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Fret buzz with low action on Epiphone guitars is "normal"


crust

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I posted that for info only, I love my Epis and ordered that single cut TV yellow today, pics will soon follow.I will now have a SG-400, Les Paul Junior, Riviera P93 ad now this

 

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/7/7/3/686773.jpg

 

I have owned an Emperor Regent and Broadway, great instruments all. No Epiphone bashing from me.

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Hi!

 

They are just making sure there is no come back from folks wanting their money back for fret buzz lower that factory recommended height.

 

I think that's it.

 

On the other hand ... an experienced guitar tech told me, that a good bone nut and fret leveling improves most Epis regarding buzzing problems at lower actions.

 

Maybe that's a way to have more fun with an Epi in some cases, cause from what I read in several forums, the tech's opinion is correct. But we should assume first, that the neck has enough relief ... mine was too straight.

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Sometimes even with the action set at the "recommended" height, you will have string buzz. String gauge, pick type / thickness, how hard you pick etc all have an influence.....

 

Exactly.

 

However, the one statement is kinda funny: "We set the action on all instruments at the factory to the optimum playability setting".

 

It may be true for whoever they have playing, but not true for everyone. Also, they must have a bunch of different guys with different ideas of "optimum playability setting", because mine haven't been set the same.

 

No worries, though. It's easy enough to do myself.

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Not sure you need a bone nut just a proper sized plastic one .The nut on my dot was way too high and after lowering the slots and filing the nut down until the slots were half way up the thickness of the string it was way better .I also did a fret level and dress and the guitar was transformed almost into a Gibson a like for buzz free slick playing with a really low action as I like it .

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Epiphone doesn't know where their guitars are going...Alaska, Texas, Hawaii, Europe etc, so they use the "one size fits all" method. A player that knows what he likes is going to reset the action and height themselves (Epi knows this). And of course every set up guy at the factories varies a little in how they do their job. I've had Epis that were set up perfectly for my taste and others that were no where near close to playable.

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Not sure you need a bone nut just a proper sized plastic one .The nut on my dot was way too high and after lowering the slots and filing the nut down until the slots were half way up the thickness of the string it was way better .I also did a fret level and dress and the guitar was transformed almost into a Gibson a like for buzz free slick playing with a really low action as I like it .

 

I agree. Gibsons don't come with a bone nut.

 

I thought that the material that a nut is made of is more relevant to tuning stability and your desired tone. If any nut is set at the wrong height and/or is not cut properly you'll get playability/intonation problems.

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Gibsons don't come with a bone nut.

 

Does ANY manufacturer use bone nuts nowadays? I think only luthiers use them for the custom guitars, they build.

 

Gibson seems to use several different synthtic materials like Nylon, Corian or Tefzell ... btw ... never heard of the later.

 

On the other hand many manufacturers seem to use Tusq nowadays especially for higher priced models. My Godin fretless bass for example came with a Tusq nut and it has an "everlasting" sustain.

 

Maybe this is a something Gibson should improve? Tusq seems to be the most desired material besides bone, isn't it?

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Gibson seems to use several different synthtic materials like Nylon, Corian or Tefzell ... btw ... never heard of the later.

 

On the other hand many manufacturers seem to use Tusq nowadays especially for higher priced models. My Godin fretless bass for example came with a Tusq nut and it has an "everlasting" sustain.

 

Maybe this is a something Gibson should improve? Tusq seems to be the most desired material besides bone, isn't it?

 

Tusq nuts are really just a man-made ivory material (plastic?), but they are impregnated with Teflon to make them slippery little suckers. I don't know about Gibson, but both of my Epiphone Prophecy guitars (LP and SG) came with GraphTch nuts standard.

 

Jim

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Tusq nuts are really just a man-made ivory material (plastic?), ...

 

Yes, it's synthetic ivory ... so I think we could call it plastic in the widest sense.

 

... but they are impregnated with Teflon ...

 

Aaah, didn't knew that.

 

Bone was used by early luthiers ...

 

Not only by early luthiers, but even nowadays for various string instruments ... guitars, basses, lutes, etc..

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After having worked with different types of nut materials, I'd rank them this way (from hardest to softest);

 

1.Bone

2.Tusq (white)

3.Corian

4.Gibson's nut material

5.Tusq (black)

6.Epi's nut material

 

Generally speaking I think the harder the material the better in terms of wear and tuning stability, but also I find the harder the material the brighter the open note.

 

For what it's worth I find little difference between the white Tusq material and bone, when you factor in the inconsistencies found in bone, Tusq (white) looks like the best option to me.

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I have no buzzing on any of my Epis,I do my own setups and tweaking and by taking my time especially with truss rod adjustments I can get very low action and no fret buzz whatsoever.Just send your guitar $200 and prepaid shipping and insurance I'll do yours too....lol.

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