Not Tuning

[Nehoa]

My Dark Fire arrived a few weeks ago. Tuning process worked fine, but there has been severe fret buzz from the B string and to a lesser extent the G string. Now the automatic tuning does not work at all. I get white lights on the e, G and A strings, and yellow from the B, D and E strings.

 

I tried emailing both service@gibson.com and repairrequest@gibson.com earlier in the week and have received no response. I call the service number and wind up on hold for half an hour before I give up.

 

From the items in the forum it seems as though I have a shorting problem, but as far as I can tell there are not obvious places where contact is being made where it shouldn't, except for the B string on frets. That has been there since the beginning though, and doesn't seem to be the logical explanation. I have tried lifting it while trying to tune, but no effect.

 

If anyone has some thoughts as to how to proceed, it would be appreciated, or if I can be directed to the appropriate party at Gibson, that would also be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Nehoa

[photonutalan1]

Nehoa,

 

You definitely have a shorting problem, one you are worsening (causing) by lifting a string while tuning. Keep your hands off the strings and neck while tuning; your fingers will cause shorts, and changing neck pressure will affect tuning.

 

I note that you live in Hawaii, a place of very high humidity (much higher than where your DF was built and set up). Holding your DF in playing position, sight down the neck and check the relief (distance between strings and frets; think of it as neck bow). Since you're experiencing fret buzzing (relief too low), I'll bet your neck is back-bowed (either flat or forming a reverse curve). If this is the case, remove the truss rod cover (on the headstock) and back off the truss rod (counter-clockwise) 1/4 turn and wait a day to see if this helps. If it does not solve the problem, back it off another 1/4 turn. Continue as necessary. Be patient; the neck wood is alive and needs time to assume its final position. Eventually, it will settle in and thank you for your efforts.

 

Considering the humidity change, this situation is not only normal, but expected. Your guitar was (presumably) perfect when it left Gibson (40-45% humidity); as you adjust it for its new surroundings, it will again become so.

 

And, welcome to the DF Forum; I know you'll love your very fine guitar!

 

EDIT: Your DF came strung with 10s; if you change(d) that, you'll probably need to change your setup as well. Are you still playing with the original, or same gauge, strings (I hope)? If you changed for lighter there's, at least partially, the source of your problem.

 

EDIT2: If you *keep* your guitar tuned to Hawaiian slack key (taro patch or open G), double slack, drop C, wahine, mauna loa or other lowered/altered tunings, you'll need to change your setup as if for lighter strings, as well. If you only use these occasionally, ignore what I just said.

[MCK]

Good advice. It seems like the buzzing fret is the possible source of the shortcircuit. Fixing the backbow will most likely clear the issue.

[elantric]

Examine your tailpiece - verify you have threaded each string correctly through the metal eyelets, and that no part of the ball ends are making contact with the large chrome tailpiece bar, and that the neck is not back-bowed with Strings touching frets.

 

E-Mail: info@tronical.com

[Nehoa]

Photonulatan1/MCK:

 

Thanks for your responses. It could well be a neck issue related to the change in humidity.

 

Since posting, I did receive an email response from Gibson (working on Sundays!), and they suggested that I take the guitar to a tech to have it set up, and to see if getting the strings-on-frets issue resolved takes care of the shorting problem. Your advice is consistent with that.

 

I will take the DF to a Gibson authorized tech here in Hawaii and see what happens. I will update the forum as things progress.

 

I only did the string lift once as an experiment.

 

I play a number of different slack key and other alternate tunings when I perform, and one of the main reasons I got the DF was to make the tune changes more smoothly in a performance setting. Hopefully, I will have a chance to test that out in the near future.

 

Thanks again for your help.

[Locka]

I had the same problem with the B string and it turned out the B string slot on the nut was cut much too deeply. After a couple of weeks the B string wouldn't tune at all since the string rested on the frets.

 

I sent it back to Nashville (for that and a couple of other problems) and they suggested I detune it for shipping purposes. I mention this because I attempted to tune it down to Drop C and got the white lights shorting signal on multiple strings as I got close, since the strings were actually touching the frets at that point. So from experience, I can say that they're not kidding when they say that any string touching a fret may cause a tuner short out and not tune properly (or at all).

[Nehoa]

Good news and bad news.

 

I took the DF into an authorized Gibson repair shop, and had the guitar set up. That resolved the shorting issue, and began tuning properly. In addition to strings touching frets, some strings were also touching the rear of the bridge (ht Elantric!).

 

Started playing and now really enjoying the guitar. No fret buzz, and tuning well. Then, after about a half hour, I pull up the MCK to get the strings tuned again, and "pop" the whole system goes dead, including the pickups. Tried plugging into the charger...nothing.

 

Will be calling Gibson for a RMA, but frankly, I will also be asking for a different guitar. I had intended to use the guitar for performances, but it is too risky. Great concept, but not ready for the real world.

 

Thanks to all for their help and advice.

 

Nehoa

[elantric]

Disconnect the battery

Count to 15

Reconnect the battery

Recharge 3 hrs

Play

[Ulhuru]

There you go, the above got me an answer!

 

I have fret noises all over the A string. So I now understand the A slot maybe has been cut too deep in the nut!!

 

So, is this Plek dude some kind of drunken apprentice in charge of setting up the DFs... or what?

 

Or is it all managed by a Vista ready computer :-)

 

 

Elantric, as always, thanks, this time thanks for the resetting tip...

[fedup]

Bought my DF a few months ago. Had a shot mck and was sent off for rma. When i get it back it worked fine for about an hour of play. From what i have learned in the forum a blinking white led means a short(e). The ball ends do not touch the tail piece. There is no contact with the bridge. The strings are set in the middle of each saddle. There is no contact with any frets on any string. The strings are wound less than a half of a turn. The excess string is clipped as short as a human could get. The guitar is very charged. Another RMA would make my head spin. It JUST got back to me.

[fedup]

Ok. Further reading led me to the fix. The e string tuner was angled. Maybe it was shifted while in the case. Once straightened up i tightened the nut and the short was gone.

[Nehoa]

elantric:

 

After several days delay (other aspects of life) I was about to try your suggestion. Before starting, I pulled up the MCK and lo and behold...there was light!...and tuning!

 

I am going to play with the DF for a few days to see if the "pop of death" returns. If not, thanks to all for there help and advice.

[elantric]

Glad to hear it.

 

I have been in a similar failure mode myself- - thought I killed the Dark Fire a few times, due to pilot error.

 

But doing my battery reset procedure and and recharging it - it always comes back to life.

 

In typical operation - there are no problems with "crashing" the system. Its a very robust design.