A pristine, two-year-old blonde Squier Telecaster Guitar arrived at my workshop, seemingly barely touched. The owner, usually adept at guitar setups, confessed this one had him stumped. He brought it in hoping I could unravel the mystery that was preventing a proper setup.
The immediate issue was apparent: the strings were practically resting on the frets, yet the bridge saddles were raised to an extreme height. My initial thought, brimming with seasoned confidence, was a neck shim would be the straightforward solution. Little did I know, this Telecaster had more surprises in store.
Upon closer inspection on my workbench, I took my standard measurements to diagnose the problem. The neck relief measured a substantial 0.035 inches, far exceeding the ideal 0.010 inches. String heights were also inconsistent and low, ranging from 0.025 to 0.040 inches, with the high-E string even lower at 0.050 inches. Standard action should be in the range of 0.065 to 0.055 inches from the low-E to high-E strings respectively. Furthermore, the nut slots for the E to B strings were around 0.030 inches, significantly higher than the optimal height, while the high-E slot was almost non-existent, barely clearing the first fret.
Adjusting the truss rod to correct the neck relief seemed promising initially, tightening smoothly until reaching the desired 0.010 inches. This raised a question about Squier’s truss rod design, with online discussions suggesting potential use of bi-flex rods. However, without definitive information, it remained a point of curiosity.
Moving on to the action issue, which the relief adjustment hadn’t fully resolved, I proceeded with the anticipated neck shim. After removing the neck, cleaning the neck pocket, I inserted a 0.010-inch aluminum shim, essentially using a piece of a/c tape. Reassembling the guitar and remeasuring the action yielded a surprising result: no change whatsoever.
Assuming a single shim wasn’t sufficient, I considered doubling it. Yet, realizing that multiplying zero by two still results in zero, I knew my initial approach was fundamentally flawed. It was time for more in-depth detective work.
“Okay, Sherlock Holmes,” I mused, “what’s truly amiss here?” While you, the reader, lack the advantage of having the guitar in front of you, the issue, in retrospect, was quite revealing.
My deduction led me to believe a manufacturing mishap had occurred at the factory. It appeared someone, likely during the neck mounting process, had broken a drill bit. Scrambling for a replacement, they had mistakenly grabbed a 1/8-inch drill bit instead of the correct 5/32-inch size.
The problem was that while the slightly larger 1/8-inch holes in the body still allowed the neck screws to bite and secure the neck, they didn’t allow the neck to be drawn fully and tightly into the neck pocket. This minute gap was enough to throw off the entire setup. The solution was straightforward: using my 5/32-inch drill bit, I carefully re-drilled the body holes. A quick adjustment, and the neck now sat snugly in the pocket as intended.
With that significant hurdle overcome, I turned my attention to the high nut slots. Employing my Music Nomad nut file set, I efficiently addressed the E through B string slots, filing them down to their correct depths.
For the excessively low high-E string slot, a different approach was needed. I first cleaned the slot with a 0.010-inch nut file. Then, using two small pieces of tape to create dams on either side of the slot, I filled it with baking soda, saturated it with thin CA glue, and allowed it to cure briefly. This baking soda and CA mixture creates a hard, durable fill. After curing, I carefully filed the slot down to the proper height.
While on a high-end guitar, replacing the nut entirely would be standard practice, for a Squier Telecaster, this repair offers a practical and robust solution. In fact, the baking soda and CA mixture often results in a harder and more resilient material than the original plastic nut.
As if these weren’t enough issues for a nearly new guitar, the fret ends were unexpectedly sharp. They were so sharp they could rival a fresh razor blade! Thankfully, a stiff #240 sanding foam block, about an inch thick, made quick work of the sharp fret ends, smoothing them down in under a minute. This method is significantly faster and more fretboard-friendly than individually filing each fret end with a traditional triangle file.
Moving on to hardware checks – strap buttons, tuner key nuts and screws – I discovered the 10mm nuts securing the tuner keys were finger-loose. While amusing to spin, this is far from ideal for guitar stability. Snugging these up was a quick fix. Following this, I polished the frets using my Dremel tool with a buffing wheel and polishing compound to bring them to a shine.
The fretboard was then cleaned with Naptha, followed by an application of cabinet maker’s wax containing beeswax to condition the wood.
It’s worth noting that if this were my personal guitar, I would have considered applying a few coats of Tru-Oil to the fretboard. The maple appeared quite bare and susceptible to dirt and moisture. However, Tru-Oil application is time-consuming, potentially adding another $100 in labor costs, which might not be justifiable for a budget-friendly Squier Telecaster, especially since it’s a task the owner could undertake themselves.
Finally, during intonation, I encountered a peculiar problem with the high-E string. It tuned perfectly open, but when fretted at the 12th fret, it registered as an F# – a semitone sharp! The intonation screw simply didn’t have enough travel to move the saddle back far enough to correct this.
I double-checked the scale length – 25.5 inches, standard Telecaster scale. The distance to the 12th fret was also correct at 12.75 inches. Something still didn’t add up. Re-engaging my “Sherlock” mode, it wasn’t keen deduction, but rather my reading glasses that solved this final puzzle.
The high-E string was making contact with the bridge pickup, effectively using the pickup casing as a makeshift saddle! Once I lowered the bridge pickup (pickup height adjustments are typically done post-intonation), the issue vanished, and the guitar returned to tonal normalcy.
And so concludes another guitar setup adventure. Stay tuned for the next episode, featuring a Wrestle-Mania level challenge with an Epiphone Explorer, tuned to Drop-C, and equipped with a Floyd Rose system.
