Fret Buzzing on Brand New Gibson LP

[ecjohnny]

Was I wrong to expect my new Les Paul to be "buzz free" since it is brand spankin new? The quality card was signed off on Jan 5, 2010. And yes, the inspector checked off on the buzzing line. 4 of the 6 strings buzz when picked openly. I certainly am a little dissapointed to say the least. This is not a $300 Epiphone, its a Nashville Gibson. I raised the bridge to a higher action than I like and still get some buzz. What % of LP's would you say have this buzzing as they leave the factory? Sorry to complain, but for $2000 and a good Pleckin' I expected more!

[KL]

Don't be alarmed. This sort of thing is common. Gibson guitars, like other good makes, are manufactured in carefully controlled climatic conditions. They are set up at the factory with an 'average' action to suit most people. They're not always set up really well though. When they hit the road to the dealer etc things change. Just take it back to the dealer and ask them for a set up. Most good dealers include this in the price of a guitar. Also, it will probably need further attention from time to time over the years. It is not a faulty guitar, but maybe the dealer could have done a better job for you before letting you walk out the door. When I buy a new guitar I usually take it away as it is and play it a while then take it in for a pro setup.

[tbonesullivan]

are you sure it's fret buzz and not something else vibrating? how much worse is the buzzing when you fret strings?

[jamman]

If you get fret buzz when played open , take the guitar back where you bought it. let them do a complete set up and tell them the problem. It sounds like an issue with the nut. Fret buzz can be caused by many different things. let a pro take care of it.

[ics1974]

Was I wrong to expect my new Les Paul to be "buzz free" since it is brand spankin new? The quality card was signed off on Jan 5' date=' 2010. And yes, the inspector checked off on the buzzing line. 4 of the 6 strings buzz when picked openly. I certainly am a little dissapointed to say the least. This is not a $300 Epiphone, its a Nashville Gibson. I raised the bridge to a higher action than I like and still get some buzz. What % of LP's would you say have this buzzing as they leave the factory? Sorry to complain, but for $2000 and a good Pleckin' I expected more![/quote']

 

 

I can't believe it went out the door at Gibson with a quality card that admits there is buzz on 4 open strings.

Unacceptable if you ask me . Like the other guys said it probably can be fixed but Gibson should have fixed it before leaving the factory. Shame on you Gibson for $2000 is BETTER be perfect especially when it is pleked.

[Xinnix]

It would be nice to know what Model you have?

[Nick Beach]

I can't believe it went out the door at Gibson with a quality card that admits there is buzz on 4 open strings.

Unacceptable if you ask me . Like the other guys said it probably can be fixed but Gibson should have fixed it before leaving the factory. Shame on you Gibson for $2000 is BETTER be perfect especially when it is pleked.

 

As far as you know it didn't buzz when it left the factory. Guitars are made of wood, which is very susceptible to changes in its environment. Like the guy said before, when it was at Gibson it was in a temperature controlled factory, then when it left it could have gotten put onto a cold truck (it is winter ya know) then put in a warm UPS building, then put on another cold truck, then put into your dealer then your dealer (keeping in mind most dealers keep their stores at a good temperature/humidity level for their guitars) put it on the wall. All those constant changes probably caused the wood to shift a tiny bit, but in turn that tiny shift gave you fret buzz.

[ics1974]

As far as you know it didn't buzz when it left the factory. Guitars are made of wood' date=' which is very susceptible to changes in its environment. Like the guy said before, when it was at Gibson it was in a temperature controlled factory, then when it left it could have gotten put onto a cold truck (it is winter ya know) then put in a warm UPS building, then put on another cold truck, then put into your dealer then your dealer (keeping in mind most dealers keep their stores at a good temperature/humidity level for their guitars) put it on the wall. All those constant changes probably caused the wood to shift a tiny bit, but in turn that tiny shift gave you fret buzz. [/quote']

 

Ok. I guess I miss read the original post. I thought he meant that Gibson wrote on the quality card that there is buzz on 4 of the 6 strings and did nothing about it.

[ecjohnny]

It is a Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro. And yes, it was mail ordered from Musicians Friend. I seriously doubt anyone else had their hands on it between the Gibson factory and me opening the box 2 hours after it arrived at my house. I realize there were probably some significant temperature fluxuations. But this would be the case with most of their guitars anyway.

[Ubadood]

My Les Paul Classic has fret buzz to

I can't believe how much Gibson are letting their reputation slip

[KL]

My Les Paul Classic has fret buzz to

I can't believe how much Gibson are letting their reputation slip :D

 

I honestly don't think they are letting their reputation slip. Guitars need setting up when they are new and from time to time. It's normal.

[Ubadood]

I honestly think they are. Gibsons get more and more issues, a few weeks after a bought my guitar i found a chip in one of the frets.

[tbonesullivan]

you know, this thread seems to be more about people complaining and bashing Gibson than about actually trying to figure out why the guitar has buzzing. All legitimate helpful questions have been ignored by the topic starter. One person who can't read also apparently got somewhere that the inspection checklist said that it had buzzing on 4 strings?

 

Well it didn't. The threadstarter said that the buzzing was checked off.

 

Now, I'll ask again, does it buzz only on open strings, or does it buzz on fretted notes as well? is the neck in backbow or in forward bow?

[ecjohnny]

you know' date=' this thread seems to be more about people complaining and bashing Gibson than about actually trying to figure out why the guitar has buzzing. All legitimate helpful questions have been ignored by the topic starter. One person who can't read also apparently got somewhere that the inspection checklist said that it had buzzing on 4 strings?

 

Well it didn't. The threadstarter said that the buzzing was checked off.

 

Now, I'll ask again, does it buzz only on open strings, or does it buzz on fretted notes as well? is the neck in backbow or in forward bow?[/quote']

 

I haven't ignored anyones reply. Just trying to figure out what is common as far as buzzing strings go on new guitars from Gibson. I haven't noticed much buzzing on fretted notes, but I probably haven't fretted all of them yet. Looking down the neck, I can't see much of any type of bow. My nearest Dealer is 60 miles away. Had I bought the guitar directly from the factory, drove home 3 miles and had buzzing strings, it would have been marched right back to the factory. Do traveling musicians Have to get a "set up"before every concert if the temperature is different? It sounds like I'm going to have to spend an unexpected $70 or so to make this thing play like I expected it to play. I hope the weather doesn't change on me on the way home!

[jamman]

You should first call Gibson and document the problem. Also write an email to them,so you have a hard copy. In your case Gibson Might ask to return the guitar. they will make all the arangements. Also call MF, they will help you. Remember that you have a warranty,and Gibson normally is good with customer service. If you really don't like the guitar , send it back. MF has a warranty also . To answer your question about new guitars and fret buzz , no, it should not buzz. but you can make any guitar buzz, if your playing style is a hard pick attack, type of pick, etc. there are many different variables. All new guitars should get a set up. there are times when ajustments need to be made to a guitar. You might consider learning how do make basic set ups and ajustments to your guitar. Just don't learn on an expencive one , like your new Gibson. Also part of testing a new guitar or checking out one that i might buy , play every fret . It's the only way to know if the whole guitar work correctly. I Play that the guitar for a minimum of

1 hour. The relief in the neck should only be slight. Try a search for guitar set ups. there is alot of info. online. Good luck.

[tbonesullivan]

Ok... it buzzes on open strings? That usually is a nut problem, or possibly something has gotten loose and is vibrating. Could be part of the bridge, one of the nuts on the pots, or even the pick guard vibrating against the mounting rings for the humbuckers.

 

so yes, contact gibson CS, and see what they say to do. They may ask you to take it to a gibson authorized repair center for a setup.

[whatsupwiththat?]

Hey ecjohnny,

 

I've been looking for a Les Paul that doesn't buzz for half a year now. I still can't find a good one. The PLEK Gibsons seem to buzz the worst. I have a $120 strat copy ( a Sammick Malibu ) and it doesn't buzz at all. If I'm going to spend over $2k on a new Les Paul, it better not buzz. Hey Gibson, What's Up With That? The new Les Pauls suck! What's with all the buzzing? And what's with all the FAT NECKS? I can't stand fat necks -- they're too hard to play. You guys should bring back the Les Paul Classic, BUT PLEASE, NO YELLOW INLAYS. Who wants yellow inlays? And get rid of those plastic machine heads. How about some metal machine heads please. We're spending $2k here. Another thing, how about solid colors like black, white, or red? The Les Paul Traditional has a slim neck, which is cool, but the plain tops look so boring. If we can't get a flame top wood grain, then give us the option of solid colors. And if we could get solid colors, please coat the back of the guitar with varnish, NOT JUST THE FRONT, like the back of the Les Paul Traditional. Man, the back of those black ones without varnish looks like someone spraypainted it in some garage. And the back of those necks gets my hand so sticky! What's up with that? I would honestly like to buy a good Les Paul, please listen to me. I've given you some good suggestions. Get it together Gibson. I'm still waiting for a good Les Paul. Thank You.

[Lakers_Fan]

I purchase an Epihone LP and a hardcase and it had a lot of buzzing. I had the tech work on it at Guitar Center and he improved it. It wasn't totally fixed, and I wasn't totally satisfied. So I returned it for a Gibson worn cherry LP studio cause it was Press week I got 10% off and including the cases the price for both was nearly identical. Now the Gibson has a slight buzz here and there but I checked the relief on the neck and it is virtually straight. So I know it can be improved, but without set up straight off the GC wall it is pretty good. I think straight from the factory it should be set up well. Should we trust all the techs at places like guitar center? I am going to wait until I find someone I really trust before I let them change the setup.

[ecjohnny]

I'm taking this LP to the Doctor tomorrow for a set-up. If it still has significant fret buzz or they say something is defective, its going back to where it came from. $1900 is too much $$$ for that! I'll follow-up later.

[Andre S]

I'm fortunate, my LP didn't have any fret buzz when it came from the factory...till I went and twiddled...damn.

[Lowdown]

I'm taking this LP to the Doctor tomorrow for a set-up. If it still has significant fret buzz or they say something is defective' date=' its going back to where it came from. $1900 is too much $$$ for that! I'll follow-up later.[/quote']

 

See. There you go. All you need is a good ol' fashioned set-up.

 

And...

 

Hey ecjohnny' date='

 

I've been looking for a Les Paul that doesn't buzz for half a year now. I still can't find a good one. The PLEK Gibsons seem to buzz the worst. I have a $120 strat copy ( a Sammick Malibu ) and it doesn't buzz at all. If I'm going to spend over $2k on a new Les Paul, it better not buzz. Hey Gibson, What's Up With That? The new Les Pauls suck! What's with all the buzzing? And what's with all the FAT NECKS? I can't stand fat necks -- they're too hard to play. You guys should bring back the Les Paul Classic, BUT PLEASE, NO YELLOW INLAYS. Who wants yellow inlays? And get rid of those plastic machine heads. How about some metal machine heads please. We're spending $2k here. Another thing, how about solid colors like black, white, or red? The Les Paul Traditional has a slim neck, which is cool, but the plain tops look so boring. If we can't get a flame top wood grain, then give us the option of solid colors. And if we could get solid colors, please coat the back of the guitar with varnish, NOT JUST THE FRONT, like the back of the Les Paul Traditional. Man, the back of those black ones without varnish looks like someone spraypainted it in some garage. And the back of those necks gets my hand so sticky! What's up with that? I would honestly like to buy a good Les Paul, please listen to me. I've given you some good suggestions. Get it together Gibson. I'm still waiting for a good Les Paul. Thank You.[/quote']

 

Try this...

[freak show]

IMO your guitar should be free of fret buzz, assuming the action is properly set.

 

You probably just need a good set up.

 

If that doesn't solve the problem, have them send you a new one.

 

Good luck!

[wheelgunner]

I'll throw my experience into the mix. I bought a new Les Paul Standard from Guitar Center about two years ago. It had fret buzz along the fifth through seventh frets on the bass side. I did everything I knew to stop it. The only thing that worked was to have the string height about 6/32 inch from the 12th fret, and that's too high.

 

I finally took it in for a setup figuring a professional could fix it. He set it up but it still buzzed. He told me the neck was twisted. I sent it back to Gibson.

 

They kept it for about a month and sent it back. The A string still buzzes at frets 5 through 7. It's not enough to come through the amp, but it's there.

 

I'm not going to fool with it a whole lot longer. I can tell you one thing, Gibson has lost a customer. I had to take my new ES 335 to two techs before we finally got it set up right.

 

Used to the name Gibson meant something. Now it's about as reliable as "GM."

[jamman]

I'll throw my experience into the mix. I bought a new Les Paul Standard from Guitar Center about two years ago. It had fret buzz along the fifth through seventh frets on the bass side. I did everything I knew to stop it. The only thing that worked was to have the string height about 6/32 inch from the 12th fret' date=' and that's too high.

 

I finally took it in for a setup figuring a professional could fix it. He set it up but it still buzzed. He told me the neck was twisted. I sent it back to Gibson.

 

They kept it for about a month and sent it back. The A string still buzzes at frets 5 through 7. It's not enough to come through the amp, but it's there.

 

I'm not going to fool with it a whole lot longer. I can tell you one thing, Gibson has lost a customer. I had to take my new ES 335 to two techs before we finally got it set up right.

 

Used to the name Gibson meant something. Now it's about as reliable as "GM."[/quote']

 

 

OK ,the key here is Guitar Center. Yes, if you try you can find a good guitar there. but in the long, run don't waste your time or money.

[wheelgunner]

OK ' date='the key here is Guitar Center. Yes, if you try you can find a good guitar there. but in the long, run don't waste your time or money.[/quote']

 

My USA Strat and D16 Martin are both great. But my ES 335 which I bought new elsewhere also needed work.

 

It's not just the Guitar Center.