There are several reasons why you may want to adjust the string action of your Stratocaster. If you’ve recently changed string gauge, the change in the string tension exerted on the neck may have an effect on the overall neck relief. Or if you want to set up a guitar for bottleneck playing, you’ll want to raise the string action to keep the slide from catching the frets.
Several factors contribute to the string action on your Stratocaster, including:
- The amount of neck relief
- Fingerboard radius
- Fret size and wear
- Nut height
- String gauge
- Bridge saddle settings
If your truss rod needs adjusting, your action will change; however, you should not adjust the truss rod unless there are other problems.
Also, changing the nut of your guitar may have an effect on your string height, but should be a last resort method of adjustment unless you want to or need to change the nut already for other reasons. When taking the guitar to a guitar shop to have the nut changed, you should tell the guitar tech how you want your action set so that they can file the string slots in the nut correctly.
All other factors being the same, the bridge saddles will be your means of adjusting the action of your strings. Located on either side of the saddle are two small .050″ Allen screws. Adjust these will raise or lower the bridge saddle, and therefore adjust the string’s action.
When changing string height, you’ll want to reflect the radius of the fingerboard, meaning the 1st and 6th strings will be lowest, the 2nd and 5th strings will be slightly higher, and the 3rd and 4th strings will be higher still.
When adjusting the height of the bridge saddles, you’re also changing the string length, meaning the pitch of the string will have changed. Tune to pitch again and repeat the adjustment as necessary.
The Fender-recommended string-height settings are as follows (NOTE- measurements for string height are taken at the 17th fret ). As always, your settings will vary based on personal preference:
| Neck Radius | String Height Bass Side |
Treble Side |
| 7.25″ 9.5″ to 12″ 15″ to 17″ |
5/64″ (2 mm) 4/64″ (1.6 mm) 4/64″ (1.6 mm) |
4/64″ (1.6 mm) 4/64″ (1.6 mm) 3/64″ (1.2 mm) |
This post is tagged bridge, Bridge Saddles, Electric Guitar Strings, Fender Stratocaster, Fretboard, fretboard radius, Frets, Neck Relief, Nut, String Gauge, String Height, Tremolo, Truss Rod
I am considering buying a Fender Strat, but I am concerned about the it coming with 9mm gauge for first string, it sounds a bit tinny. I also have an old 1980s Strat and it has 10mm gauge and if I got the new guitar I might change to that gauge. Thanks for the info above.
I personally have .10s on one of my Strats, .11s on another, and .13s on another… Tone-wise, the .13s are incredible, though they take some getting used to… the .11s are a nice compromise of tone-iness and slinkability.
Well, I played on 9mm for about 3 years and they were great! But now I use ernie ball “skinny top, heavy bottoms” and those are 10mm’s, but i reccomend those
Just so the two of you know, string gauge is measured in thousandths-of-an-inch, not millimeters… so 9 gauge strings are .009″, not 9mm
I’ve had a bit of experience with the Ernie Balls you speak of, Jon (I bought 4 or 5 sets and used them until they ran out). I’m a huge fan of the tone they provide, but they seemed to break quite a bit compared to my D’Addarios. Have you had that problem yourself?
Like I said, tone-wise, they sound great. It’s a nice mix of chunky tone on the bottom end and slinky bendiness up top.
Good tips. Question…
About a year ago, I brought my strat in to the shop to have the action lowered (I like it very low). I know it was a simple job, but I didn’t want to mess anything up by guessing my way through it.
For a while the action was perfect. But then I put the guitar down (in it’s case) for about 5 months. I recently picked it back up and the action is a lot higher now.
Does it just need another bridge saddle adjustment? Or is this a truss rod issue?
It could be anything… five months is a long time for the change of the seasons to slowly but surely mess up your Strat. A quick way to check if it is a truss rod or bridge saddle issue to just to check exactly where the action is off. If the action is too high for the whole length of the string, then it can probably be fixed by just lowering the saddles. If, however, the action is only off in spots (for example, fine at the 1st fret but too high further up the neck) then it is a truss rod issue.
This might be a dumb question, but according to the chart (if measured on the 17th fret) how could you measure the distance on the bass/trebble side? The cross-section of a string is a circle… maybe I’m just not getting it… could someone explain? Or is it the difference in the height of the two screws (on each of the saddles?)
Hi. If you mean “How can the action at the 17th fret be measured”, then the answer is that the action, when set correctly follows the f/board radius-It has no choice. Unless you’re a monkey, setting the action at any height, then the action will be radiused.
If you mean measuring from fret to string, you measure from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string. This gives you you your height measurement, despite the string being circular (a solid tube).
If you mean measuring from the nut, there is an important harmonic measurement on a 25.5 inch scale at the 17th fret.