J-45 Bridge - Bolts?

[Doc]

Hi Guys,

 

I LOVE my J-45. Recently, it's developed an odd buzz in the body, near the bridge. It happens mostly when 5 and 6 strings are fretted. It isn't fret buzz -- the relief is sufficient -- and it isn't anything I could discern from the Frets.com list. I even tightened the pickup. A very competent luthier whose opinion I respect gave it a good look. He told me that he occasionally hears this type of buzz in Gibby's. "There's nothing I can do. Guitars are wood and the sound changes" was all he could muster.

 

Naturally, I want a second opinion. I called another luthier who suggested it could be "bolts holding the bridge in place". He claimed that there are two little bolts under the two silver dots on the bridge. He confided that he's seen this cause some bridge buzzing in J-45's. when they get a little loose

 

Are there two bolts under those two dots or are they purely cosmetic? Has anyone every heard of this area causing some buzz?

 

I hate the buzzing, but I'm not about to let something mess with the bridge unless I know a little bit more about this myself.:)

 

Anyway, I'm going on a solo tour in a month, so I want the guit in top shape!

[guitarstrummer]

Welcome to the forum, Doc. My first guess on the cause of the buzz would be the ball ends of your strings. Loosen your strings, remove the bridge pins and reinsert them, making sure that the string ends are pulled up tight so that the ball ends are up tight against the inside portion of your pins. If they aren't tight (even just one of them), you'll get a buzz. Also, are you sure it's coming from the bridge area? I've had a loose truss rod cover once that caused a buzz like you're describing.

[Guest]

Hi Guys' date='

 

I LOVE my J-45. Recently, it's developed an odd buzz in the body, near the bridge. ... I called another luthier who suggested it could be "bolts holding the bridge in place". He claimed that there are two little bolts under the two silver dots on the bridge. He confided that he's seen this cause some bridge buzzing in J-45's. when they get a little loose

 

Are there two bolts under those two dots or are they purely cosmetic? [/quote']

 

Older J-45s (say from the '40s '50s and '60s and some newer ones, produced in Bozeman in the mid to late 1990s, have bolts on the bridges.

 

The rumor was that they were only there to "guide the bridge placement", not to affix the bridge. Whatever. There they are.

 

So, when re-creations of these esteemed guitars were built, care was taken to get the cosmetic aspects correct, inCLUDing the venerable pearl dots that covered the bolts heads. On the *current* production Gibsons, the pearl dots are only cosmetic, and if you examine the bridge plate area with a handy dandy mirror, you'll typically see no bolts protruding the guitar.

 

*However*, there was a period in Bozeman during which actual bolts were used in bridge affixing or guiding or whatever, of course, with the obligatory pearl dots to cover those ugly bolts heads. Seems to me that began about 1996, and concluded roughly 1999-ish.

 

Best way to tell is to go visit a dentist, mug him when his back is turned, take his "Please open-wide" inspection mirror and run out of his office down to your J-45 and check it out.

 

Then at least you'll know whether your guitar is bolted or unbolted (or is that screwed or unscrewed?). You might then be able to at least rule out or allow that the source of the buzzing is loose nuts (like most of us here), or something else, such as an improperly-seated string ball end, as Mike correctly observed.

 

Fred

[sfden1]

My J45 had a loose wire to the ust that buzzed. It's supposed to be neatly tucked under a clip inside, but somehow it had come loose and would vibrate against the inside of the top. My solution was to remove the ust (since I didn't use it anyway) and no more buzzing.

[Doc]

Hi Y'all,

 

Great suggestions. Thanks so much. May I ask what UST stands for? "Under the saddle t...."?

 

It isn't the string balls. I've double-checked those.

 

FWIW all of the chords from my pickup seem sorta loose inside. I've tried to dampen them with a hand in the guitar when a few strings are removed, but that hasn't killed the buzz.

 

I really suspect it's related to these wires or the pickup somehow. I mean, it's an amazing guitar otherwise. This past weekend I plugged it in for a gig and it sounded pretty awful. I need to be proactive about getting her fixed.

 

I guess I'm a bit worried since I have a solo tour coming up next month. I will definitely get a second opinion from another luthier....will ask him to focus on the pickup and the wires as a source.

 

We'll find it. I love this guitar too much give up.

[guitarstrummer]

You might also check to see if your jack is loose.

[peiplayer]

When I got my J45 it developed a buzz (5th string) after a couple weeks. Being completely new to the acoustic guitar world and unaware that this kind of thing was common it nearly drove me nuts trying to imagine what was wrong with it. Also, I thought the buzz definitely sounded like it was coming from the bridge area. This too as I've since learned is also quite common. Turned out that one of the frets was a little higher than the others and the string was hitting it. The repairman took about 2 seconds and pushed the offending fret down and I've never had another buzz. So even though the buzz may not sound like its related to the frets, it still could be. Also the relief can be marginally out even if it doesn't appear to be. A minute turn on the truss rod could solve your problem.

[Doc]

Darn.

 

I took the J45 to another luthier and that awful buzz is still there. The buzzing seems to come from the bridge and is worse at certain fret positions. He did eliminate a few things, though:

 

-He secured the wires from the pickup.

 

-He made sure the pickup jack wasn't loose.

 

-He carefully inserted the new strings and ensured that the ends were secure underneath the saddle.

 

-He looked under the saddle to see if there was a loose bolt but...the newer J-45's don't have bolts under the bridge (there's a piece of wood there). This is a 2005 or 2006 model. Maybe they're in the bridge but not visible?

 

I wonder what's next. He explained, as the other luthier did, that it may have dried out over the winter and this could cause something to be loose. The previous luthier called the buzzing a "flash", which he said he'd seen in Gibsons before. I never know how to take statements like that...

 

Possibilities:

 

-Could there be some sort of loose screw or something inside the bridge? Is there anything in the bridge that could be loose? I wish I knew more about the construction.

 

-Is the truss rod vibrating?

 

I normally wouldn't worry too much about this, but the buzzing is really annoying when I plug in the pickup. It's basically well, amped.

 

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

 

I guess I'll try to humidify it some more to see if that helps. he also suggested sticking something under the saddle, but warned that the pickup wouldn't sound too great. Lastly, maybe I'll try raising the action again.

 

I'm trying to think about this logically, but it's starting to drive me a little bananas. Any further suggestions would be appreciated.

[guitarstrummer]

There shouldn't be anything under the bridge. Have you checked your truss rod nut and truss rod cover? I think I'd try raising the action, even if it's higher than you'd like, as an experiment to see if that gets rid of it. That may give you new clues as to what to try next.

[LPDEN]

I would call Gibson customer service and let them have a stab at it. Yu can go to a dozen luthiers and be repeating all those diagnostic steps and still not find the solution. Go right to the source, I say. Call Gibson.

[Jerry K]

Sometimes the piece of string between the nut and the fret one lower than the fret you have your finger on (ie the rest of the string, not the part you normally think of as vibrating) can have sympathetic vibrations and the string rubs against a fret which is a little high or something and the sympathetic vibration comes out as a buzz. You can try this experiment. Do something that causes the buzz. Each time after you strike the strings to make the buzz, use your right hand finger to damp the part of each string between your finger and the nut. Touch it and see if damping it causes the buzz to stop.

[Jerry K]

If you have one of these sympathetic buzzes on the segment of string between a fretting finger and the nut, you may have to get the frets leveled and perhaps adjust truss rod. Or conceivably raise the nut.

[guitarstrummer]

One more thought, have you tried just changing the strings to see if anything was different? I wonder if there's a chance that one of the ball ends on your strings are loose and causing a buzz? I know it's a long shot, but it seems like you're down to that right now anyway. If you do change the strings, try putting mediums on, if you're currently running lights right now. That may raise your action a tad bit too and may help.