Help With Setup!

[Drunkagain]

Well I've finally decided to try and make the jump form .009's to .010's and I want to try and take care of the setup myself. I've been playing about 16 years and have just never taken the time to learn how to do this. I have Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player Repair Guide but I still have a few questions.

I've put the new strings on, tuned to pitch, adjusted the neck relief, and the intonation, and now I'm getting a lot of buzzing on the lower strings betweeen the 5th and 9th frets. I haven't been able to adjust the string height yet since I don't have an allen wrench that's the right size but the action seems pretty darn low. A bit lower than I like actually. Will adjusting the string height help with the buzzing or do I have to go back to another step? If so, what step?

Any other suggestions? I'm having fun with this but it is a bit confusing the first time around.

Thanks.

[Panama Red]

It is a bit confusing because it's the combination of both relief and string height with a balance between the two.
You have to go back and forth a bit to get it all right.
What is the relief at the 8th fret? What are the string height at the 12th fret?
If the neck is adjusted very straight (little relief), try adding a bit more relief and see if that helps.
If the relief seems to be okay, I would try raising the strings abit.
Is this a stop tail or a trem?
The nice thing about a PRS is that it subtle adjustments get them playing nice.
Take you time. :)

[Drunkagain]

It's a tremolo. And I guess I should have mentioned that this is an American Strat I'm working on. If I like the way the .010's feel and play, I'll change the strings on my PRS next.

The neck is just about straight right now with just a bit of relief. Should I adjust it for more relief?

Thanks.

[Panama Red]

It's a tremolo. And I guess I should have mentioned that this is an American Strat I'm working on. If I like the way the .010's feel and play, I'll change the strings on my PRS next.

The neck is just about straight right now with just a bit of relief. Should I adjust it for more relief?

Thanks.
I would try that since you can't raise the stings yet.
Also as you probably know on a strat check the string height at the 17th fret.

[Drunkagain]

Thanks Panama Red. Adjusting the relief got rid of the buzzing. Now I just need to adjust the string height a bit and I'll have completed my first setup! :)

[Thomas Hebert]

Glad it worked out for you. I have noticed that the neck may move some in the couple of days following a relief adjustment. Be sure to check your guitar again in several days, and it may require a tweek again. Most often, mine do not, but check again in a few days just to be sure.