A Fender Telecaster with a flame maple top came in buzzing, with the neck pulled dead straight and the electronics gone scratchy. Relief put back into the neck, action raised, intonation set, electronics cleaned, pickups set, jack tightened. An hour and a quarter.
- Instrument
- Fender Telecaster, natural flame maple top, tortoise pickguard
- Tech
- Dave Eastwood
- Customer complaint
- Setup and cleanup
- Diagnosis
- Action low and buzzy; neck too straight; electronics scratchy
- Work performed
- Cleaned; neck relief adjusted; action raised; intonation set; electronics cleaned; pickup height adjusted; jack tightened
- Parts
- None
- Bench time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Outcome
- No more buzz
What Came In
A Fender Telecaster with a natural flame maple top, in for a setup and a cleanup.
What We Found
The action was low and buzzy and the neck was too straight. The electronics were scratchy.
What We Did
Cleaned the guitar up. Adjusted the neck relief, then raised the action and set the intonation. Cleaned the electronics, set the pickup height and tightened the output jack. About an hour and fifteen minutes on the bench.
Result
No more buzz.
Can a neck be too straight?
Yes. Strings vibrate in an arc, so a small amount of forward bow in the middle of the neck is deliberate, not slop. Take it all out and the frets sit in the string's path. This setup went the opposite way from most: relief went back in and the action came up, which feels backwards to anyone told that lower is always better.
Related
- The Repair Vault
- Guitar Setups at Paul's Guitar Hideout
- What Is Fret Buzz and How Do I Fix It
- Taylor 612ce: High Action and Too Much Neck Relief
- Fender Japanese Telecaster: Setup and an Electronics Cleaning
Bring It In
Set your own action as low as it would go and now it buzzes? The neck probably needs its relief back. Setups at the Hideout.
Paul's Guitar Hideout is located at The Shirt Factory in Glens Falls, NY. Use the Cooper Street entrance and take the stairs up. If stairs are difficult or you're bringing in something you don't want to carry up, call or text us and we'll arrange access.
The Shirt Factory
71 Lawrence St., Suite 201B, 2nd Floor
Glens Falls, NY 12801
Wednesday–Sunday, 12–5 PM
(518) 217-8695 · info@paulsguitarhideout.com