What to Look For in a Quality Strat

[roger bayliss]

I agree with the set-up being the bit that gets the best sound out of each guitar and to get a good shadows tone there is also a need to listen and adjust. I personally like my strat to have the best sound projection it can have and have found that setting all the strings to the same height does not work (the Fender Manual in my experience is wrong on a number of points)

First of all the forward relief on the neck is usually quoted by Fender in the realms of 8-12 thou depending on radius of the neck and typically around 10-12 thou. However if you read other books they will suggest as much as 1/64 of an inch (The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer) I find a bit more relief is what I like.

The string height for vintage strats is qouted around 4 - 5/64s for 7.25 radius but if you set all the strings to the same height I do not feel that gives good sound. I prefer to set my string height around 2mm on treble side rising gradually to around 2.5 mm on bass and this I think allows the PUs to come up a bit higher on the bass side and help project the sound across all strings better especially for single note lead playing. I think to myself why did they stagger the PU pole heights the way they did and then slope the PU down on the bass side ? Seems to me the PU should be a bit closer to level which is why I feel the bass side needs to come higher on the strings permitting the PU to have less slope bass-treble. This way I get nice sonorous bass notes and full trebles with good output across all strings for lead instrumental style playing.

Generally as you flatten the foward relief you need to raise the bass end more and I think there is a point where a good balance is acheived between the two.

I have a strat with a Poplar body and a vintage with Alder and the Alder body is much better sounding certainly accousically. But with good setup I can get just as good a sound from the poplar body when plugged in and played leading me to conclude that setup is vital to get a great sound.

Obviously intonation needs to be set right and I found recently when I checked a strat it was out and after resetting intonation it sounded much more alive and less dull as if the relative tensions in the strings had changed in setting the intonation correctly.

PU height again Fender gives measurements here but I find my best sound projection I am very different in heights on treble and bass side. Also just a 1/8 of a turn on either side bass/treble changes everything and sometime needs to be spent getting good projection and sound balance across all PUs. People have told me I got one of the best Quacks from my middle PU and I know it is in the way I set the PU heights and slopes (and also the way I play). My plectrum choice also affects this.

I played several strats at our club once and was told by one guy that I sounded the same on all of them ! So maybe as they were all set up different it was me ! I dunnoe but I had another friend who was not quite getting a great shads sound and a few of the above adjustments bought that cheap squierer into the realms of the right sound.

So my point is a good setup does affect the guitar sound and improves the tone. Low action is not best for lead instro work either as it thins the sound too much.

My opinion of couse but I hope it helps someone as I have spent ages looking into how to get the best setup on my vintage strat and belive I have found something that works for me at least !

[alanbakewell]

Each to his own as they say. What I do know is that Roger's sound is first class however he achieves it.

[abstamaria]

Roger. just a note of thanks for that detailed set of instructions. I will note it as a reference standard.

Best,

Andy

[donna plasky]

Dear Roger: I feel the same as Andy -- thanks a lot for the information. I am going to save this description on my computer for future reference. I cannot make adjustments on my own, but I can discuss this with the guitar shop some time. I think it was particularly important that you said you think low action is not condusive to a good sound for instro lead guitar. I don't know very much about how my guitar is set up, but I do know the action is low. Perhaps for a beginner, that was a good thing and maybe I need to improve my skills before I have the action raised...but this is one of the many things I didn't understand until this week, when everyone on the Board has been helping me. "Thin" is exactly the right word for the sound. I couldn't come up with the right words when I was in the store, but that's exactly it.

My guitar sure sounded good when the sales guy played it (after he adjusted the bridge). But he was playing heavy metal riffs etc. and the guitar didn't sound inadequate at all. But when I play it, I am playing Shadows style lead guitar (allegedly, ha ha) and the guitar sounds weak and thin. I'll take most of the responsibility for that, because I don't play well yet. However, I am beginning to understand the importance of the guitar set-up process. I think, down the road, I need to have some adjustments made, especially in light of the fact that the consensus is that Squier Classic Vibe guitars are fairly decent. I thought maybe people would say they are horrible/etc., but most of you have said that model guitar isn't bad.

Thank you again for the valuable information and advice. I appreciate it so much.

Kind regards,
Donna

[roger bayliss]

Thanks Donna and Andy and Alan.

Here is a guy explaining the setup on Utube and he broadly covers it the way I see it with the strings gradually rising in height from treble to bass side. I think it is slightly different setting up with a wound third but roughly how it should go.

I think look at an accoustic saddle and you may see the strings raising graduallly across the saddle and the strings usually raise across the radius of the fretboard. Most guitars should generally raise gradually and the strat is no different. Like I said the idea of having all strings at the same height seems a bad idea to me. (Ichecked the Haynes strat manual and for 9.5 radius it says 4/64s on all strings... I disagree)

[dave robinson]

I just bought a Classic Vibe Strat in fiesta red from Ebay at the right money and I'm expecting it to arrive on Friday. Let's see if it will do the job without the need to bugger about with it . . . . . . .

[ernie1958]

I just bought a Classic Vibe Strat in fiesta red from Ebay at the right money and I'm expecting it to arrive on Friday. Let's see if it will do the job without the need to bugger about with it . . . . . . .

Would you please give some feedback on this guitar when you get it and have tried it out Dave?
I've been thinking about also getting one of these for gigging so I don't have to use the '63 Strat out of precautional purposes if you know what I mean..

Ernie

[dave robinson]

I just bought a Classic Vibe Strat in fiesta red from Ebay at the right money and I'm expecting it to arrive on Friday. Let's see if it will do the job without the need to bugger about with it . . . . . . .

Would you please give some feedback on this guitar when you get it and have tried it out Dave?
I've been thinking about also getting one of these for gigging so I don't have to use the '63 Strat out of precautional purposes if you know what I mean..

Ernie

Yes Ernie I will let everyone know how it performs for me. If it's anything like my Classic vibe Telecaster it will be really good.

[donna plasky]

When I bought my Classic Vibe 60s Strat, I did not really know that they also made a Classic Vibe 50s Strat. The 50s Vibe has a maple fretboard, and the 60s Vibe has a rosewood fretboard. Maybe the 50s Vibe will be nicer because of the fretboard. I was in the guitar store today and I played a 50s Vibe Tele with a maple fretboard and now I understand why people prefer the maple. It's not just that the maple looks nicer, but I could feel how much easier it was to slide from one fret to another.

Good luck with your purchase, Dave. Hope everything goes smoothly.

Kind regards,
Donna

[abstamaria]

Hello, Donna,

I understand that an-all maple neck is supposed to sound brighter than one with a rosewood fretboard. I have both, but do not get the difference in feel that you noted. A maple board usually has a shiny, clear finish, and this is what you might have noted.

Not all maple necks are so finished, but a Stratocaster made to 50s spec would have the clear coat. For instance, I have one Stratocaster with a satin, unshiny finish on its all maple neck, and it came that way from Fender. It is my best-sounding guitar, with a distinct tone; that could be due to the fact that It has a much fatter neck than usual. Unfortunately, it is not Fiesta Red!

Regards,

Andy