A few days warm weather, now my guitars all have fret buzz! HELP!

[jjkrause84]

You saw the title....wtf do I do!?

I raised the saddle on the high E string on my Tele until it was HIGHER than the B.....still had fret buzz across the entire neck. Last week, played perfectly. Both my guitars (a Tele and Les Paul special) were in their cases. Should I leave them out for a bit? Would that help?

[Telarkaster]

You might have to loosen your truss rod (lefty loosey). Do you know how to check if it's set right? There should be some space between the string and the 8th fret when you fret the first and last fret on the same string. I'll let the experienced luthiers here chime in.

It gets super humid here in the summer and dry in the winter so I've seen that happen.

[jjkrause84]

Tried that...no avail. Tried tightening. Tried loosening. No major improvement.

[jjkrause84]

Does it matter that it only seems to have effected the g, b, and high e?

[jhundt]

does that buzz show up through your amp?

My inclination would be to ignore it. I have 2 '68 Fender guitars that I have owned for 30+ years, and I don't think I have ever adjusted the truss rod on either one of them.

If you really think it is related to the warm weather I would say most definitely DON'T change anything. The weather will soon enough go back to normal and your guitars probably will too.

BTW - what was the name on that double-overdrive pedal you brought to the London jam session?

[jjkrause84]

The buzz is so bad I can't play, dude. I wanted to practice but it's just NOT gonna happen!

The OD pedal was a Lovepedal Amp 11. Nice pedal (even if it may not be...you know.."original" ).

[Skub]

It probably no comfort to you jjk,but it's been hot as hell here most of this week and none of my guitars are suffering in the manner you describe,nor do they ever.

Maybe some other reason?

[claudel]

Time for new strings?

If the neck hasn't moved and has the correct relief, there's only so many things to screw up.

Capo the first fret and simultaneously fret the highest note on the low "E"
There should be ~0.008 <> 0.012 relief at the 12th fret under the "E", or thereabouts...

I use the same feeler gauge I used to use on the car...

[TeleKato]

Ah, time for the annual set-up. I think you'll need to start the set-up process from the start -- truss rod (remember it doesn't take effect immediately ... usually takes a day to 'settle in.'), saddle heights, intonation, maybe even neck-shim.

I have this one glorious Esquire -- huge giant baseball-bat neck. Well, in the winter, frets are sprouting out the side so bad that it cuts my fingers; now, they're perfectly at the end, but she buzzed like a hornets/ nest. We re-set-up and we're good. Hell, the new Custom I got from Tony M. last week -- it was perfect at his house, and by mid-week here, that low-E was buzzing so bad I was gonna "file the nut, raise the bridge and take the buzz out the low-E" (straight from Wayne's World!). But a little adjustment in that one saddle and we're good. Plus ... not hearing it through the amp, so I'm not making a big deal of it.

Anyway, welcome spring/summer and humidity. We'll be complaining about fret sproutes, flat-tuning, and intonation issues in six months.

[jjkrause84]

Originally Posted by TeleKato

Ah, time for the annual set-up. I think you'll need to start the set-up process from the start -- truss rod (remember it doesn't take effect immediately ... usually takes a day to 'settle in.'), saddle heights, intonation, maybe even neck-shim.

I have this one glorious Esquire -- huge giant baseball-bat neck. Well, in the winter, frets are sprouting out the side so bad that it cuts my fingers; now, they're perfectly at the end, but she buzzed like a hornets/ nest. We re-set-up and we're good. Hell, the new Custom I got from Tony M. last week -- it was perfect at his house, and by mid-week here, that low-E was buzzing so bad I was gonna "file the nut, raise the bridge and take the buzz out the low-E" (straight from Wayne's World!). But a little adjustment in that one saddle and we're good. Plus ... not hearing it through the amp, so I'm not making a big deal of it.

Anyway, welcome spring/summer and humidity. We'll be complaining about fret sproutes, flat-tuning, and intonation issues in six months.

Thanks, man.

I've worked on it a bit and it's a little bit better. At least I can get on with soem practice (only serious buzz on the high e, the rest are down to 'tolerable' buzz). The bummer is YESTERDAY my Tele was perfect! I was loving it!

Ugh.

I've never had this happen before...much less overnight! Quite frustrating.

[jjkrause84]

My Tele is still unplayable. Literally unplayable. Even the 22nd fret buzzes! How the eff is this possible!?

PLEASE, can anyone help!?

[Jupiter]

Actually, it sounds like it's not the frets at all. . . . . Could be the bridge has something loose on it. Does the neck actually move when you try to adjust the trussrod? Anything look weird on the headstock, like the string guides?

[soulman969]

Major changes in the weather are gonna have an effect and there's no way around that. That neck is wood and it's gonna move.

Like TeleKato suggested you probably need to do a setup from stem to stern. Starting with adjusting the neck relief with the truss rod. I capo at the first fret hold down the last and slip a normal thickness business card between the strings and the neck if it will just barely hold that card without falling out I know I'm right about where I need to be.

Next check the saddles and whatever buzz is left you should be able to adjust from there. If I'm completely out of room to adjust then it may be the neck angle needs to be flattened by shimming the back of the neck pocket.

If you've gone through a full setup and you still can't get it worked out then I'd start to suspect the frets not being level. There are some instructions posted here for how to do that or you may want to take it to a tech or a luthier and have them check the guitar out to see what they find.

[Rolling Estonian]

Keep in mind that if you adjust the truss rod the adjustment takes time to occur, a day or so isn't uncommon. I have to tweak the truss rod now and again when the weather and seasons change.

M

[jjkrause84]

I've done some more tweaking to both the Tele and LP. Both remain unplayable. I'm just gonna have to keep tweaking and hope that, one day, I'll get them at least playable.

I never realized how important guitar was to me. Now that I CAN'T play it is absolutely doing my head in. I still can't figure out why it is only the g, b, and e are so bad. I don't get it. Oh well.


Can anyone explain buzz at the 22nd fret? Please? There's nothing to buzz against!!!

[javabirds]

I use one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0013B...dir_mdp_mobile
This time of year I have to keep the ac unit running on low all the time in my music room. Otherwise the humidity would hit 70% and I would be buzzing too. Running the ac keeps it between 45-50%. I keep my guitars out of the case and just try to keep the whole room at a healthy humidity.

As far as your setup goes, it is worth it to invest in some setup tools like a straight edge and a string height and radius gauges. The stewmac kit and book are good. That way you will not just be tweaking to eliminate buzz but setting everything to spec and then making minor adjustments. Maybe your misfortune is actually just what you need to step up and get some setup experience. It isn't hard at all and in the long run it will save you grief and $$$. If you already have and do this stuff, ignore everything I just said!

[jhundt]

it is quite unlikely that both of your guitars would react to changes in the weather so dramatically, and so uniformly.

Have you been taking any weird vision-inspiring drugs lately? Maybe you are hearing the highest overtone of the vibration of the planets...

[jjkrause84]

Originally Posted by javabirds

I use one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0013B...dir_mdp_mobile
This time of year I have to keep the ac unit running on low all the time in my music room. Otherwise the humidity would hit 70% and I would be buzzing too. Running the ac keeps it between 45-50%. I keep my guitars out of the case and just try to keep the whole room at a healthy humidity.

As far as your setup goes, it is worth it to invest in some setup tools like a straight edge and a string height and radius gauges. The stewmac kit and book are good. That way you will not just be tweaking to eliminate buzz but setting everything to spec and then making minor adjustments. Maybe your misfortune is actually just what you need to step up and get some setup experience. It isn't hard at all and in the long run it will save you grief and $$$. If you already have and do this stuff, ignore everything I just said!

Well, I've set up my guitars before....I've just never met buzz this persistent! It's like the VietCong!

In either case, we don't have AC, and I don't have room to keep my guitars out.

For now I'm just practicing with horrible buzz. I still don't understand how one gets buzz on the last fret though!

[jjkrause84]

Originally Posted by jhundt

it is quite unlikely that both of your guitars would react to changes in the weather so dramatically, and so uniformly.

Have you been taking any weird vision-inspiring drugs lately? Maybe you are hearing the highest overtone of the vibration of the planets...

I agree it's unlikely (and it's never happened before...), but what else could it possibly be? Gremlins?

[jjkrause84]

The buzz is back in town.....

I've spent more time tweaking my guitars this summer than playing. Effing depressing.