Small guitar amp for apartment.

[balloonshark]

Have you tried setting the intonation? You do that by adjusting the bridge saddles

Yes but the screw is already loose and it needs to be a touch looser. When fretting the 12th string it's showing a little bit E sharp.

Can be a lot of things. Higher action might help if you don't mind a higher action. Truss rod could need some adjustment, or perhaps the neck's twisted, or simply a high fret.

I really hope it's not the neck. The box had a crease across the middle when it arrived. Oddly there was no packing material in that area. Just the ends of the box :\. I'll try raising the action and if it don't work I'll try inspecting the frets and neck.

Thanks

 

[lxskllr]

Yes but the screw is already loose and it needs to be a touch looser. When fretting the 12th string it's showing a little bit E sharp.

I might be confused with your terminology. If you're sharp, you need to make the string longer, so you'd pull the saddle away from the nut. You want to relieve string tension before you adjust the saddle. It's a time consuming process, but once it's done, it shouldn't have to be done again unless the guitar geometry changes drastically.

 

[balloonshark]

I might be confused with your terminology. If you're sharp, you need to make the string longer, so you'd pull the saddle away from the nut. You want to relieve string tension before you adjust the saddle. It's a time consuming process, but once it's done, it shouldn't have to be done again unless the guitar geometry changes drastically.

You're not confused. I just have no idea what I'm doing. I was loosening the screw . I also didn't know about loosening tension first. When I tighten the intonation and tune E and then check the intonation it's always a tick or two sharp. Making the string longer is making low E a bit flat every time. Is that normal? It also looks like the tremolo is sitting a bit above the body. It could be the root of my tuning problems. I'm going to have a watch a few more setup vids and also set up or block off the tremolo.

I did raise the action a bit and it helped the buzz but the notes on the 12th fret and up on low E sound really dull. I'm not sure if that is normal or the string is barely rubbing a fret.

 

[lxskllr]

You have to retune after adjusting the bridge saddle, and check it again. Having a floating vibrato makes it more tedious.

For your dull strings, the pickups could be too close, and choking them off. Play around with the pickup height. Moving them closer to the strings gives a hotter sound, at the expense of sustain.

 

[balloonshark]

I blocked off the lower part of the tremolo with 3 - 1/2" wooden dowel pieces wrapped in electrical tape. It didn't seem to help with my E string intonation. The adjustment is now tightened all the way and it's still sharp two bars.

The neck has no curve so I loosened the head screw to get a little bit of bow in the neck. I'm not sure how many millimeters it's supposed to have on the 12th fret when holding the 1st and last frets down. Any suggestions? It currently has about 1mm. So far what I have tried hasn't helped that blasted buzz I'm getting. I'm tuning without being plugged into an amp if that matters.

I have no idea what characteristics a bad string has but at this point I'm thinking the string is crap. Or perhaps my guitar's tuners or my tuner is junk. For a tuner I'm using the Snark SN-8.

I'm taking a break from working on it for the night before I start associating the guitar with frustration.

 

[lxskllr]

If the string is new, it should be fine. Strings can sound live or dead but in just about any condition, it should be functional.

Here's how I setup my Strats. Some of this is personal preference, so it may not apply to you. First to last...

Take back cover off vibrato, and tighten springs til the bridge rests on the body(only allows drop in pitch)

Check neck. A Strat should be curved. Dunno how much. Been out of the game for awhile.

Graphite the nut. Use pencil lead.

Set action. I used relatively heavy strings, and played hard, so I liked my action high.

Set pickups. Lower them all, then starting with the bridge pickup, raise it until you're happy with the tone. Bass will be different height than treble. As I noted earlier, too close chokes the string. Then do the middle, then the neck pickups. Don't use any blended pickup settings, only the individual. It may require tweaking when finished due to other pickups affecting the string when all are raised.

Set the intonation. Tune the string in the open position, then check at 12th fret. If sharp, the saddle needs to move away from the nut, if flat, move it towards the nut. Retune, check it again, rinse, repeat. Careful of finger pressure, especially with light strings. It's easy to push them in/out of tune. You want to use the same pressure you use when playing.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Find a Line6 PodXT, and some good headphones

 

[balloonshark]

Thanks lxskllr. I'll give your suggestions a try.

 

[Fritzo]

I always make the same recommendation: Roland Micro Cube (now called the 10GX)

http://www.roland.com/products/cube-10gx/

It sounds fantastic, has effects built in, is rock solid, and can run off of batteries. It's prtty damn loud for the size too. I've had my Cube for 10 years and I still record with it

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

If the string is new, it should be fine. Strings can sound live or dead but in just about any condition, it should be functional.

Here's how I setup my Strats. Some of this is personal preference, so it may not apply to you. First to last...

Take back cover off vibrato, and tighten springs til the bridge rests on the body(only allows drop in pitch)

Check neck. A Strat should be curved. Dunno how much. Been out of the game for awhile.

Graphite the nut. Use pencil lead.

Set action. I used relatively heavy strings, and played hard, so I liked my action high.

Set pickups. Lower them all, then starting with the bridge pickup, raise it until you're happy with the tone. Bass will be different height than treble. As I noted earlier, too close chokes the string. Then do the middle, then the neck pickups. Don't use any blended pickup settings, only the individual. It may require tweaking when finished due to other pickups affecting the string when all are raised.

Set the intonation. Tune the string in the open position, then check at 12th fret. If sharp, the saddle needs to move away from the nut, if flat, move it towards the nut. Retune, check it again, rinse, repeat. Careful of finger pressure, especially with light strings. It's easy to push them in/out of tune. You want to use the same pressure you use when playing.

Very good advice here! :thumbsup: