my b and high e strings have pretty bad buzz around the mid neck positions. need some advice on how to deal with this.

there is very very minor bowing and i doubt thats the problem. im guessing it could be a nut or bolt or something, possibly a neck adjustment?

I have also considered adjusting the action and will be replacing the strings soon as a first step, any advice?

this is a 1995 fender american strat btw

Id raise the action a little bit first, im sure that will fix it. But if u really want a truly even fretboard id suggest you fix that bowing

Before you mess with the action, look from the headstock down to the neck and find out how much the neck is bowed. You might just need a tiny truss rod adjustment.

thanks guys, yeah i was figuring if anything id adjust the truss rod. the bowing is very very minor like i said, nothing serious, maybe a cm or two if anything.

Some people say that a slight bow is healthy, but the way I personally like my guitar set up is to have the neck dead straight on either side throughout the length of the neck.
Its all personal choice, yo!

any instrument must have a slight bow to the neck (this is called relief). if you dont have a bow to the neck all of the low frets would buzz, unless you have super high action (like dobro high action). to check relief on the neck: hold down the 1st and 10th fret, then examine the same string in between the held down frets. they should be as close to the frets as possible without touching (pusing the string down helps to measure this). if the relief checks out to be ok, you might just need a "fret dress". this is about $40. your luthier may suggest a refret, first look at the frets. are they chewed up where the strings hit them? refret is about $300 from someone good. gl! pm me if need to.

your guitar changes alot with humidity differences between the seasons, also changing string gauge causes action/buzzing issues.

This post was edited by juliusjuice on Apr 10 2011 02:20pm

thanks man, yeah i was reading into it and at first i felt maybe the humidity change here caused it a bit but i doubt id need some damp clothes. my relief is ok that im sure of.

dont know any local luthiers so ill prob jsut take it to a music shop. but ym frets are ok, i make sure to keep them nice.

i try to keep my action as low as possible without my lower notes buzzing also, so what eactly is a fret dress?

This post was edited by adamnu on Apr 11 2011 08:12pm

fret dress is where they go over the frets and "level" them finding any spots where the frets are coming up. when your guitar neck gets dry it shrinks and can pop frets straight out of the neck (or in most cases just raise them to cause a buzz). they push them back or just file them down.

everyone should use some kind of humidity control on their instrument! keep the air between 30-50% humidity.