile, I don't want to keep junking the forum with this issue, unless I have any more updates. Very grateful for all the comments!

Okay modern stagger should be better. Perhaps these pickups have strong magnets. Though new strings and a pickup swap out if you have any others might be the way to go.

 

[adrianb]

Personally, the only (minor) issue is see is the 9th fret on the G string. No fail here on this guitar.

Really? I specially put into the video the B & D string on 14th fret to compare to G. Don't you notice the sustain on B being longer than on G? And D sustains much longer. Talking about signal volume, G has this waving loud-quiet-loud-quiet-... oscillation, much less pronounced on B/D. And not pronounced before 12th fret either.

Yea i would say your guitar sounds great. I'd be curious to hear it with distortion though.