Eliminate fret buzz

[Dommak89]

Hi all,

I have an issue with my recently purchased used guitar. After changing strings I noticed extreme fret buzz on all strings. I tried to increase the height of the saddles but even at max I still get it.

I'm no Lutheran, but in my mind there's only two options to get riff of the Fett buzz on the lower frets: increase nut height or play with the truss rod.

Am I missing something or is it exactly that?

 

[wheresthefbomb]

Hey, no worries, I'm not a Lutheran either, we were raised make our own choices and my parents always encouraged us to experience others' faiths if we so desired.

As for your fret buzz, it's hard to tell from images alone, and it could be a lot of things. Some starting points to check from my own experience diagnosing fret buzz:

Put a capo on the first fret (or use your hand), fret a note with your hand approximately where the neck meets the body, and look at/around the 9th fret. Is the string touching the fret wire(s)? If so, you probably need to loosen the truss rod a bit. You're looking for around a business card's worth of clearance here.

Fret a string on the third fret and look behind it, where it goes over the first fret. Is the string touching the first fret wire? If so, you might need to shim (or replace) the nut. Similarly, you're looking for around a business card's worth of clearance.

These are rudimentary guidelines that may differ depending on taste and play style, but can give you a rough idea of what's going on with your neck. I'm sure some folks with more knowledge than me will weigh in shortly.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Seems to me from pics that it's an issue with the hut height. Truss-rod might be exacerbating the issue but I really think you need to shim that nut or get a new one that isn't so short. Could be the slots too if they're cut too deep.

 

[RevDrucifer]

Nuts are cheap, easy to work with and can make a shitty playing guitar feel like a $4000 awesome build when they’re cut right, with actual tonal differences.

Buy a few Tusq XL’s and some files, get to work!

 

[Dommak89]

I'm assuming you mean the the 24th fret for your first suggestion? So 1st fret capo, put a finger on the 24th fret, if the string touches 9 fret wire I should loosen the truss rod, did I get that right?

For the second tip, do I "just" fret the third string or do I still have a capo on the first?

Put a capo on the first fret (or use your hand), fret a note with your hand approximately where the neck meets the body, and look at/around the 9th fret. Is the string touching the fret wire(s)? If so, you probably need to loosen the truss rod a bit. You're looking for around a business card's worth of clearance here.

Fret a string on the third fret and look behind it, where it goes over the first fret. Is the string touching the first fret wire? If so, you might need to shim (or replace) the nut. Similarly, you're looking for around a business card's worth of clearance.

 

[Dommak89]

Funnily enough after putting all the strings on again and playing around with everything it seems every string is touching or almost touching the fret wires (without fretting anything) except the low B string (7th string).

 

[wheresthefbomb]

I'm assuming you mean the the 24th fret for your first suggestion? So 1st fret capo, put a finger on the 24th fret, if the string touches 9 fret wire I should loosen the truss rod, did I get that right?

For the second tip, do I "just" fret the third string or do I still have a capo on the first?

For the first, yes, you're looking for clearance (or lack thereof) in the middle of the fretboard.

Capo for the first, no capo for the second; the second is to check nut slot depth, you fret at the third fret and look behind it to see if it's touching the first fret wire.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

If you're unable to purchase a new nut, you can use paper or thin card-stock and CA glue to shim the old nut. I would do this without [yet] gluing the nut and shim into place... just so that you can remove it if it needs an additional shim or adjustment.

It sounds as if when you removed the strings that it took the tension off of the neck resulting in a straight or back-bow condition. I would again, shim the nut if the slots look to be in decent shape. Then if necessary, adjust the truss rod depending on where things are at that point.

It also wouldn't be a bad idea to invest in a straight-edge or notched straight-edge so that you're able to check things more accurately.

 

[Dommak89]

So just a quick update:

This has been the worst used guitar purchase ever. The bridge screws were all rusty, so I had to completely deconstruct the bridge and derust screws and springs only to realize that also the thread (hope that's the right word) is fucked, which made it difficult to get a good intonation, because after a while you couldn't tighten the screws to pull the saddles closer.

After all this I gave up and gave the guitar to technician. He then wanted to adjust the truss rod, and guess what: the truss rod screw is fucked is well.

Sorry for the rant.

And thank you for helping me out trying to understand how to solve this issue. It was fun working on the guitar and the bridge, but it's no fun to have a 500 Euro guitar purchase turn into 700 Euro or more just because shit is not working. Could have bought a different guitar for this.

 

[Whoman Bean]

I'm a Lutheran myself. May God bless you and your frets