The dreaded FRET BUZZ

[James B]

String action unfretted- Low E 5/64ths, High E 3/64ths (good)

Capoed at first fret, still buzzing so I know it’s not the nut

Getting fret buzz on Low E...7th and 8th frets only

No strings are hitting back of bridge either

Any ideas???

 

[BGood]

Look at relief with capo on first fret and finger up the neck.

 

[James B]

With capo on 1st, fretting the 22nd fret, relief is 2/64th at the 7th fret

 

[PeterOeh]

String action unfretted- Low E 5/64ths, High E 3/64ths (good)

Capoed at first fret, still buzzing so I know it’s not the nut

Getting fret buzz on Low E...7th and 8th frets only

No strings are hitting back of bridge either

Any ideas???

old frets? how used are they? maby in need of a fret dress nor recrowning?

 

[James B]

First three frets have some dings but nothing up past the 3rd fret

 

[PeterOeh]

First three frets have some dings but nothing up past the 3rd fret

idk how new the guitar and the frets is, what quality it is, but its not uncommen for new frets on some guitars (specically low end and sometimes also more expensive guitars) to be needing of a fret dress.
its all about the QC at the factory (and to a part also from the store it sold)

 

[Biddlin]

relief is 2/64th at the 7th fret

That's huge. I don't measure my set ups, but I just checked my 2018 LP and it's .006" using your method.

 

[PeterOeh]

That's huge. I don't measure my set ups, but I just checked my 2018 LP and it's .006" using your method.

.006" = 0,1mm thats fucking low action on a les paul
im not even having that low of a action on my on my jackson soloist professional xl.
thats way too low of a action for me. im not a soft player, far from.
on both my les pauls i have around .03" = 0.7mm on the low E. and around .02" = 0.5mm at the high e.
on the jackson its a hair lower, but not much..

 

[DPaulCustom]

String action unfretted- Low E 5/64ths, High E 3/64ths (good)

Capoed at first fret, still buzzing so I know it’s not the nut

Getting fret buzz on Low E...7th and 8th frets only

No strings are hitting back of bridge either

Any ideas???

What gauge strings are you using?

Heavier strings tent to oscillate more, why only the 7th/8th fret, IDK

 

[James B]

I’m using 9s

If I lower it it will ring more
I’m stumped bc my relief is where it’s suppose to be

 

[DPaulCustom]

That's a mystery Scoob, best advice, leave it till tomorrow, & put a fresh ear to it.

 

[vomer]

PeterOeh, James was measuring relief, not action.

James, you say your relief is where it is supposed to be but that is way too much. Relief tends to be deepest around the 9th fret. So even before checking for a high fret causing the buzz, I would suggest getting the relief down to between .005" to .010". If you don't have feeler gauges, use a piece of a top E string. Try a quarter turn clockwise on the truss rod first, but with as much relief as you reported, 2/64", it will probably need more. Don't try to do the whole relief adjustment all in a single turn of the truss rod. After a quarter turn, sit the guitar on your lap, push against the base of the neck with your left hand and the fretboard at the first fret with your right. This helps the neck towards straightening, sometimes the wood can be a little reluctant to follow the truss rod. Don't worry if there are any creaks. And, sometimes necks will take a few hours to respond fully to a truss rod adjust.

Then you will probably have to raise the bridge to get your preferred action again.

Once you have the relief set and the action set, if you still have buzz, then check for high frets with a fret rocker. If you don't have one, you can use something hard with a straight edge like a credit card. Span three frets to see if the card 'rocks' over either a high fret, or down onto a low fret.

What I said above about .005" to .010" is just a ballpark figure. I always treat each neck and each player's preference individually. But it's a good starting point.

And I would tend to use the 1st and 18th, not the 22nd, frets to check relief. The top fret is sometimes lower than the others because it doesn't have to be exact and it's easy to not worry about precision when it's being skimmed and crowned. Not that I would ever do something so sloppy but I have seen it, often.

 

[James B]

So I’m looking for .05 to .10 at the 7th fret with the first fret capoed and holding down the 18th


Right ?

 

[vomer]

I usually say 8th rather than 7th. Some folks may say 7th which is fine.

Sorry just realised typo in my earlier post which I will edit. .005" to .010" Five thou to ten thou.

 

[James B]

No more buzz!!!

Now I just need to set intonation

Can someone link me an easy to understand video?

I understand the basics but it’s hard for me to tell if a note is sharp or flat

I just want to do it right

 

[vomer]

Excellent! I don't know about a video but a quick tip is "FFF"- if the Fretted note is Flat, move the saddle Forward (towards the neck.) And obviously, the reverse, if the fretted note is sharp, move the saddle backwards, So, pluck open string, then pluck string fretted at 12th.

I usually use a tuner to do intonation.

Another tip, do intonation with the guitar in the playing position i.e. on your lap, if it is laying on the bench the weight of the neck may affect intonation.

 

[BGood]

I understand the basics but it’s hard for me to tell if a note is sharp or flat

Sharp: tuner lights are blinking on the right of the letter. It means space between nut and saddle is too short, so by moving the saddle back, you'll augment the length of vibrating portion of said string.

Flat: tuner lights are blinking on the left. Reverse of the explanation above.

 

[James B]

Got it !

What should pickup heights generally be?

 

[BGood]

I set the bridge pickup (pole) height to about two credit card thickness distance from the bottom of the strings (1/8" or ±3cm). No closer, if not magnets will dampen sustain. If it sounds good, I leave it there. Too hot for you ? Go (counterclockwise for humbucker, clockwise for P90) ½ turn of each screw at a time to lower it where I want it. Once I have that one at the sweet spot, I go to the neck.

Neck tone has to be different from middle position. Many people have the neck pup adjusted so it gives the same tonality as middle position. Not good. Neck pup has to be adjusted so middle position gets a quacky tone. You'll know what I mean when you get there. So, I raise the neck pup until it starts to sound boomy. Notes will seem to be overwhelmed with too much bass. Now I lower it a full screw turn and compare it to middle. If it sounds the same, the neck pup is still too high. I go on until I hear three different balanced tones out of the two pup.

 

[Raiyn]

Dave's World of Fun Stuff on YouTube.

The longer videos are more in depth of he's covered the same type a few times.