fret buzz on my Gibson SG
Mike
Just recently started playing my SG again after it's been sitting
all winter untouched. Noticed that there is a distinct buzz on pretty
much all of the middle strings from the12th fret onwards towards the
pickups. I checked the action and it seems normal. I fret the 1st
fret and like the 20th fret and then I touch down somewhere around the
12th fret with my index finger. It's just *slightly* above the
string.
Soooo.....do I check the nut position? In other words if I fret the
2nd how much space should the 1st fret be away from the string? Or
should I check the bridge height?
All in all I'm not against doing stuff myself, I'll bring it to a shop
if I have to. But I'm a do-it-yoursef kinda guy so I'm inclined to at
least try it. I bought a Dan Erlewine book and it seems to give some
good background.
Thanks,
Mike
Derek
Not sure where you live, but for most of us, we turn the heat on
during the winter, which sucks all the moisture out of the air, and
dries out wood.
I have had similar experiences with different guitars doing what you
are describing.
Might put a humidifier in the case for a couple of weeks, or put in on
a stand with a room humidifier running.
Less invasive than messing with the nut imo. Good luck
Lumpy
> Hi Folks,
> Just recently started playing my SG again after it's been sitting
I agree with Derek. Humidify that monster.
> ...I checked the action and it seems normal. I fret the 1st
> fret and like the 20th fret and then I touch down somewhere around the
> 12th fret with my index finger. It's just *slightly* above the
> string.
That 1st and 20th fret thing is not any kind of
way to check action that I've ever heard of.
MEASURE the action of all six strings at the
12th fret. Appropriate distance should be perhaps
4/64ths to 6/64ths of an inch. Unless you've been
a precision machineist all your life, it's pretty
safe to say that you can't eyeball that measurement.
Frets.com will tell you more than you ever thought
there was to know about action, truss rods etc.
Lumpy
Can you play country music?
Sure. Which country would you like?
Tony Done
"Mike" <mike...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4f7f7198-a441-4f04...@w34g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
The nut isn't where the problem lies.
Fret buzz above the 12th fret means that either you have a lifted fret or
that the saddle it too low. The lifted fret is plausible in a stored guitar,
I can't visualise how the relationship between the neck and the bridge could
have altered in a set-neck solid body guitar. Is there any sign that the
neck joint has moved or that the bridge as settled in some way? - Eg a
forward lean that it didn't have before?
If it isn't an obvious mechanical problem like a lifted fret or collapsing
neck joint, I would raise the bridge a bit. If this makes the action too
high, then the neck could be straightened a bit to lower it again - if it
currently has enough relief to do this. I know this isn't standard wisdom,
but it works to optimise action heights between the bowed part of the neck
centered around the 7th fret and the supposedly straight part from about the
10th to the highest fret.
Tony D
Larry Green
> Mike wrote:
>> Hi Folks,
>> Just recently started playing my SG again after it's been sitting
>> all winter untouched...
>
> I agree with Derek. Humidify that monster.
>
I am with the other posters, you need to humidify that guitar.
I had a similar problem with my electro/acoustic this winter. A few weeks after
the heating went on I started to get fret buzz that gradually got worse and
worse. I tried shimming up the nut by placing a thin strip of plastic under it
but that lasted no more than a week before the buzz was back. I did some
research online and sure enough I found out that I only had 20% humidity in my
gig bag and room instead of the recommended 60-70% for the guitar and 50% for
the room. It turns out that as a hollow body guitar dries out it loses the
slight arch in it's top and this allows the strings to sink until they buzz on
the frets.
I hadn't got a guitar humidifier so more research led me to a site which showed
how to make your own out of a sponge and a ziploc bag with slits cut in it. I
placed one homemade humidifier in the gig bag and a second in the sound hole
suspended on a piece of string so I could pull it out again.
I checked the sponges for 'dampness' every day but it took about three weeks of
adding moisture before my action came back to where it should be without the
shim in place. Now I check the sponges weekly (if I haven't played the guitar
before that)and add moisture if required.
If you don't get moisture back into that guitar the stresses induced into the
wood can easily create cracks and sometimes completely destroy the instrument
depending on how bad (and where) the crack is.
--
Larry Green
olddog
"Mike" <mike...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4f7f7198-a441-4f04...@w34g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
check all the measurements
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/tutorial1.htm
it could even be your p/u height. never know
BobF
I've seen this more than once - especially with the low E string. If
pups are too close, you can get some *crazy* results trying to intonate.
ed s
POS Gibson - haha just kiddin... Humidifier is B.S. on a solid body
IMO. I live in Minnesota and never use one (on any of my guitars even
acoustics). If you haven't popped a fret, and everything was fine
before you put it away, I would think its a slight neck bow change due
to temp and perhaps just a tad of humidity effect. Truss rod
adjustmnet maybe(proceed with caution) - but perhaps its just setup
ToLow in the first place to be a stable year round guitar. Just raise
the action a tad at the bridge. Low action is Way over rated.. ed s.
ed s
PS - also its MAD at you for letting it sit so long, never do that! :
' ) - ed
Derek
>POS Gibson - haha just kiddin... Humidifier is B.S. on a solid body
>IMO. I live in Minnesota and never use one (on any of my guitars even
>acoustics). If you haven't popped a fret, and everything was fine
>before you put it away, I would think its a slight neck bow change due
>to temp and perhaps just a tad of humidity effect. Truss rod
>adjustmnet maybe(proceed with caution) - but perhaps its just setup
>ToLow in the first place to be a stable year round guitar. Just raise
>the action a tad at the bridge. Low action is Way over rated.. ed s.
Ed, I have seen both frets and inlays pop on solidbody electrics in
the past.
Just because you have managed to not have any significant problems
with your solidbodies without humidifying them, doesn't mean it
doesn't happen from time to time.
A tweak of the truss rod annually is typical of many guitars,
particularly when humidity levels fluxuate significantly thru the
years.
However, because I humidify in the winter, I rarely have to adjust
mine. YMMV
Lumpy
> > ... Humidifier is B.S. on a solid body IMO.
Derek:
> Ed, I have seen both frets and inlays pop on solidbody electrics in
> the past.
>
> Just because you have managed to not have any significant problems
> with your solidbodies without humidifying them, doesn't mean it
> doesn't happen from time to time.
Again, I agree with Derek.
Even my tele, with maple neck and fingerboard
suffers exposed fret ends if it loses humidity.
My kitchen table has solid wood legs which are
sealed with finish and several years old. Yet every
winter, when the humidity goes low, the legs
change dimension and cause the table to wobble.
We're not talking about a crack in the top, like
we might with an acoustic guitar. We're talking
about the complex geometry of the neck/bridge/nut
changing shape by a few thousanths of an inch.
Charmed Snark
> ed wrote:
>> > ... Humidifier is B.S. on a solid body IMO.
>
> Derek:
>> Ed, I have seen both frets and inlays pop on solidbody electrics in
>> the past.
>>
>> Just because you have managed to not have any significant problems
>> with your solidbodies without humidifying them, doesn't mean it
>> doesn't happen from time to time.
...
> My kitchen table has solid wood legs which are
> sealed with finish and several years old. Yet every
> winter, when the humidity goes low, the legs
> change dimension and cause the table to wobble.
> Lumpy
Eat & keep your table in the basement. Better
humidity levels there. The spiders will just
add some extra meat to your diet.
Snark.
ed s
> Lumpy expounded innews:727e7qF...@mid.individual.net:
>
> - Show quoted text -
Perhaps its because I keep most my guitars in the basement most the
time ? At any rate, yeah my fret ends show sometimes, doesn't really
matter, but my main point is adjust the action a tad higher and go
with it, so you don't need to chase it all the time. - e
Derek
Charmed Snark wrote:
>
>
> > Eat & keep your table in the basement. Better
> > humidity levels there. The spiders will just
> > add some extra meat to your diet.
Basements in Phoenix? Pretty scarce since they are basically sitting
houses on bedrock.
They often have to blast just to set up foundations, much less
basements.
Charmed Snark
342484...@h5g2000yqh.googlegroups.com:
Yes, I realize that basements are not all that practical for
some areas. But Lumpy can afford to have a Dr. StrangeLove
bomb shelter for that purpose.
Snark.
Lumpy
> I realize that basements are not all that practical for
> some areas. But Lumpy can afford to have a Dr. StrangeLove
> bomb shelter for that purpose.
With the recent economic turn of events, I've been
forced to downsize. I now have a Dr Ruth bomb shelter.
Charmed Snark
> Charmed Snark wrote:
>> I realize that basements are not all that practical for
>> some areas. But Lumpy can afford to have a Dr. StrangeLove
>> bomb shelter for that purpose.
>
> With the recent economic turn of events, I've been
> forced to downsize. I now have a Dr Ruth bomb shelter.
>
> Lumpy
"She da bomb!"
Snark.
Lumpy
> > With the recent economic turn of events, I've been
> > forced to downsize. I now have a Dr Ruth bomb shelter.
Snark:
> "She da bomb!"
Die bombfrau.