and ACTION!!!

I always wanted to say that...

Anyways,
I have an old Squier II Strat, had it for about fourteen years, and somewhere along the way an nameless 15 or 16 year old misunderstood when someone gave him the bit of advice, "find a sound you like and use it." Apparently he thought that meant if there is a screw or an adjustment, just get out the screw driver and fiddle around until it sounds kinda different and neat. Luckily he was not dumb enough to fiddle with the neck bolts or truss rod.

So after pulling it from behind the bookcase, tuning it, and gaining some calluses, I got to the point of setting it back up the right way. I have readjusted the pick up height, changed strings, gave her a through surface cleaning and reset the intonation. Those things seemed easy enough, BUT I'm not really sure of the action. I can't remember if I, err uh, IT was fiddled with...

It sounds good with a proper amount pressure on the strings, but at light pressure, or when I'm stretching for a chord, I get some fret buzz. Also now that I'm actually not actively ignoring barre chords, I'm hearing it alot more, I also went to a lighter gauge string.

So to sum up.
I have ignorantly messed with all sorts of things on it before.
I have changed to lighter strings.
I have an allen wrench and I'm not afraid to use it.

I'm not getting buzz on most easy chords.
I'm not getting buzz while doing scales.
I'm not getting buzz while playing with different riffs I've picked up.
I'm not as ignorent as I once was.

I am getting buzz on spread out chords.
I am getting buzz on some barre chords.
I am getting buzz on some practice exercises.
I am getting buzz while using my ring and pinkie finger.

I know it's probably a strength and flexibility issue, but I'd like a second opinion. I've begun to really fall for my guitar, and if there is something she needs I want to take care of it, also I like to fiddle around with things, but am now wise enough not to fix it if it ain't broke.

James