I just got a Fender Squire Fat Strat for Christmas. Been playing for 15 years, a!
Question: the price, $300. My question is, the stock strings on it were ok, no string/fret buzzing, however, I changed the strings a few days ago, and put on Ernie Ball Super Slinky 9's, and I am getting some slight buzzing on the A string when I fret on like the 5th-9th frets. what's up with this? Should I bring the guitar back to the store I bought it from so they can take a look at it?
Answers: the price, $300. My question is, the stock strings on it were ok, no string/fret buzzing, however, I changed the strings a few days ago, and put on Ernie Ball Super Slinky 9's, and I am getting some slight buzzing on the A string when I fret on like the 5th-9th frets. what's up with this? Should I bring the guitar back to the store I bought it from so they can take a look at it?
My first guess would be that those are lighter than what came with it stock, so the neck may have straightened a bit. I would try adjusting the truss rod to see if it fixes the issue.
http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/truss...
Thats cool, adjusting the truss rod is really not that hard as it usually only requires a 1/4 turn, but I understand not wanting to mess anything up.(Kinda like registry edits in Windows)
But an easy way to just see if it needs to be adjusted is to fret the first and 22nd frets on one string (2 hands of course) and look at the 5th fret, there should be a gap, say enough to slide a pick through. If theres no gap, the neck does not have enough bow to it. Eriks suggestion is good too, especially since you are getting buzz on only one string, simply raising the action on that string may fix it, but if its due to the truss rod, its more like a 'work-around fix'.
I'm not sure if a Squire has an adjustable saddle like most Strats have or not, but if it does, just raise the saddle under that string (the strings you put on were probably a lighter gauge than the stock strings, this would most likely explain the buzz). If a slight adjustment does not do the trick, or if there is no way for you to adjust it, I would take it back to the store if it really bothers you. Slight string buzz is pretty normal if the action is set low. My Strats (American Standard & 60's Reissue MIM) both have some slight buzz in different areas of the fretboard. I don't worry about it unless I can hear it when the guitar is played through an amp, if it's only buzzing while playing the guitar unplugged, it's not a big deal for an electric guitar.