buzz

[harmonicchaos]

i found this in the sg forum so i thought i'd repost it since i have the same problem and there aren't too many replies (my letter is the second one)

 

sleestack wrote:

Hi,

 

I just got a white gibson SG. Part of the music 123 limited edition on ebay. Anyway, I love it, but I get string buzz. I don't have an amp yet. It just buzzez a little on certain frets. Less so when I play softly. It goes away when I set the action really high but I like it lower better. The frets don't look damaged and the neck seems straight. Its pretty much in mint condition. Is this normal? Am I just playing too hard? I'm not used to playing electrics., Am I supposed to expect a little buzz or play it very lightly?

 

Thanks!

 

 

i'm pretty sure i have the exact same problem with my les paul vm. if you figure out how to fix it please tell me. mine seems to get better when i restring it because the action is tighter. the tighter strings only last a few days and then i'm back to my annoying buzz. it just started within the last few weeks. our house has some humidity problems so we've been using a dehumidifier so i think that might have screwed my set up. i'm gonna probably try to raise the action if there aren't any better suggestions. i know that it's getting worse as time goes on so i'm a little worried. i'm not sure what to do.

[DoubleSixx]

Sounds to me like your truss rod needs adjustment. I have to adjust mine every few

months, because of weather and season changes.

 

If you've never adjusted the truss rod maybe you should have it done by a professional,

it isn't hard but if you don't know what you're doing you can cause some problems or

even some damage.

 

Usually the slightest turn makes a huge difference.

[harmonicchaos]

thats what i figured. i wanted to affirm with you guys just to be on the safe side. i don't want to be messing with things that don't need to be messed with!

 

do you think a 1/8 turn clockwise would do the trick? i'm trying to think if i should do clockwise or counterclockwise. i know a lot of the technical stuff concerning guitars but i don't have the real life experience due to only playing for 7 months so excuse my lack of some knowledge.

[DoubleSixx]

I'm slightly affraid to say.

 

Depends on the warping of the neck.

 

Have you check the neck ? I usually hold the guitar up to the light and look from

the body up to the headstock.

 

Knowing how the neck is warped will tell you which way to turn the truss rod.

 

A straight edge may help you determine if the neck is warped. Some times it's off

but a tiny bit, but it'll cause some buzzing.

 

Maybe you should google this in depth before you attempt.

[dslyecix]

Why don't you just turn it a real tiny bit and see which way the neck bends. A 1/8th of a turn in either direction won't ruin your guitar... and you'll be able to discern which way bows it and which way straightens it (or rather, bends it the other way).

[heritage cherry]

Just remember the aim of the game is to get no audible buzz THROUGH the amp. Nearly all electric guitars with low action will buzz when picked hard enough when played acoustically. That's only going to be stopped if you're going to go for acoustic guitar type action. Ouch! But buzzing is not usually a problem THROUGH the amp viz it's not audible electrically, even if it's audible acoustically.

 

But anyway, firstly check the straightness of the neck. As DoubleSixx suggested, hold the neck of the guitar up to the light and look along the edge of the neck (I usually look along 6th string/bass and I also look the opposite way to DoubleSixx viz. I look along the neck edge from the headstock end towards the body end) and you'll see if the neck is dead-straight (flat), concave (up-bow) or convex (down-bow). The neck should either be dead flat or have a very slight up-bow, depending on fret height string gauge preference etc to prevent buzzing. Convex necks are a real no no, but I couldn't imagine one getting out of the Gibson factory like that.

 

Adjusting the truss rod is easy, but only make small adjustments (with the provided truss rod tool) an 1/8th to a 1/4 turn at a time. Unless something was really wrong I can't imagine more than 1/4 of a turn maximum being required. If you are looking at the guitar from above the headstock (like how I said to check for the straightness of the neck) with the neck & body going away from you, then turn the truss rod tool (once you've removed the truss-rod cover & engaged the tool with the truss-rod) clockwise or right to tighten or straighten the neck from too much up-bow; OR counterclockwise or left to loosen the neck from straight to a little up-bow (which can be desirable to avoid buzzing but will raise the action all other things being equal). Remember the direction of moving the truss rod tool right-tight, left-loose. But CAUTION that the directions will be opposite if you look at the guitar from the body end with neck & headstock going away from you.

 

Maybe if you are unfamiliar with the above instructions, take your guitar to a set-up man and pay for it to be set up properly.

 

Also I would refer you to a very good topic here last week in the Les Paul section of the Gibson Forum titled "General Setup Information" initiated by Zaphod B and there was a hyper-link in there in one of the later posts by Zaphod B about set-up info for Les Pauls. I couldn't post the link from there to here as I don't know how to do it.

[loboblanca]

I think this is it:

 

http://www.gibson.com/magazines/amplifier/1997/10/tipfile.html