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Adjusting Action


JKK

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I recently purchased a Hummingbird.

It was buzzing ever so slightly so the guy in the shop adjusted the truss rod and it did stop the buzzing.

Is this the correct way to adjust the action?

As now when I look down the fret board I can see the neck is ever so slightly bent at the head stock end.

Would it not be better to raise the bridge ever so slightly?

I have no idea when it comes to this kinda thing.

Cheers for any help.

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Do you have the buzzing when playing open strings or when you are fretting certain strings?

 

The truss bar can affect the action by adding relief, which is not bad necessarily. A proper setup will look at the saddle height and the relief. If you raise the saddle it might become too difficult to play, so I would suggest that you have a complete setup done first by a guitar tech. And then if you still have a buzzing you may have a high fret, which can be addressed by the guitar tech.

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It was setup by the tech guy when I purchased it.

It was fine in the shop when I was playing with the pick.

Once I got it home I was finger picking and that's when I noticed the fret buzz on the bass strings.

I was just worried that having the neck ever so slightly bent would be bad in the long run.

I'll take a pic.

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The neck of the guitar should have some "bow" in it - it should not be perfectly straight.

 

Unless the neck is twisted or warped, fret buzz is generally caused by some combination of the neck not having enough bow in it and the bridge/saddle height being set too low.

 

I agree with others - best thing to do is take the guitar in for a full setup.

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Tightening the truss rod is one way of adjusting action. An "ever so slightly bent at the headstock" is permissible. If, however the truss rod adjustment stops the buzzing, but at some of the higher frets the action is unplayably high, adjusting the height of the saddle is preferable. The nut slots can be 'raised' or the nut replaced entirely if necessary.

 

Your guitar tech performed the quickest, easiest, cheapest, and therefore best means to get your guitar to a playable condition for you and your playing technique.

 

[biggrin]

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I have a stranger one for you, when I changed my strings on mine last month all of a sudden I got a buzz on only the hi and low E strings a the 12th fret only. Looks like I have to do some fret work here, any ideas? And to the original poster, not trying to hi-jack your thread, but I was told this is common on some of these Epi's so it could be something you run into.

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I have a stranger one for you, when I changed my strings on mine last month all of a sudden I got a buzz on only the hi and low E strings a the 12th fret only. Looks like I have to do some fret work here, any ideas? And to the original poster, not trying to hi-jack your thread, but I was told this is common on some of these Epi's so it could be something you run into.

 

Question, did you remove all the old strings first and then put on the new strings? Some guitars can be a bit sensitive if you remove all the strings instead of removing and replacing them one at a time. Some manufacture will even state on acoustic electric guitar manuals to only remove and replace one string at a time.

 

It is common that some guitars may need to have the truss bar adjust to increase or decrease relief during the year. This mostly depends on environment, i.e. humidity. Also if you change string gauges or even brands you might find that you need to adjust the relief a bit.

 

As a matter of practice when I get a new guitar I document the action height, relief, and string type. If everything is okay I leave it as is; if not I make adjustments and then document those changes. This helps me to see if a guitar has changed playing action after a 6 months or a year.

 

Well I hope that helps, let us know what you find.

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Question, did you remove all the old strings first and then put on the new strings? Some guitars can be a bit sensitive if you remove all the strings instead of removing and replacing them one at a time. Some manufacture will even state on acoustic electric guitar manuals to only remove and replace one string at a time.

 

It is common that some guitars may need to have the truss bar adjust to increase or decrease relief during the year. This mostly depends on environment, i.e. humidity. Also if you change string gauges or even brands you might find that you need to adjust the relief a bit.

 

As a matter of practice when I get a new guitar I document the action height, relief, and string type. If everything is okay I leave it as is; if not I make adjustments and then document those changes. This helps me to see if a guitar has changed playing action after a 6 months or a year.

 

Well I hope that helps, let us know what you find.

 

No I changed them 1 at a time, as far as the truss rod it doesn't matter how I adjust it I get the same thing. And the strings are of the same guage.

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No I changed them 1 at a time, as far as the truss rod it doesn't matter how I adjust it I get the same thing. And the strings are of the same guage.

 

At this point without your guitar I can't say for sure what the problem is. It could be a high fret, your action is too low, or your neck is warped. Start by sighting down the length of your guitar's neck from the peg head to the body to see if your neck is warped. Hare are some pictures that might help you see what to look for.

 

This guitar's neck is straight and has no issues.

StraightNeck.jpg

 

These are examples of possible issues the bottom two are okay if you have no buzzing.

gene_necks1-truss-rods-1.gif

 

Hope this help, let us know what you find.

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