Fret Buzz

[Glacies]

It has struck me.

Looks like my truss rod might need adjustment BUT I'd like to learn how to assess and do this the right way. It's an Epi LP Standard.

The strings at the 12th fret are pretty high - I can get measurements later today but if I look down the neck, it looks like it the neck needs to be straighter so therefore the truss rod would need to be tightened. However, It looks like if the bridge was dropped a bit, it would eliminate this problem too.

How do you know where to start? This guitar has never been professionally set up and I've never done this before but would very much like to learn. I called the local music shop and they said they would not show me how. I've seen a few How To's on the internet, but they didn't say anything about bridge vs truss rod and, well, frankly, I trust you guys a whole hell of a lot more.

I've been building a guitar lately, so I'm not afraid of nuts and bolts (I'm an engineer), but I am afraid of screwing up mah axe. Any direction here would be greatly appreciated.

[Commodore 64***]

Check your nut.
First of all, fret the guitar at fret 3. How much clearance is between the strings and fret 1? They should be just about touching.

If they are touching: Your nut slots are too low. You can shim the nut. Start with a little strip of your string envelope, put it in the slot, and coat it with superglue. Then put the nut back in. Repeat as necessary.
If they are more than .010 off:You could lower the nut or you could make the nut slots deeper. You need special files to do the slots, but all you need is sandpaper and a flat surface to do the whole nut. Do a little at a time.

To get the nut off, loosen the strings. Push them off to the side of the fretboard (3 one way, 3 the other) and pry gently with a small screw driver. It should pop off. You'll go through a set of strings with all your loosening and tuning back to pitch. It's pretty hard on the strings.

Check Relief
Press down at fret the guitar at 1 and 12. Look to see how much space is between the strings and the frets around frets 7,8, 9. Should be a little bit of space there. No more than a credit card, I prefer mine about .010 (string size). If there's a credit card or more, give the truss rod 1/8 turn tighter, wait a few minutes and check again.

If after all this, you are still getting buzzing or fretting out and your action is 2mm or greater at fret 12, you probably need to consider a fret leveling. But do this other stuff first.

In the meantime, give some more information about fret buzz. Where? All frets? Only frets above 12? Does it buzz on all strings? Does the buzz amplify? (some rattle on the strings is OK, you jsut don't want it to amplify.) Do you fret out on bends? If so which strings?

With a tuneomatic bridge you can't really do this, but if you have individual saddles, you can run your action a hair higher on the E and A strings, since they tend to buzz when you dig in (and are harder to fret cleanly up on the neck, for me at least). You can tweak it to your liking. There is no set rule, although following the radius of the fretboard is common.

The easiest way to set action is with a nickel. I use a nickel and fret #15. You can slide the nickel under the string and strike the string. When it just barely vibrates and rubs the nickel, you are good to go. Do that on every string and your strings will mimic the radius of your fretboard.

[Glacies]

Thanks dude. I'm going to check all of this tonight and will post the results.

[Eric***]

I'll just say that for me, it's a bit easier to use a long-ish straightedge (like 14"+) and put it on the fretboard when the strings are on and tuned up. If you can see daylight between the middle frets and the edge of the ruler/straightedge, tighten the truss rod a little. Loosen it if the ruler indicates the guitar has backbow (i.e. the ruler wobbles from one end to the other).

After you have your neck straightened out, you can try dropping the bridge down a bit to lower the action at the higher strings.

I know C64's explanation is more thorough and accurate, but for me it didn't really click until I tried it the way I mentioned above. I hope that helps.

[Ch0jin]

That was great C64, except I'll have to check through my foreign currency change bowl and see if I kept any "nickels" from when I was in the US. Nickel is 5c right?

Also FWIW I bought an el-cheapo Capo because it helps out with that "press down at 1 and 12" part.

I've also adopted Eric's method. I have a long strip of aluminium that's perfect. I find it easier to use a "ruler" than trying to sight it.