Fender MIM Strat set up

[@victorluiz2099]

Dear Sir, I respect and admire your work as a Luthier for the results and teachings shared over so many years. After all, we learned a lot from you and continue to learn. This banana/katana teaching is incredible. You are the only one! Thank you very much. But knowing that you are another fan of the biggest Rock 'n' Roll bands in the world was awesome! I respect and admire your work even more.

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Hey thanks Victor. In later life I've found that listening to the original Hamburg gig recordings (Star Club for example) is the biggest and best Beatles 'hit' I can get. It's amazing that these recordings were either unknown / lost or considered too poor quality to distribute for all those years... people like us who love the Beatles don't care about the technical quality of the recording. Just hearing that raw energy and the band's tightness in an era when nothing, absolutely nothing of their future success was assured is thrilling.

[@bimler29]

I also had a problem with the unhelpful Mr K@ many years ago. You had just started your “Banana Revolution “ and so I followed your teachings and methods gratefully. A lot of fret metal has been saved. 🙂

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Did we share experiences before? I recall doing so with someone a good few years back but it's hard to know with FB names & KZbin channel IDs changing / being different lol. If not, I'd be interested to know what that experience was - drop me an email at '[e-mail]'

[@johnwelch557]

Hi Sir Sam! Don't 'fret' about that guy or anyone for that matter. Just ignore them. Life's tough for all, so only pay attention to your stuff. You've done nothing wrong. Offering others your methods without commercial intentions is very generous and sorely missing with humans mostly. BTW, after a zillion years of work, I have switched to your method. Now there are at least two lunatics on the planet's surface. Live long and prosper!!🖖

[@williammg9135]

Always enjoy listening to you Sam. We are about the same age. I always appreciate those of us who can move on from bad relationships and pull out the best. That is not me, but I admire those like yourself who are built that way. All the best!

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Thanks William! Lest I risk sounding like some 'sorted guru', I spent the majority of my life falling into and out of relationships without a clue really. Had no idea how to choose consciously to get into one... and even less clue how to draw one to a close. Result? Mess... lots of it :D The only saving grace is that I think I finally worked out how to stay in one AND choose to make it important and to make it work... (but I could be fooling myself still LOL)

[@ronnielopez1968]

Greetings sam😊 hope you are well!!! It's not necessary to first set the first fret action, neck relief and string action before leveling the frets? Thanks for the video 👍

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Hi Ronnie, hope things are good with you. That's a good question. I was about to answer "yes" at which point I realised that technically the answer is really "no" lol. Ideally - and most of the time - as you know I set the neck relief, then the last fret action and finally the 1st fret action before marking up the frets, tuning up to pitch and doing precision fret levelling. But... On this guitar I did the following: • Set the last fret action (off-camera when I fitted new low-height grub screws in the saddles) • Fitted new nut but held off fine-tuning the 1st fret action • Had already established that the relief was slightly too much for my liking but had to put off adjusting it until the strings were off due to access with a less-than-ideal hex key At first glance that doesn't look an ideal sequence except that 1) the 1st fret action doesn't affect the way the neck curves & bunches (compresses) under string loading and 2) the high & low frets (along with clusters of high and low frets I call 'hills and valleys') are also independent of whether the neck is relieved or flatter. So technically, it's only strictly necessary to have the last fret action set where you want it to be able to 'live-monitor' the clearances as you level... but you have to keep in mind the other two as-yet-un-set components i.e. that the 1st fret action will come down slightly and that (in this case) the relief will flatten out slightly once I got my hex key in there. Conceptually though it's MUCH neater to do all three in advance; to have the actual action you're going to play already dialled in; but - in rare cases like this one, where, for unexpected reasons two of the action components couldn't be dialled in, it will still work so long as the last fret action is set. You could think of that as the largest or most 'gross' of the 3 variables in the equation - which we'll usually measure in whole millimetres. By comparison the 1st fret action and neck relief are measured as 0.3mm and 0.1-0.2mm respectively. Great question Ronnie - thanks!

[@ronnielopez1968]

Wow!!! Sam you are so generous with your time to give such a detailed answer. Thank you, thank you, thank you 🥲👌👍❤​@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars

[@ericcurry-pitcher5493]

Great response, you are rather generous with your knowledge and it's much appreciated. I recently subscribed and am glad I did.

[@HektorBandimar]

Another interesting video, thanks, a lot of those MIM Fenders seem to need attention, is Fender quality control slipping? Sam you are spot on with your weather comments, we've lost two months with the chill and the rain. Okay, back to watching the rest of the video.

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

I'm still a slave to 'waiting for the spring and summer' - i.e. I've STILL not learned to love all the seasons equally :) This MIM Fender was in many ways better than some I've seen this past year (it's an older one for a start). The sight of a USA or MIM maple-boarded Strat makes my heart sink - anticipating losing a load of poly finish along the way... :(

[@ericcurry-pitcher5493]

It is a great method for fret leveling and I was wondering if there's a commercial version of the tool. I certainly after hearing about the company, would never buy anything from them. It's really straight forward and I will improvise as well. Thanks for the story, ugly folk should not profit from being so.

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

There's my eBook that shows how to make and use the simplest version of the tool... eBook facebook.com/relovedguitars/posts/pfbid0dXZjzJrR27fGEU5jj1jffJY5DVS1spwDv8hZNpgT2bhw3X69pZxEhLUhx63QTmSYl and I also prepare and sell a kit with the U-Channel version of this tool (that I use on a daily basis) Golden Banana Pack facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1019904893472319&set=pb.100063584529881.-2207520000&type=3

[@jmakc3541]

nut drivers tend to have a thinner wall than a socket, might try one of those.

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Thanks - I'm a bit ill-equipped in that department!

[@KeenerCustomGuitars]

Hello good sir, just was wondering what the web site is u get ur tusc nuts and saddles from is

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Hi MountainRiverGuitars - I get them from wherever is most convenient (usually meaning quickest) at the time I need them. Sometimes I buy direct from JHS (the UK distributor of GraphTech stuff) with whom I have a 'Repairer Account'; more often I track down the nuts I need on Amazon (to take advantage of the fast Prime delivery) or I locate them on other trusted UK suppliers that I've used before. This of course may be different depending on what country you're in. My sequence goes like this: • Measure customer's existing nut with digital calipers. Priority order is 1) e-to-e spacing 2) width (side to side) 3) depth (front to back) 4) height. 1) has to be exact so as not to change the feel for the player 2) needs to be the same or greater (you can sand away the excess), 3) needs to be the same or greater and 4) needs to be the same - ideally greater (leaving room for fine tuning using nut files). • Open the GraphTech PDF catalogue on my desktop; search through the pages of nuts for the priority dimensions (e-to-e, width, depth and height) and write down product numbers of best match and 2nd best • Check with JHS UK (especially if I need multiples) • Check with Amazon • If no luck with either of the above, wider search in Google prioritising UK companies I've bought from before • If no luck there, then widen search and include places I've not bought from before It's quite time-consuming if I'm honest... and no, GraphTech don't really make too many 'drop-in' or exactly matching nuts for specific guitars. A few are; many more claim to be but turn out not to be... and a load matched something once but now apparently no longer do. So I recommend you don't look for "Tanglewood T37 parlour guitar Tusq nut" but go through the measuring / searching process I described. You'll end up with a close match that you need to be prepared to carefully modify (using a flat sanding block and repeated careful measuring with digital calipers).

[@melonhusk-kt5ys]

ever go to a dentist and they say bite down and wiggle? you know to get the level of your tooth just right? that's what the banana method is? right? THNX Sam i'd see that thick Beatles Tab book in the 80's my friends who could afford guitars and lessons had that book for some reason

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Yeah - that's a good analogy - the dentist tape / bite-down process. Funnily enough, I didn't get that BIG Beatles book (the one with the kind of psychadelic 'Yellow Submarine-style' artwork) until much later. I was lucky that I found a 'Sgt Pepper-only' chord book with very faithful chord diagrams which meant I got closer to the sound of the album from the start rather than playing the more simplified chords in the 'general' books... the same applied to another album chord book I got for Queen's 'A Day At The Races'. Beautifully nuanced and I never could find that edition again!

[@melonhusk-kt5ys]

​@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Hi is that method of levelling only the bad frets been around a long time? i've watched other ppl doing fretwork and they do the entire board. would you do the entire board only after doing a partial or a total refret? I used to love the guitar diagrams they'd put for each song in those tab books. good luck on the E book speaking of a guitar thats well known for certain songs or band have you ever done a build for a doubleneck? THNX Sam

[@BlueberryStinkFinger62]

I only buy and play MIM and MIA fenders.. never fell for the MIJ BS

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

One of the best guitars I ever had was my MIJ Squier 'JV' Strat... made in late 1982, I bought it new in Spring 1983. They are much sought-after these days. I've had a lot of poor quality control US and MIM Fenders come through... but then again, as a guitar tech there is a natural bias i.e. it IS more likely that I'll see more of the 'bad' ones than the 'good' ones.

[@Jamesfoofighter]

Two too many pickups on that guitar 😊

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Lose the middle and bridge, right?

[@Jamesfoofighter]

@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars 😂 one off bridge and neck 😎

[@ericcrawford9827]

Replacing a jack socket ?. Bathe in the destruction of the polar ice caps and everything's going to be alright.

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Jeez. Reminds me of the good old days when all I had to worry about was the melting of the polar ice caps! Now we've got Dimitry Medvedev threatening us with a nuclear holocaust (starting with a 600ft high radioactive tsunami IIRC) on a daily basis...

[@ericcrawford9827]

@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Yes. I'm on the same age as you. Be pedantic about everything else but mortality. and copyright.