Dead notes on my beloved Strat - woe is me

IceCreamMan

I play my guitars regularly, 2 days ago the strat played perfectly...this morning .... on the A string the first 5 frets are dead notes....what the hell happened...do a visual check of everything an all good where it is supposed to be /.....only on the A string...

been raining a lot I imagine something has expanded or something but should not really be able to happen.... will wait for sunny days to see if it reverts to awesomeness or possibly the fret itself has lifted marginally...will wait n see....

Bob-Dubery

Now nobody will admit to this in public, and I don't blame them, but do you ever rest that guitar so that the fingerboard side of the neck is resting against, say, a book shelf?

I had a buzz on my Morgan some time back and started fiddling with the truss rod, looking at the frets and such and all to no avail. Then I recalled an incident where I had leaned the guitar against a book case and as I did so my fingers had slipped and the guitar bounced as the strings hit the edge of the shelf and then everything settled down again. And so I checked the troublesome string and sure enough there was a little bend in the string where it had got pinched between the fret and the shelf.

I changed the one string and the problem went away.

IceCreamMan

X-rated Bob wrote: Now nobody will admit to this in public, and I don't blame them, but do you ever rest that guitar so that the fingerboard side of the neck is resting against, say, a book shelf?

I had a buzz on my Morgan some time back and started fiddling with the truss rod, looking at the frets and such and all to no avail. Then I recalled an incident where I had leaned the guitar against a book case and as I did so my fingers had slipped and the guitar bounced as the strings hit the edge of the shelf and then everything settled down again. And so I checked the troublesome string and sure enough there was a little bend in the string where it had got pinched between the fret and the shelf.

I changed the one string and the problem went away.

Nope , its always on a wall mount but will check this as it is a logical explanation ,did not see any bends but playing with a low action leaves less tolerance levels so possibly...something like this would be perfectly logical

Shibbibilybob

if it's on a wall mount and not in its case, then I would guess that the rain has something to do with it.

ezietsman

Are the frets worn? Most guitars will wear out their first 3 or 4 frets faster than the rest (most but not all). Also, a really super low action can be problematic for this reason. Maybe do a full setup and raise the action a smidgeon, medium actions are a bit easier to play anyway. I'd be surprised if a maple neck is affected that much by humidity, my Tele doesn't seem to care too much.

AlanRatcliffe

Only on the A string and only on the first five frets? Bob's right - It's a dud string more likely than not. Could be damage, could be manufacturing...

IceCreamMan

Glad to say I replaced all the strings and back to perfection.... Strange one and chalk it to experience.....had me worried though as I have never had this kind of thing happen...looked at the string and could see no imperfections but something gave in the last day or 2.

Thanks all

Tokai-SA

The Joburg weather over the last (how many days/weeks?) :? has caused Strat and Tele necks to straighten...in other words the neck relief is gone.
I'm betting this has most probably happened to your Strat...does your action seem lower?
It does kind of 'cure' itself and return to normal, but not always to exactly where it originally was.
If your relief seems to have changed, action lower than usual, loosen (anti clockwise) the trussrod a quarter turn and check again.

AlanRatcliffe

Tokai SA wrote: The Joburg weather over the last (how many days/weeks?) :? has caused Strat and Tele necks to straighten...in other words the neck relief is gone.
I'm betting this has most probably happened to your Strat...does your action seem lower?

True, but lack of relief never affects the first fret and rarely the second. Saddle would affect the whole neck and nut would only affect the first. So all that's left is the string...

...and he's already changed the string and the problem went away. So I'm pretty sure of my diagnosis. ?

Chocklit_Thunda

Ah! Exact same thing happened to my strat. Fret buzz for daaaaaaaays since this rain began... Haven't played my Tele though... If it's in a hardcase, will it still have the same problem?

Tokai-SA

Chocklit_Thunda wrote: Ah! Exact same thing happened to my strat. Fret buzz for daaaaaaaays since this rain began... Haven't played my Tele though... If it's in a hardcase, will it still have the same problem?

I don't keep any of my guits in cases.
The other night we had load shedding.
In the dark I decided to grab my Tele to mess around whilst the electricity was off.
I strum a chord and every string is dead, I thought I was dreaming...I shone my cellphone light onto the neck to see what was going on, every string was laying on the frets, the neck had straightened, zero relief.

Check your Strats neck relief.

aubs1

Tokai SA wrote: I don't keep any of my guits in cases.
The other night we had load shedding.
In the dark I decided to grab my Tele to mess around whilst the electricity was off.
I strum a chord and every string is dead, I thought I was dreaming...I shone my cellphone light onto the neck to see what was going on, every string was laying on the frets, the neck had straightened, zero relief.
Check your Strats neck relief.

I ALWAYS keep my guitars in their cases, NEVER out when not playing .... and so have never experienced any of the above problems.