Squier Strat fret's buzz at 15+ frets, truss rod doesn't respond. What now?

[Al Varez]

It's string action was way too high and everything I've tried to do to solve it ends up with the strings buzzing at 15th fret and above. Making saddle adjustments wasn't solving it. I've tried shimming it and it reduced the string height a bit, not enough. It seemed to result in too much correction and fretting out or not enough and fret buzz. I have one of those notched aluminum rulers to measure how flat the neck is and it's perfectly flat. I tried adding some bow to the neck but turning the truss rod in either direction isn't working. I can make it even flatter or maybe add a very slight back bow but I can't get any forward bow, even under string tension. I have a fret rocker tool, the frets have been measured and leveled/polished so it's not a high fret problem. Any ideas?

 

[swiveltung]

Sounds like you need larger gage strings to get some bow into it. But realistically, I play with very little.... maybe .005 relief. To some extent it's the nature of the beast to my ears on many guitars. If I focus on it it drives me crazy. I've gone to larger frets over the years and it seems to help.

 

[Drumnbum]

Can you do fretwork? If so, perhaps adding a slight bit of fallaway to the upper frets could help.

 

[Al Varez]

Can you do fretwork? If so, perhaps adding a slight bit of fallaway to the upper frets could help.

Yes, might be the only option.

 

[Tone_Terrific]

Put on heavier strings, place a dowel or something about an inch thick under the strings about the 7th fret area, loosen the truss rod tighten the strings and wait. Maybe days.

 

[mc5nrg]

Truss rod ineffective once you are about where the neck attaches...