Re: Fret buzz, truss rod, and an unidentifiable guitar

Oops, I hadn't opened that link to the pics. Odd that anyone would seat an
adjustable rod with the nut sticking out into the soundhole like that.
Maybe the guy used one intended for a steel string with 14 frets clear.
Anyway, David may well be right about the wrench size, but there are
several variations depending on where the rod was made so use caution when
choosing the weapon.

If as you say the 'crown of the arc' is toward the strings, then the rod is
probably tighter than it should be. Back it off a little and see if the
crown comes down. Tightening the rod should bring the middle of the board
up, toward the strings, and loosening it moves it down.

Generally when a neck is bent so that the middle of the board is higher than
the ends that is refered to as a 'bow' condition. When it is bent so that
the middle of the board is lower than the ends it is refered to as a 'warp'
condition. Adjustable rods are usually installed with the neck very
slightly warped, so that they can be adjusted to remove the warp or to
allow a little relief back into the neck.

Frets should not be filed individually. Dressing them entails filing the
full length of the board until every fret has just been touched by the file,
thereby ensuring they are all level. They are then re-crowned to remove
flat spots, and polished. Before any filing or dressing takes place the
neck must be properly adjusted and of course individual fret ends must be
checked to ensure they are all firmly seated.

If your guitar neck is so out of whack that it can't be made to play
properly by the usual means, it may well be able to be salvaged by removing
the frets, re-flattening the board and refretting.

Shims under saddles are not an acceptable solution. It is cheap and easy to
make a new saddle of the appropriate height, and that will yield much
better sound as opposed to jamming odd bits of debris under a short saddle.

The term 'hand made' has come to be virtually meaningless these days. You
see all sorts of factory produced instruments labelled 'hand made', 'hand
crafted' etc. when such is clearly not the case. The other possibility
is that the instrument may well have been built by hand by someone
relatively new to the game.

Good luck.
KH
"sangpark9" <sangpark9@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:FJqdnatTlpwDAYXVnZ2dnUVZ_uWdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Kevin,

I think David saw the hex bolt in the picture I linked in the original
post.

As for the buzz, it is definitely from the frets. If I put a straight edge
on the frets it rocks on 3rd (3rd is the peak and 4th is low). It rocks on
13th too, but does not buzz. I see someone filed down 5th to 8th frets on
the treble side quite a bit, as well as raising the saddle to a
ridiculously high position, yet it still buzz so much that it is
unplayable.
I bought this guitar so I could mess around with it. The person who sold
it said it was hand made but I doubt it looking at the buzz and the
varnish. Would a partial re-fretting be something I can do myself? Any
tips?

Thanks

sang

Kevin Hall wrote:
Given the wide variety of trussrods used by manufacturers over the years,
it is impossible to say this unidentified example will need a specific
size of rod wrench. Some used Allen headed adjusters, some an
ordinary nut of various sizes, some used a sort of cylindrical barrel
through which you shove a small tommy bar to adjust. Advising a
neophyte to use a specific size and type of wrench could easily lead to a
stripped nut.

We don't know the make, model or even rough year of manufacture of the
instrument, let alone possible cause for buzzes. Those could vary
anywhere from loose frets to the trussrod coming unglued or a few dozen
other sources. There just isn't enough information in the original
post to make any sensible sort of diagnosis.

The best course of action for the orig. poster would be to take the
offending instrument to a competent repair tech and ask that he or she
explains the basics and specifics of this model to the owner.

KH
"David Kilpatrick" <iconmags3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:gZqdnbTR9ZQ234XVRVnyuAA@xxxxxxxxx
sangpark9 wrote:
Hello all,

I bought an odd guitar knowing full well the fingerboard buzz like
crazy from first to third fret. It is made of solid spruce top,
rosewood side and back, and ebony fret board. So, the material used is
not too bad, but it weighs a ton thanks to the truss rod, has muffled
sounds, the tonality is awful, action is set way too high to reduce the
buzz. I don't even know who made it because the label isn't there. You
can see the guitar here: http://sangpark9.home.comcast.net/

My questions are: 1)how does the truss rod work? I've never own a
guitar that has one 2) is a slightly curved fingerboard (entire length
of the board )normal? It arcs toward body. All guitars I own have
straight fingerboards 3) how do I get rid of the awful buzz? It buzz on
all strings but worst on high E and B, on all first three frets. The
saddle is already very high. It actually has three thin wood strips
underneath it to raise the saddle higher.

Thanks in advance.

Turn the truss rod using a 5mm hex wrench. Turn it clockwise to
straighten the neck from a concave bow (nut higher than it should be) or
slacken it off to allow the nut to rise (add relief, concave bow). You
seem to be describing a concave bow already, but that rarely causes 1-3
fret buzzes - the buzzes tend to be at 10-15th fret instead. It is
usually a convex bow which causes low fret position buzzes.

Turn the truss rod only 1/4 to 1/2 turn max, and do not turn it against
extreme resistance. It should be moderately hard to turn, if it is slack
it may not be acting at all (neutral position).

Reshim or adjust saddle height after getting the neck correctly
straight/relief-set under normal string tension.

David


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: action/technique on high frets
    ... but when i try to adjust the ... Here is the truss rod proceedure: ... Capo at the first fret ... This utilizes the string itself ...
    (rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz)
  • Re: Fret zero? Why? Why not?
    ... a fret at the zero position instead of a nut. ... are always going to be easier to build and adjust ... I can replace a zero fret, match the edge bevel, ...
    (alt.guitar.beginner)
  • Re: Barn-Pole Nuts & Bolts contradiction
    ... pole replaced by a long threaded rod. ... Now let the threaded rod and threaded nut move ... Acceleration is acceleration, David. ... "observe" length contraction in. ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: Fret buzz, truss rod, and an unidentifiable guitar
    ... Maybe the guy used one intended for a steel string with 14 frets clear. ... Anyway, David may well be right about the wrench size, but there are several variations depending on where the rod was made so use caution when choosing the weapon. ... If as you say the 'crown of the arc' is toward the strings, then the rod is probably tighter than it should be. ... Some used Allen headed adjusters, some an ordinary nut of various sizes, some used a sort of cylindrical barrel through which you shove a small tommy bar to adjust. ...
    (rec.music.classical.guitar)
  • Re: Fret buzz, truss rod, and an unidentifiable guitar
    ... of rod wrench. ... and back, and ebony fret board. ... 1)how does the truss rod work? ... off to allow the nut to rise (add relief, concave bow). ...
    (rec.music.classical.guitar)