Esquire-esque

[Trevor Davies]

I've still got a bit of a low "e" fretbuzz.... in considering all the variables, one is how far in teh neck ins... as I made the body, I guessed as to how deep the neck socket would be.

Does anyone know how deep the neck socket is in a strat kit?

The PB ST kits and the TL kits for hardtail bridges are about 18 mm deep for the neck socket route.

[EsquireEsque]

The PB ST kits and the TL kits for hardtail bridges are about 18 mm deep for the neck socket route.

Thanks TD,

that may or may not be "the culprit - but if the neck socket is normally 18mm, then I should bring mine down to that depth also (at the moment its 16.5 to 17 mm)...just so I can say "it's not that".

By the way, is the back of the neck heel normally slightly rounded (not the end of the heel, the back)?

[Trevor Davies]

Thanks TD,

that may or may not be "the culprit - but if the neck socket is normally 18mm, then I should bring mine down to that depth also (at the moment its 16.5 to 17 mm)...just so I can say "it's not that".

By the way, is the back of the neck heel normally slightly rounded (not the end of the heel, the back)?

The back of the neck heel is flat.

For the low E buzz:
Is it for all frets or just some?
Is your neck set to slightly concave? Can you raise the low E bridge saddle a touch?

[EsquireEsque]

The back of the neck heel is flat.

For the low E buzz:
Is it for all frets or just some?
Is your neck set to slightly concave? Can you raise the low E bridge saddle a touch?

It was for all frets.
The nut, when the kit arrived, was very high, so I sanded it down a bit (which made a massive change for the better - just left a bit of fret buzz) I made the adjustment based on the height of the nut on my telecaster (Jet brand). I may have sanded the low E side a hair too low - but the nut is still just over a millimetre higher from the fretboard than the nut on my telecaster.

I've levelled the frets, adjusted the "relief" and the bridge saddle height but it took a bit to get rid of the buzz - which has gone mostly, if the string is plucked "with vigour" there is still a bit.

The "action" is now possibly a bit high, I do tend to "catch" that string when "I help my daughter" (it seems the more I practice the better she gets - of course, she thinks it's her!) but obviously if I lower it I run into the fretbuzz again.

This has made me think that if the fretboard was a bit lower (if the neck socket a tiny bit deeper (no more than a mil or so) that might be the cause - and I can lower the saddle height/action just a tad.

Otherwise it's working rather well acoustically (it's not wired yet), a touch "twangy" and high pitched and to my ear a bit louder than expected - but I'm putting that down to the Douglas Fir, the 24.75" scale length and the lighter strings (9's).