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Hollow body buzz inside


ncurtis

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Hi

 

There is a 'distortion-like' buzz coming from the inside of my hollow bodied Epiphone Sorrento when it is not plugged in. Any ideas as to how to identify the buzz and technical information as to how to get rid of it?

 

Thanks

Neil.

I’ve noticed the same thing in my Swingster but I don’t notice it when playing through an amp

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The most likely culprit is a loose nut on one of the pots or switch, or some of the wiring or connections vibrating against a metal or hard plastic part inside.

 

Try using a pencil, dowel or chopstick through the f-holes to see if you can move something to where the buzz goes away. I've had this happen, but was always able to find the source and re-position things to where the buzz stopped.

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The most likely culprit is a loose nut on one of the pots or switch, or some of the wiring or connections vibrating against a metal or hard plastic part inside.

 

Try using a pencil, dowel or chopstick through the f-holes to see if you can move something to where the buzz goes away. I've had this happen, but was always able to find the source and re-position things to where the buzz stopped.

 

thanks for this, I'll give it a try.

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I am not sure what a distortion like buzz sounds like, but I have (hopefully soon to be had) a very annoying buzz on my Epiphone Riviera Custom P93 guitar, which is a semi hollow body guitar. This thread is timely, because I am currently in the process of dealing with it. To my ear, it sounds like the buzz is coming from the cavity of the guitar and it also does not get transmitted through the amp. I spent some time on guitar forums researching the cause of the buzz and got a bunch of conflicting suggestions (uneven frets, issue with tune-o-matic bridge, vibrating wire in guitar cavity, issue with Bigsby tailpiece, etc). I decided to take my guitar to a guitar tech, who told me the buzz is being caused by uneven frets. The guitar tech charged me for both a fret level and a set-up, which cost about 1/3 of the guitar's purchase price. Unfortunately, the buzz was not fixed by the fret level although I did not hear it in the tech's shop (its loud in there when he gets busy). I heard it right off when I got the guitar home, so I had a friend's friend who works for a boutique guitar builder take a look. He also thinks the buzz is being caused by uneven frets. He tracked the buzz all the way down the fretboard and showed me it was coming from the last couple of frets. He pulled out some calipers that confirmed the guitar tech must have missed the last couple of frets. My guitar is back in the shop and I am waiting for the final correction. Stay tuned.

 

P.S. - If you want to test for uneven frets, Stew Mac sells a tool called a fret rocker. There's a demo of how to use it on their website, which shows you basically put a straight edge across three frets. If the edge is flat, the frets are level. If it rocks, the frets are uneven. You may not even need the fret rocker if you have a straight edge (or edges) to cover three frets in increments up the fret board. Be sure to go all the way through the last fret on the guitar. Good luck.

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