Strings on my 62 reissue deluxe strat falling off

[boon]

Hi I've just gotten a new Fender FSR 62 Deluxe Strat and it's an awesome guitar but the E strings seem to be too close to the edge of the fretboard. It has a vintage tremolo bridge. Is there anyway of rectifying this?

[bluesjuke]

A new nut or having the high E slot filled & recut will enable you to move the string over.
Neither cost much to have done.

[boon]

Well a guitar tech here told me I could change the nut but I think the spacing at the but is perfect and didn't want to touch that. However, if that's the only way, I might consider that. Anyone had this problem? Vintage hardware with modern wider necks?

[bluesjuke]

There is one other thing that it could be that used to be more common than it is nowadays.
That is that your neck could not be setting right in the neck pocket.
Neck pockets are tighter than they used to be in general.

If you neck does not fit tight you can loosen the screws retaining it a little & push the neck (in the playing position) in the direction in which you wish to move the string & then retighten the screws. This will set you neck better in relation to the strings.

You have to be careful doing this however.
If you push too hard you can crack the body where the top left neck screw (viewed from back) goes through it.
You will notice that there is very little wood around it and it is close to the edge of the body in that area.

[justonwo]

Yep, move the neck first. Very common problem with Fenders. If the spacing at the nut looks good, this is almost certainly your issue.

[boon]

My neck had to be adjusted as well. Before my high E was literally off the board after the 15tth -17th fret. Have done that and got a luthier to fix it so it stays straight now but now that it's straight, both E strings are close to the edge of the fretboard.

[pepperco]

Originally Posted by bluesjuke

There is one other thing that it could be that used to be more common than it is nowadays.
That is that your neck could not be setting right in the neck pocket.
Neck pockets are tighter than they used to be in general.

If you neck does not fit tight you can loosen the screws retaining it a little & push the neck (in the playing position) in the direction in which you wish to move the string & then retighten the screws. This will set you neck better in relation to the strings.

You have to be careful doing this however.
If you push too hard you can crack the body where the top left neck screw (viewed from back) goes through it.
You will notice that there is very little wood around it and it is close to the edge of the body in that area.

plus 1

also a bit of shimming in the neck
pocket to help keep it there....

[pepperco]

Originally Posted by bluesjuke

There is one other thing that it could be that used to be more common than it is nowadays.
That is that your neck could not be setting right in the neck pocket.
Neck pockets are tighter than they used to be in general.

If you neck does not fit tight you can loosen the screws retaining it a little & push the neck (in the playing position) in the direction in which you wish to move the string & then retighten the screws. This will set you neck better in relation to the strings.

You have to be careful doing this however.
If you push too hard you can crack the body where the top left neck screw (viewed from back) goes through it.
You will notice that there is very little wood around it and it is close to the edge of the body in that area.

plus 1

also a bit of shimming in the neck
pocket to help keep it there....

[scottlr]

My MIJ 62 RI Tele is like that. I haven't done the neck thing yet, since it has those threaded barrel saddles. I just moved the spacing at the bridge, which works fine for me. It wasn't that bad, but it was noticeable if I tried to do pull-offs on the E string. That is one thing I just hate on a guitar. If neck adjusting doesn't work, you might consider having someone fill the holes and redrill the neck to get it better.

For a couple of years, I had a Strat as a backup guitar for my G&L, and although it did not have that problem, the neck was loose and could be shifted very easily. I actually put up with it, and don't know why it did occur to me to take it apart and at least put toothpicks in the screw holes. It was heavy as hell, but man did it sound great. I wish I still had it, and have actually looked for the guy I sold it to locally.

[Tone_Terrific]

If your E strings are are equidistant at the nut from the neck edge but both end up too close to the edge higher up you do not have a neck mounting problem, as you probably realize by now. You have a neck that is improperly sized for the bridge spacing. Take some detailed comparison measurements of another guitar.

[boon]

Yea I think my modern neck is too small for my vintage tremolo. I don't want to modify this guitar as it's a FSR 62 deluxe which is just beautiful. I'll see if I can live with it and if not, will figure something out. Thanks guys!

boon

[CharlieNC]

Originally Posted by boon

Yea I think my modern neck is too small for my vintage tremolo. I don't want to modify this guitar as it's a FSR 62 deluxe which is just beautiful. I'll see if I can live with it and if not, will figure something out. Thanks guys!

boon

its really hard to "modify" a fender just by moving the neck or having a new bone nut cut for it. literally, that's how the guitar is put together at the factory. strats are amazing in that they can be totally de-assembled and put back together with little more than a soldering iron and a screwdriver. neck adustment will not affect the value of your guitar whatsoever and should be considered routine maintenance instead of a modification. hope this eases your doubts some and good luck!

...your "falling off" problem could be attributed to poor fretwork too...many, many guitars have frets that are uneven along the neck...some have too much bevel...combine that with vintage spacing specs, and you have your problem. A re-fret with less beveled frets can make the guitar better...re-filling the nut slot is a waste of time... a new nut needs to be cut. I know these things from having the same problem...I ended up having the guitar in question re-fretted with the fret ends rounded and going to the edge of the fretboard (like Eric Johnson), a new bone nut was cut as well...viola!

...the only "new vintage" Strat guitars I have seen without this problem are the Suhr Classics...John knows that some players (Scott Henderson for instance) don't like the high e string so close because of this "falling-off" issue.

...I've heard some guitar builders say that bad playing technique makes the player fall-off...that's not always true...how can you do a Cream-era Clapton wide vibrato when there's no fret underneath the string? IMO, it's a design problem to have the strings that close to the edge...there's no reason why that has to remain so...

...but what do I know?

[rhp52]

Just had a similar problem... the builder did not drill the holes on the neck correctly. It was minute but that irks me on a guitar. My advice:
take it to a qualified tech and let him tell you what to do.

[HeeHaw]

Originally Posted by boon

Hi I've just gotten a new Fender FSR 62 Deluxe Strat and it's an awesome guitar but the E strings seem to be too close to the edge of the fretboard. It has a vintage tremolo bridge. Is there anyway of rectifying this?

Well you could just avoid playing that string.