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  • Buzz only when fretting

    I'm about to go to a different shop for a setup. It's pissing me off. Filthy frets? Crap setup? What causes this? Is shimming required?
    Fuck ebay, fuck paypal

    "Finger on the trigger, back against the wall. Counting rounds and voices, not enough to kill them all" (Ihsahn).

  • #2
    frets that aren't level possibly. shimming no. how's your action?

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    • #3
      I would gamble unlevel frets. One of my more recent guitars had a high 16th fret and it caused buzzing for 2 frets before it. It drove me off the wall. Is this buzzing in a certain area or over the whole neck?
      "Dear Dr. Bill,
      I work with a woman who is about 5 feet tall and weighs close to 450 pounds and has more facial hair than ZZ Top." - Jack The Riffer

      "OK, we can both have Ben..joint custody. I'll have him on the weekends. We could go out in my Cobra and give people the finger..weather permitting of course.." -Bill Z. Bub

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      • #4
        Top 3 strings, almost every fret. All 3 guitars seem to have to same problem. Never had this problem when my first WR1 was first setup (before having a different shop swap the pickups and do another setup), hence I'm thinking "lousy setup".
        Fuck ebay, fuck paypal

        "Finger on the trigger, back against the wall. Counting rounds and voices, not enough to kill them all" (Ihsahn).

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        • #5
          "lousy setup" is a pretty general term but a setup won't cure buzz that's caused by frets. of course, there's a large chance it's something else. if 3 guitars have the same problem, unless you have owned each guitar for a long enough time that the frets have worn down equally across the top 3 strings, then it's probably not the frets. (btw when you say top 3 do you mean high e or low E?)

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          • #6
            If it's every fret on the top 3 strings, just raise the bridge on that side a tad.
            Scott

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            • #7
              Originally posted by wilkinsi View Post
              Top 3 strings, almost every fret. All 3 guitars seem to have to same problem. Never had this problem when my first WR1 was first setup (before having a different shop swap the pickups and do another setup), hence I'm thinking "lousy setup".

              Sounds like you might have a slight warp in your neck. You might try (if you feel comfortable enough) taking the truss rod cover off and marking your truss rod with a marker, then backing it off about a quarter turn. See how it feels (could be too tight). If it moves easily, then bring it back about half. Do all this while your guitar strings are slack. That would be giving you extra relief, in case the neck has been tightened to the point of twisting. It is really not that hard adjusting the relief, as long as you make a mark as to where it was at when you started so that you do not make it any worse.
              I know the old saying that the value of an opinion is generally inversely proportional to the strength with which it is held.

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              • #8
                All three guitars? That sounds really odd. Change in temperature/humidity causing some kind of warping maybe?
                Like someone else said, I'd try just raising the bridge a bit, but to be honest I'd be a tad worried about this....!
                http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steven-A.-McKay/e/B00DS0TRH6/

                http://http://stevenamckay.wordpress.com/

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                • #9
                  I've raised the bridge.. How many hours are you supposed to leave the guitar in the case once you get it home?
                  Fuck ebay, fuck paypal

                  "Finger on the trigger, back against the wall. Counting rounds and voices, not enough to kill them all" (Ihsahn).

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    you have to leave the guitar in the case for at least 4 days...


                    no but seriously what? there aren't rules like that. anyone who says there is, is a paranoid freak. which 3 strings are you talking about when you say top 3?

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                    • #11
                      Adjusted truss rod, raised bridge, sorted. Action a teeny bit too high. I'll et the hang of it..
                      Fuck ebay, fuck paypal

                      "Finger on the trigger, back against the wall. Counting rounds and voices, not enough to kill them all" (Ihsahn).

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Fret buzz also depends on your pick attack. The Halford Warrior now has the old JTX neck on it and the action is so low you can fret chords with a gentle breath. I shit you not.

                        However, it does require a very light pick attack. Anything harder than a gentle stroke will cause it to buzz on the 4th 5th and 6th strings.


                        Are you using light top/heavy bottom strings? If so, the bass side of the bridge has to be higher than the treble side.

                        Depending on how cold it was outside when you got the guitar, it could take anywhere from a day to 5 days for a guitar to completely settle in its new environment.

                        After years of buying guitars that were shipped to me from all over America (and a few from overseas), I can say with 100% certainty that unless the guitar came from the house across the street, do not adjust the neck or the action for about a week.


                        If it buzzes only when fretting, the nut is not too low, but the bridge might be. Not all guitars of the same model will have consistent action or be able to be set up identically. I know it sounds odd, but remember these were built by humans, so what may start out as a "minor" tolerance deviance when the neck and body wings were put together can end up causing major problems once the strings are on it.


                        Is this a USA Jackson or an import bolt-on?
                        If it's an import, there's other things you can do under the neck heel.
                        I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

                        The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

                        My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

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                        • #13
                          2 guitars are neckthru, the 3rd is a bolt-on but is shortly being sold off.
                          Fuck ebay, fuck paypal

                          "Finger on the trigger, back against the wall. Counting rounds and voices, not enough to kill them all" (Ihsahn).

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Ok, so all 3 have the same problem (heh missed that part in post #1 )

                            It definitely sounds like you and your tech-of-choice have different ideas about how low the action should be, which is why you need to do your own setups. Techs are great when you're a touring musician and you simply don't have the time between the photo shots and the groupies, but it's easy enough to do on your own that you really need to knuckle down and learn how to set up your own gear to suit your own taste.

                            First, sight the neck like it's a rifle down the bass side of the fretboard (guitar held upright in playing position, not laying back). Look from the bridge to the nut with a white wall or other light-colored, unpatterned surface in the distance (not the TV, nor the posters on the wall, nor out the window - try the ceiling or the door if it's white).
                            The neck should not be board-flat, but it should have the slightest forward bow. You can't always trust the fret tops to tell you how flat the neck is, so look at both the binding and the fret tops for a relative idea of the flatness.

                            If the neck is board-flat, give the rod about a 1/4" turn to loosen it. Note that's not 1/4 of a full rotation (like 15 minutes after the hour), but the end of the wrench that sticks out and faces you should only move 1/4 of an inch (the diameter of a guitar cable's plug).

                            This should put enough forward bow in the neck. If you don't see a difference, either give it another turn the same amount or wait 15 minutes. Wood usually doesn't move in a hurry unless there's a problem.


                            Next, raise the bridge evenly as you fret each note on the top 3 strings *that you would reasonably use* until you find the happy medium between action and buzz.

                            Note that unless you really do use the 15th-24th frets on the 4th, 5th, and 6th strings regularly, they do not need to be 100% buzz-free. In fact, it's a physical impossibility to get those strings to not buzz at all at those frets and still have anything resembling "low" action.

                            Once you've got the bass side set, check the treble side and see if it's higher than you like. If it is, drop the treble side while doing 3-finger hammer-ons on the 15th, 17th, and 19th until they plink too much or bottom out completely.

                            Once you're there, bend a full step at the 12th and 15th frets back and forth as you raise the treble side of the trem just enough so the bent note doesn't grind out on the frets.

                            All you can ever hope to achieve with a guitar is a happy medium, be it with the action or the intonation. You can't have 100% buzz-free and low action. You will always have fret buzz when using wound strings.

                            Also, if you're using light top/heavy bottom strings, you're going to get way more buzz. In fact, if you're using anything above 9s, you're going to get buzz on the bass side.
                            I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

                            The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

                            My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

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                            • #15
                              +1 to what Matt said.

                              A light picker can have lower action than someone who digs in. So the right setup for one person can be either "buzzy low" or "way too high" to someone else.

                              And different people have different levels of buzz tolerance. I tolerate buzz to get low action, but not when it reduces the amount of sustain my guitar should have.

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