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Is the guitar tech who set me up dumb?

Betterman77Betterman77 Posts: 92
edited August 2006 in Musicians and Gearheads
Ok I got a fender strat, I got it set up over the weekend cause the set up on it was getting a little out of whack, the action was off and intonation, it wasn't bad by all means but i brought it in anyways. The guitar tech which is fender certified set my guitar up. I came back to pic it up and he was actually messing around with it plugged into an amp, it sounded amazing to me, anyways i played it a bit and was happy, i payed him then came home. I was playing my guitar today not plugged in just stumming the strings, It was buzzing with every chord i strummed and almost every note i played, When I played it through the amp, not one buzz at all perfectly clean, so I called this guitar tech back who set me up and told him, his answer was, "that an electric guitar is suppose to be played through an amp, and it doesn't matter if it buzzes like a bitch when its not plugged in, as long as it is clean with no buzz while going through an amp. So is this true or did he set my guitar up shitty. cause it buzzes alot when not plugged in. Im confused it doesn't make sense, if it buzzes then it should buzz out the amp am I right?
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Comments

  • harrisonmerwinharrisonmerwin Posts: 766
    man, this stumped me...

    does it really not buzz when its plugged in? or does the amp mask the sound your guitar is making just because of volume differences.

    ok....i just thought abotu this for a few mintues while in the middle of typing, and it doesnt make sense to me at all... is this guitar phenomena? im confused...
    2005.09.04
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  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    Are you sure it was buzzing? Maybe thats just the sound of it unplugged?
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  • NovawindNovawind Posts: 836
    Does it buzz everywhere, or just on the lower frets or just the higher frets? Without even messing with the tech, take a look at your bridge. If it's really high (like you can see space between the bridge and the tail end of the guitar) your spring tension for the tremolo might be too lose or too tight, if the strings are low and buzzing. I had that problem to some extent, and you can fix it pretty easily by opening up the back faceplate and adjusting the springs in the back with a screwdriver.
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  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    You know thats a bass thing there. I've never heard of anyone setting up a guitar that way. Some buzzing will not be picked up when plugged in. Us bass players are used to some buzzing when not plugged in (not every note on the neck, but some buzzing). I can see a little buzzing if maybe you tune down to C or something crazy like that?

    But if it buzzes everywhere, I would not thing you wouldn't hear some buzzing thru the amp.
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  • J.D.J.D. Posts: 73
    This is typical.
    I have one of my guitars set up with really low action and it buzzes pretty hard when it's not amplified. As long as it's buzz free when playing thru an amp clean, I don't worry about it.

    Try playing further up the neck and on all the strings, if there are no dead spots and you like the set up, then all is good.

    I know this bugs some people though, and on my better guitars it bugs me a bit too.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    last time i got a "professional" set up done, it was like that. low (which i like) but buzzy as hell. i hated it and went back to doing my own set ups.
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    exhausted wrote:
    last time i got a "professional" set up done, it was like that. low (which i like) but buzzy as hell. i hated it and went back to doing my own set ups.

    Yeah, I paid some place way too much to setup my Strat, and they did a horrible job. So I just did it myself, and am much more satisfied with the results.
  • Betterman77Betterman77 Posts: 92
    Yeah, well I told him I like low action for playing easier lead, and he said no prob, I'll set it up for you. Which he did, it is pretty good and low I mean plays great and I know an electric guitar is suppose to be played through an amp, but alot of times I just grab it out of the case and play away, and yeah I get fret buzz in every position that I play, but like I said totally clean comming out of the amp when plugged in, I mean If my amp volume is turned down low, I can still here the fret buzz comming from the guitar, but putting my head close to the amp, nothing at all, no buzz, so maybe the set up is great after all, liek I said it sounds great, the tone is great, plays great. Just didn't notice that much fret buzz before when I used to play it before I got it set up.
    "Keep on Rockin In the Free World"

    "Gimli,MB 08-14-93"
    "Fargo,ND 06-15-03"
    "Winnipeg,MB 09-08-05"
    "Thunder Bay,ON 09-09-05"
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