[tatittle]

I have some rather annoying very high frequency overtones that occur on one of my Strat's high E string...up and down the whole neck. Its a Fender Amer Std. circa 1989-ish; a very bright guitar with weak pups. I currently have a brass block and brass saddles and even a brass nut installed on it, but Im pretty sure this issue was there prior to the changes. I dont really hear it on any other guitars. The overtones do not occur on the same note played on different strings. Anybody have experience with this? Ive tried changing pup heights. Its even there when played unplugged though. Ill switch the saddles when I get around to it I guess.

[Searing75]

Nut slot, or saddle slot is my guess.

[lovetoboogie]

Sometimes the tension spring behind the high-E saddle will rattle/vibrate, and make an annoying buzz depending on how fatigued it is and how far you have your saddle up. Just a guess but check that...

[hippieguy1954]

Is the tremolo block "blocked"?

I had the piece of wood I used to "block" the tremolo block slide down and was vibrating ever so slightly on the tremolo spring cover causing the b and the high e to have overtones up around the 10th and 12th sometimes. Took a while to figure out, but was an easy fix.

[tatittle]

Indeed it is blocked. Thanks Ill check that. I think alot of it is just the thin pup's exagerrating...along with JBL's at lower volume

[hippieguy1954]

I was getting the overtones even unplugged. I could tell something "extra" was resonating somewhere. I think it was mostly the block just barely touching the cover, but also the ground wire was resting on one of the tremolo springs causing a vibration, so it was actually a combination of both.
Again, easy fix but tricky tracking down. Having it unplugged helped a lot to track it down.

[tatittle]

You know I think my block (wood) is hitting the baclplate at least. Thanks for the tip. Sometimes I hardly notice it or wonder if there isnt even an issue, and then other times I find it annoying. Funny how much my condition plays in my perceptions.

[ac4468]

Not sure if you have string trees or have done any work on the nut but I've had that issue with the break angle over the nut not being sufficient. I found that just by having a few more windings down the tuning post was enough to increase the angle and get rid of the sound.

[tatittle]

I wind em down low generally, and there are the oem trees there as well. Nut shouldn't be cause since it does it up the neck on frets as well. I'm traveling right now so still haven't gotten around to close inspection of block etc.; its my "bunny slope" guitar which I keep with 9's or 9.5's for easy light playing when my arthritis (which started in college) acts up.

[hippieguy1954]

If it's only on the high E going up the neck and it doesn't happen on any other strings anywhere, then it seems most likely to be the bridge saddle groove or the action is just set too low on that string.
If it was anything to do with the trem block or how the bridge is sitting on the guitar, I'd suspect you would hear it on the D and G strings also, anywhere between the 7th to 12th frets. That's been my experience.