She's still the one I loooooove...

[DustyCat]

So I still have my first electric guitar from 22 years ago, a Fender Squire Strat MIM with 21 frets.

I've had some work done on her over the years, and just recently I pulled her out of "retirement" and wow! Does she feel GREAT!

So now... with her venerability, her age, and preciousness that she made it this long, I'm hesitant to let anybody touch her...yet, how can I figure out how to setup all my other guitars to make them play like she does?

*** My question is would you guys be able to determine how she is set up from pictures alone? I know its a feel thing, but now this guitar listed at $279 back in 1994/5 is becoming priceless.

Nothing like your first, huh?  :guitaristgif:

 

[mayfly]

Hi Dusty!

Er, no.  You can't copy the setup of a guitar from photos alone.  You need to measure the crap out of it, then copy that.  Measurements should include:

1 - string height at nut
2 - string height at 12'th fret
3 - relief at, say, 5th fret.  or 6th - just as long as you keep it consistent...

Do that for both E strings.  If you're super anal, you could do it for all of them....

Adjust other guitars to match.  Done.

But no - can't do it from photos.

 

[DustyCat]

Thanks Mr. Mayfly.

I think what it is, if I recall the last guy who handled her might have made a new nut, and because the play ability is very uniform across the board (no pun intended).

Just like...NICE! when sink my hands in there. The action is low, but not shredder low, the notes are *crystal clear* I just wonder what my guitar with the T-Tek bridge would feel like...gotta invest in some calipers or something...

a very VERY rough estimate with my tape measure seems to yield about ~1/8" at first fret, and ~1/8" again at the 12th fret. Does that seem to jive with you guys?

 

[stratamania]

That seems high, especially at the 1st fret. Where are you measuring from?

It needs to be measured from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string, but you need more precision than a tape measure.

 

[timezon3]

Yeah, action at the first fret is usually measured in thousandths of an inch - probably better done with a feeler gauge than a ruler.  1/8" (~3mm) at the 12th fret is more normal, maybe a tad on the high side.

TZ

 

[musicispeace]

I know Stew Mac can be a money sucker but I did buy one of their string action gauges for about 18 dollars I think and measure my guitars string height in 64's of an inch as marked on the small gauge. A common height seems to be 4/64 on the treble and 5/64 on the base end. Had I played consistently over the years and had a guitar collection reflecting that I would probably have them set up as same as possible through experience. As I quit for a long time and then had to do some trial and error I have some variations (frets sizes mostly) but chunky necks and the action being neither too high or too low seems to be where I am at.

 

[BigSteve22]

Just came across this thread. Good to see you still have love for the old girl.

As for your action measurements, as pointed out by several here, 1/8" (.125") is mighty high, especially for an electric. Even Fender's recommended 4/64" (.0625") is way too high for my liking. I try to keep my action as low as possible without buzzing, in the sub .050" range. In fact, after letting things settle a while and playing with the nut, I just got my new Tele down to about .040" across the board. You may not like things quite that low, but getting it down as low as is comfortable for you, will make for happy fingers!

Good luck, keep us posted, and don't forget the pix!  :icon_thumright:

 

[DustyCat]

Hmmmm...maybe its 1/32" IDK the lines on this tape measure are so frickin' small I can barely see 'em.

Anyways, she just feels uniform across the board. Just NICE!!!

I think the tech who set up my Chambered Strat with 2-Tek bridge set the action a wee bit low thinking I was a shredder (come on, just cause I dig the scalloped board, doesn't mean I from Sweden).

The notes on the guitar with the 2-Tek just don't ring out like they do on my squire, which is a shame because I can ALREADY feel the difference with the 2-Tek Bridge. It's like my hand goes THROUGH the board, into a swimming pool of acoustic resonance.  :blob7:

In other words, it feels like the tone originates more INSIDE the body of the guitar, rather than on top of it. It is a neat and SUPER comfortable feeling. Like diving into a swimming pool. end rant.

 

[Logrinn]

I think the tech who set up my Chambered Strat with 2-Tek bridge set the action a wee bit low thinking I was a shredder (come on, just cause I dig the scalloped board, doesn't mean I from Sweden).

:toothy12: :toothy12: :toothy12:

 

[Cagey]

I think the tech who set up my Chambered Strat with 2-Tek bridge set the action a wee bit low thinking I was a shredder (come on, just cause I dig the scalloped board, doesn't mean I from Sweden).

I don't care for action that low, either. As comfy as it is, the strings won't ring well. When I'm done with the frets, I'll have them so level you can't fit a .001" feeler anywhere under a straightedge anywhere on the neck, and my straightedge is good to .0005". You can get your action pretty damn close with a neck that good and not get any appreciable string buzz, but oddly enough it'll sound "dead". Things are so close that rather than rattle, the strings get sorta muted and zingy at the same time. There was a Yngwie video I saw recently that demonstrated the effect pretty clearly, but I'll be damned if I can find it now. He'd do something acoustically on the guitar that you'd think would make him throw the thing across the room in disgust, but then crank up the volume and it was... him.

Anyway, he (and other "shredders") gets away with it because they're using a lotta gain/compression, which when taken to extremes can make a sponge rubber neck sustain as if the laws of physics have been rescinded. But, it's really only good for the kind of playing they do, where there's little use of sustain or tonal character/expression. They're just cramming eleventy-bajillion notes per second into the amp and depending on you to call it music. If they try to do something slow and melodic, the guitar's useless.

 

[stratamania]

Actually Yngwie, uses a high action.

Heres something slow and melodic...

[youtube]https://youtu.be/zt6uPF4_zdU[/youtube]

 

[Cagey]

I knew I'd get some pushback on the "slow and melodic" claim even as I wrote it, but left it anyway. Satriani has certainly done a ton of slow and melodic stuff without "shredding", so of course it's possible. I'm just not as familiar with Yngwie's body of work, so I should have stayed away from that.

As for claims about his string action, I'll have to dig a little harder to find the example I was going by. It involved about 5 or 6 of his main guitars, and they all suffered from the problem mentioned in the earlier post. They would not sound the way they did if the strings weren't practically resting on the frets, I don't care what the reporters say. Besides, just watch him play. If he were stomping through the high grass to get from note to note, you'd see his fingers climbing around, but you don't. They barely move.

 

[stratamania]

Well, post the video if you find it.

Whatever some say about his music Yngwie, has a very efficient technique so I doubt you will see any wasted movement either way.

I got to hold Vai's main guitar EVO at a meet and greet some years ago and I was surprised that his action was not super low, it wasn't what you might call high either but was higher than I expected.

 

[Logrinn]

You can hear that the strings sound like they're really low, but then you can actually see that it looks like it's the opposite. Seems like a pretty high action to me.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/HfHxY6zb-rI[/youtube]

 

[stratamania]

One thing not mentioned is Yngwie's string gauge which is 8 - 48. So the high strings might sound lose for that reason.

 

[raystankewitz]

Yngwie's '61 with the rosewood 'board would be my pick of his gits. It seemed to have a bigger, broader voice than the others.

And, is just me or did every git he played acoustically sound like it was ready to fall apart with baling wire strings?

Interesting video.