Squier Standard Telecaster

[chongmagic]

I just received my Squier Standard Telecaster yesterday and overall I am very impressed with it. The frets do not need any work and I really like the neck. However, the intonation on the guitar needs to be corrected very badly. I have heard of several different ways to correct an electric guitar's intonation. Can anyone tell me what is the best way? Also, I do not have a strobe tuner so how accurate will it be if I do it myself?

The pickups sound surprisingly good, however the neck pickup needs to be adjusted a little. I have always owned Strats where the adjustment screws are on the outside of the pickguard. Do I have to remove the pickguard on the Tele to adjust the neck pickup? If so, I guess I will also have to either remove the strings or loosen the strings a great deal in order to remove the pickguard.

Overall, I would recommend these Squier Tele's to anyone they are definitely a great deal for the price.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Chong

 

[Spudman]

We'd be more than happy to answer your question, but we'd like to get to know you a little first. How about you introduce yourself n the fret players forum. We just want to make sure that you aren't with Immigration or the I.R.S..

Glad you like the Tele. Robert works wonders with his. Watch some videos on http://www.dolphinstreet.com/

Use the search function too. Your topic may have already been covered.

 

[Adrian30]

We just want to make sure that you aren't with Immigration or the I.R.S..

:rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

 

[Algonquin]

We just want to make sure that you aren't with Immigration or the I.R.S..


Why do I get the erie feeling that Potatoe is looking at me?

 

[Robert]

For intonation, check out my page about guitar intonation - this works great for me. With the AP tuner, it's gonna be accurate.

Not sure you even can adjust the neck pickup, I can't quite remember. :thwap:

 

[marnold]

The pickups sound surprisingly good, however the neck pickup needs to be adjusted a little. I have always owned Strats where the adjustment screws are on the outside of the pickguard. Do I have to remove the pickguard on the Tele to adjust the neck pickup? If so, I guess I will also have to either remove the strings or loosen the strings a great deal in order to remove the pickguard.

Yeah, it's like a '51 in that regard. The advantage is that then the pickup is mounted to the body instead of the pickguard. Some people have said that that's "better" for reasons that currently elude me. It does, though, make adjusting the neck pickup a PITA.

 

[Dauntless]

PITA in the aspect that you have a 22 fret neck that overlaps the pickguard!
Neck needs to be loosened or removed, depending on how high the pickup is currently.
Simply put:Loosen neck, remove guard, tighten neck, tune, adjust pickup, loosen neck, replace pickguard, tighten neck, tune and jam!
I picked on up cheap where the fellow wanted to changed the pickguard, got nervous about removing the neck, tightened a neck bolt too much after changing his mind and cracked the finish. He left 2 dings in the body after slamming the guitar down.
I got her, fixed crack, left dings, changed pg and put an ash tray bridge on her. She is now now favorite beater!
View attachment 1272

 

[chongmagic]

For some reason the Low E and A strings are the ones giving me the most problems. I actually took it to the music store down the street and to see if they would get their technician to set it up for me, however when they said that Squier's can never be setup properly I took it back home.

I should have known better than to take it there, plus the guy pretty much called me an idiot for buying a Squier guitar.

Anyway, I tried using the intonation process off of your site Robert and I got all the strings adjusted except for the A and especially the low E. It seems when I depress the second fret on the low E tune it and then depress the 14th fret and tune it using the saddle adjustment, the second fret tuning gets off again. Kind of puzzling for me as I am still a beginner.

Could it be that I need to change the strings? I have some Ernie Ball 9's that I can put on to replace the ones coming from the factory. I know that string quality also effects intonation.

I guess it could also be that the truss rod needs adjusting, but the action seems great to me and also there is not any string buzz whatsoever, which I think is pretty awesome.

Thank you all in advance for all of your help!

 

[chordshredder]

If it is flat, turn the saddle screws counter - clockwise. This will make the string length shorter.
If the note is sharp, do the opposite - turn them clockwise. Make the make the string length longer.

You must retune the open string as you have caused the open tuning to change.

 

[chordshredder]

As you say there is no string buzz; setting the intonation is harder the higher the strings are, the more compensation is required. as pushing down to fret a note bends the string sharp. Strike a harmonic with the meaty part of your finger on the string at the 12th fret then compare this note with the same note fretted. Use the adjustable bridge to bring thesee as close as possible to the same note. Yes you have to retune after each adjustment.

 

[marnold]

Is the second fret in tune with the open string? If not, your nut slot might be too high. Every guitar I've owned has had to have the nut adjusted in that way.

By the by, I'd never give that guitar store any more business. To say that a Squier can never be set up properly simply because it is a Squier is abject stupidity.

 

[Robert]

You better change strings. Old strings can really affect tuning/intonation stability.

 

[chordshredder]

If the adjustment is too far back and the adjustment screw is digging into the string it can mess you up. Then you need to cut off some of the end of the screw so it does not impenge on the string. That may have been what the guitar tech had run into.
When I got my Squier Affinity Butterscotch I found out about that, trimmed the bottom three screw lengths, put on new strings and she plays good now.

 

[chordshredder]

yours is string through so the screw problem shouldnt apply.

 

[chongmagic]

I changed the factory strings with some Ernie Ball's and that made a good bit of difference. I also put some lemon oil on the rosewood fretboard while I was at it, really brought out the rosewood finish. The factory strings must have been pretty cheap.

I have pretty much completed the intonation on all the strings except for the Low E, for some reason it is being very difficult to setup.

I also removed the neck to get under the pickguard and checked out the neck pickup. It is pretty much nil in being able to make much of an adjustment. The neck was a little fussy on being put back on.

By the way, what do people mean when they say they used graphite pencil in the nut slots? I have read that somewhere.

Thanks again for all of your help!

 

[marnold]

By the way, what do people mean when they say they used graphite pencil in the nut slots? I have read that somewhere.

Take a sharp pencil and write in the slot that the strings go through. On the higher strings, you might need to write perpendicular to the slot and allow graphite to fall in. The graphite from the pencil will help lubricate the slots so that your strings won't bind.

 

[chongmagic]

I am still having problems with the Low E string. I have gotten the string so that when it is dead on when playing open and when holding down the 12th fret.

However, when I play an open G chord on the low E string at the G (3rd fret) the note is sharp. All of the other strings seem to be OK except for the low E. And know it is driving me crazy because I can hear it everytime I play an open G chord. What could be causing this issue? The A string has the same problem but not nearly as bad.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am at wit's end

Thanks,

Chong

 

[marnold]

I am still having problems with the Low E string. I have gotten the string so that when it is dead on when playing open and when holding down the 12th fret.

However, when I play an open G chord on the low E string at the G (3rd fret) the note is sharp. All of the other strings seem to be OK except for the low E. And know it is driving me crazy because I can hear it everytime I play an open G chord. What could be causing this issue? The A string has the same problem but not nearly as bad.

The nut is cut too high. Take it in to a luthier or just run a string back and forth to try to file it down a bit. Both my '51 and my Showmaster had that problem on the G string and to a lesser extent on some of the other strings too. Not uncommon.

 

[chongmagic]

For the low E just to get the 12 fret to be in tune with the open E I had to adjust the saddle almost to very back of the bridge. The saddles for the remaining strings just had to be adjusted very minutely.

Do you think the nut being cut too high on the low E string is also the culprit for the saddle having to be moved so much? Also, I have never had to file down a nut. Is there any way to know exactly how much it needs to be filed down, or would I be better off taking it to a luthier? That in its self could be a problem because there are not may "real" luthiers where I live.

Thank you again for your help and quick response!

 

[marnold]

Do you think the nut being cut too high on the low E string is also the culprit for the saddle having to be moved so much? Also, I have never had to file down a nut. Is there any way to know exactly how much it needs to be filed down, or would I be better off taking it to a luthier? That in its self could be a problem because there are not may "real" luthiers where I live.

The height of the string probably does have some effect on the intonation at the 12th fret, but probably not much. FWIW, the spring behind the saddle on my Fender on the low E string is about as compressed as it can be, while the others aren't that close.

By filing it down, I mean the slot that the string runs through, not the entire nut. If it's a plastic nut (which I'm sure it is) running that big ol' E string back and forth through it should do it. Just do it a little bit, tune it up again, check it, lather, rinse, repeat. It's much easier to bring the slot down a little lower than it is to try to build it back up again.

 

[Bloozcat]

The nut slot may also be incorrectly cut in that the break point of the string over the nut may be back away from the face of the nut (bridge side). If thats the case, you could run out of travel on the saddle adjustment before you get the intonation right.