Andy Eagle ( Guitar repair tech for 30 years )

Dimiguitar said:
I've compared similar height nickel vs stainless and I seem to feel the same way: vibrato and bends more controllable with nickel. I wonder if it's got to do with the fret wearing more each time I bend.
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If nickel-silver frets give you more control for bends and vibrato, then it’s likely that you’re fretting too forcefully. All that downward pressure can make your finger want to slip one way or another. If you fret lightly, the lack of friction on stainless steel frets becomes an advantage, giving you more control and allowing more subtle bends and vibrato.

As Andy said, if you play one kind exclusively for a month, it may become your new favorite. It’s surprising how much our preferences are driven by our habits.
 
Rex said:
If nickel-silver frets give you more control for bends and vibrato, then it’s likely that you’re fretting too forcefully. All that downward pressure can make your finger want to slip one way or another. If you fret lightly, the lack of friction on stainless steel frets becomes an advantage, giving you more control and allowing more subtle bends and vibrato.

As Andy said, if you play one kind exclusively for a month, it may become your new favorite. It’s surprising how much our preferences are driven by our habits.
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Makes sense, though I'm fairly used to stainless. Played for many years exclusively jescar 58118 and even on scalloped fretboards.
 
Dimiguitar said:
Makes sense, though I'm fairly used to stainless. Played for many years exclusively jescar 58118 and even on scalloped fretboards.
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I have put stainless 58118 on my scalloped strat
IMG_1837.jpeg
 
Dimiguitar said:
Perhaps not scalloped as nicely as yours, but here's one of mine. 58118 stainless too.
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Always been a fan of scalloped necks.
Mine was scalloped already it’s a Mexican Blackmore Strat ;
IMG_1838.jpeg

It was a pain to refret. I did neaten it up a bit but I was actually pretty well done.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
I've never played a guitar with a scalloped neck. How does it feel vs a standard strat neck?
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A lot of extra grip on everything but you need to relax your hand to not over grip and bend pitch when you’re not intending to. I really like it. It takes a bit of getting used to because of this but I see no negatives. I’m amazed it’s not used by blues players.
The reason I tried it;
 
Just saw this on FB about nut slot shape. Andy @Eagle, what is your take? I thought it would be between 1 and 2, string half in and half out.

1754152616999.png
 
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Oh and sometimes if the point of contact is too small it is more likely to hang up . Whatever the downforce is will be distributed over the available space.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
I've never played a guitar with a scalloped neck. How does it feel vs a standard strat neck?
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Scalloped necks are the best thing in the world to teach your fretting hand how to fret lightly. It forces you to get rid of tension in your fretting hand because if you don't, you'll drive the guitar out of tune. And tension is the enemy of speed and accuracy.

The things your fretting hand learns on a scalloped neck translate directly to unscalloped guitars, too.
 
Question- so I just bought a used Fender Telecaster and I tried putting some relief in the neck, I turned the truss rod about a quarter of a turn and waited to see if that would remedy some of the string buzz. Nothing. I tried another quarter turn and again, no change. It also feels like there is not much tension when turning the truss rod. Any ideas? Thanks!
 
MTB1973 said:
Question- so I just bought a used Fender Telecaster and I tried putting some relief in the neck, I turned the truss rod about a quarter of a turn and waited to see if that would remedy some of the string buzz. Nothing. I tried another quarter turn and again, no change. It also feels like there is not much tension when turning the truss rod. Any ideas? Thanks!
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How much relief have you got?
What model telecaster?
If the rod is a long way out you can take a couple of turns to get to the tension level needed. It doesn’t mean the rod has failed. Also different models have different style rods
 
Eagle said:
How much relief have you got?
What model telecaster?
If the rod is a long way out you can take a couple of turns to get to the tension level needed. It doesn’t mean the rod has failed. Also different models have different style rods
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Thanks - it’s a Jim Root tele, I don’t have feeler gauges, so I am going by feel/sight. The low E and A strings buzz at the fifth fret. String height is 5/64 on the bass side.
 
MTB1973 said:
Thanks - it’s a Jim Root tele, I don’t have feeler gauges, so I am going by feel/sight. The low E and A strings buzz at the fifth fret. String height is 5/64 on the bass side.
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You don’t need feeler gauges but it sounds like you need a straight edge. Relief should be half the thickness of you high E so you’re not going to be able to “ feel “ it. If you fret a string at the first and fifteenth the relief should be greatest at the seventh. When you fret ten to the end it should be dead flat. This is often not perfect with varying degrees of issues.
 
Incorrect geometry causes whole areas to buzz and choke not specific frets or strings . The problem sounds like a combination of issues.
1 set the relief.
2 set the action.
3 check the geometry.
4 check the fret level.
 
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