one store said they can't do that sort of thing without putting new strings on

I'm not against that, because they both need new strings, but is that bull****? It sounds like bull****

so got almost finished with a bit of a set up. got it restrung and the back of the bridge was like super high off the face of the guitar and seemed to angle the strings down a lot. tried to adjust some of the bridge saddles up a bit and the neck to where i wanted but didn't help. broke 2 high e strings while trying to tune up and that is where i give up. not sure how to not have the bridge do that imo. oh well, i tried. will take it somewhere tomorrow or monday.

What gauge strings did you put on? It sounds like you put a set of 10's on a guitar that came with 9's from the factory. You want 9-42, not 9-46 or 10-46.

Edit: If you did put the same gauge strings on and the bridge is coming up, are you like trying to tune the bass strings an octave higher or something?

Buzzing at the low frets is usually a truss adjustment (especially if it just started happening). It can be done without changing strings (so can an entire setup), but I can 100% understand why they would want to start with a fresh set.

i got fender 9-42 (if that is the smallest to biggest measurement). i was tuning it too high it seems, but the string is resting on the high frets and doesn't play when tuned normally. i didn't mean to tune them high, i was just trying to get them off the fret board. the truss rod seems ok. it really seems like the back of the bridge is really high. not sure if it was like that before i started. here is a pic of it (minus the high e string).

seems high, and a bit warning sign was i couldn't even unscrew the tremolo bar back off. had to push down on the bridge to get it on or off. screwed the claw screws in, but didn't seem to make much of a difference to the bridge height.

now, there is a plate on the back that i was going to clean under/around that had 4 screws in it that i unscrewed. when i did, the neck came off. got it lined back up and screwed back it. was really careful in putting it back on, so i didn't think much of it, but i am hoping that isn't the problem.

Lol. That would have tripped me out if I didnt know that was gonna happen. What did you think when the neck came off?

i just about freaked. thought it was supposed to happen after, but still scared the hell out of me when it happened.

That sucks man. Atleast you tried to do it yourself. Maybe having someone else fix it for you is the best thing right now. I am sure you want a guitar that is playable and has good action on it.

To expand on that imo


You need to have new strings to set the intonation. As strings get old, the intonation gets off, so you want to put new strings on before setting it up imo.

That shouldn't be the problem imo.

First of all, the neck is meant to be able to be taken off. When appraisers on like antique's road show for instance are checking out an old Fender Stratocaster from the 50s or 60s, they always take the neck off cause Fender stamped the dates there on the neck. I believe you might even have had to take it off to adjust the truss rod back then. Might be wrong on that though imo.

The bridge definitely looks like it is depressed like you're dive bombing with the whammy bar. What the deal is, the strings are pulling so much tension, and the tremolo springs aren't providing enough counter tension to keep it where it's supposed to be. They usually come with 3 springs btw, so no worries there. You may check to see if that plate that the springs hook on to can be screwed in, which would increase the spring tension, but idk mang, you might just wanna take it to the shop imo.

did you take any of the springs off or did you back that plate down any?

for sure. we all have to start somewhere, so i am glad i am learning. i am just glad i didn't **** up an expensive guitar.

i didn't mess with the springs, but tried to screw in the claw screws some, but didn't seem to make much of a difference. i think i will get a pro setup then make minor adjustments as i go so i am not messing with too much stuff at one time so i don't know where to start to fix it. thanks mang.

Dude, wtf at unscrewing the neck? I can't make out what's in that pic, but you either loosened the claw or are tuning the strings too high. Take a few clean pics (one of the claw, too) and let's see what you did.