Joe Pass neck buzzy

[Kenny202]

Hi all. Just picked up an Epi Joe Pass 1995 Korean made. Thing is immaculate. No wear at all. I like a very low action (1.5 mm at the 12th fret) and having a bit of trouble with this one.

I have done at least 100 electric guitar set ups in my time and can usually get the action I like but this one a problem child. Have tightened the truss rod (zero relief), then backed it off. Anything I do seems to make little difference. Buzzing out on the lowest 2 strings around the middle of the fret board which would normally indicate more relief needed. These Arch tops normally the easiest to set up with the wood saddle. Funnily the buzz seems to be more on the low 5th and 4th strings. The Low E string ok. Just by eye the wood saddle doesn't seem to follow the curve of the fingerboard though this could be my imagination. And the relief seems to appear near the head end of the guitar rather than a perfect curve with relief in the middle.  I haven't restrung the guitar yet until set up but looks like strings are fairly light....10's...maybe 11's. 

I do notice if I raise the high E string side of the saddle / bridge it seems to create more buzzing on the lower strings. Do you have to balance this out somehow? I haven't set up too many of these floating bridge wood saddle jobs. Is there something I am missing here?

Looking for ideas from someone has experience with this model. I have heard many reviews where most comments are made about how nice the necks are. I am starting to think why this guitar hasn't been played because it just isn't nice to play. I had an Epi Riviera and the neck was superb. 

 

Also how do these guitars perform the best as far as pick up height goes. Closer to the strings or lowered?

 

[mihcmac]

I would suspect the saddle / bridge may have been replaced. The bridge radius could be too flat like a 14" instead of the normal 12".

Joe Pass Emperor wiki...

Note that Epiphone necks may take a while to settle down or acclimate to a new location/climate...

Edited October 19, 2019 by mihcmac

[Supersonic]

If you've done 100 setups then I would just automatically assume that you checked the nut first, because it sounds to me like that is likely the culprit. 

[Kenny202]

6 hours ago, Supersonic said:

If you've done 100 setups then I would just automatically assume that you checked the nut first, because it sounds to me like that is likely the culprit. 

Its not the nut at all? How do you come to that definitive conclusion without seeing the guitar? The strings are actually quite high and clear at the nut. The problem is down the other end. 

Its very rare I would touch a nut unless the strings were clearly too low / buzzy at the headstock end. If I had individual string height adjustment on the bridge like a tunomatic problem would be sorted in 5 minutes.  Its odd too me that the low E string is clean and clear but the A string is buzzing out.  All the other strings are ok, just need to lift the A string a little. I wonder what Luthiers do when using a one piece wooden saddle like this?

[mihcmac]

8 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

Its not the nut at all? How do you come to that definitive conclusion without seeing the guitar? The strings are actually quite high and clear at the nut. The problem is down the other end. 

Its very rare I would touch a nut unless the strings were clearly too low / buzzy at the headstock end. If I had individual string height adjustment on the bridge like a tunomatic problem would be sorted in 5 minutes.  Its odd too me that the low E string is clean and clear but the A string is buzzing out.  All the other strings are ok, just need to lift the A string a little. I wonder what Luthiers do when using a one piece wooden saddle like this?

I am not a luthier, but have done 100's of setups. From your description it does sound like a bridge problem relating to the A string being notched too low. Because this is wood its hard to fix without deadening the sound and it would be easier to replace it.. A test you could try would be to shim it with something to raise the string..

Or replace it with a 12" radius wooden compensated bridge for archtops..

I would not recommend notching all of the other strings on the bridge points to raise the A string, too many things can go wrong..

Edited October 20, 2019 by mihcmac