Fret buzzing, It's driving me nuts!

[Marcelo1281734115]

I was adjusting the truss rod of a guitar last night to fix a buzzing issue, when I realized that the problem was not the guitar, it was the finger pressure I applied to a string that largely determined whether fret buzz occurred or not. What was driving me crazy was that, I would adjust the neck, waited a while, tested each fret by pressing my finger tip firmly over the entire neck and heard no buzzing. Then, I closed the TRC and played a song and I noticed that the buzz had returned.

 

I realized that the buzzing had a something to do with the way I play a guitar and not necessarily the guitar itself. I do not put as much pressure on a fret when actually playing, so I get buzzing, whereas, I used to put a lot of pressure on a fret when testing for buzzing, and not find any. I think that I adjusted a guitar or two un-necessarily, maybe even made things worse. I even tried raising the bridge, giving the guitar more relief, even large amounts, and I noticed that the buzzing is still there. The buzzing might just be coming from the fret I am pressing, and not caused by the downstream frets (as I first thought, ...I think).

 

I am at wit's end, right now, because unless I put a lot of pressure on a fret when I play, all my guitars seem to buzz. When I play a chord, I always prefer to fret the rear fret of a chord by placing my finger flat on the fretboard and cover many strings, much like using a capo, and I cannot place a lot of pressure on the strings this way to avoid buzzing (the typical finger does not have the muscles for this). I have seen folks who hit chords by using all their finger tips and this allows them to put more pressure on a string to prevent buzzing, but this is too demanding for a guitar-hacker like myself and it would really slow me down. I can get by if I just play through an amp, but without an amp, it all sounds pretty bad.

 

Has anybody noticed such a thing before?

[davidg3333]

So, in summary, you like to play barre chords and get buzzing whereas you don't otherwise? and if you use adequate pressure playing a barre chord you don't get buzzing?

 

I guess your options are:

- lighter strings

- stop playing barre chords

- develop greater hand strength

(added) - play half barres when you can

[Marcelo1281734115]

Thanks David. Yes, my first instinct is to play chords, barre style. I am using 009 and 010 strings on my guitars already, and I was thinking today about moving to something heavier gauge that might make it easier to hit the fret more solidly. You suggested a lighter gauge, all that is left are 008s, I never tried them.

 

I find myself forcing my fretting finger into the neck by prying the the thumb behind the neck for greater force. Maybe I been getting lazy and I don't apply the pressure as hard anymore. I need to google a site where I can get exercise suggestions on improving my hand strength. I wish I had someone around that can play my guitar and test it to see if it is really buzzing, so that I stop blaming the guitar, when it is actually my fault. When I play, I never see the same results twice, this is what was so frustrating about troubleshooting this problem.

[lostindesert]

Could be a bad nut, maybe the nutslots are to low?

 

Peter

[davidg3333]

I can't see how a nut would affect you if you are playing barre chords.

 

You can try a capo and see if you then get buzzing. That may tell you quite a bit. Otherwise a guitar tech could help you in determining if this is an issue with the guitar.

 

I bought something called GripMaster by Prohands to strengthen my hands. I was getting tendinitis.

[animalfarm]

I have never had this problem. I going over it in my mind - cause and effect, cause and effect.

Nada. Fret buzz theoretically is due to mechanical issues. Beyond that, when the string touches

the fret with pressure, the fret should mechanically change the length, changing the note. Unless

your fingers are so calloused that they now become a "substitute" fret, shortening the string length

but not providing enough pressure to bottom out on the fret immediately higher.... Nah!!!

I give up, where's the joke forum?

[Dave]

Gibson and Epi fret wire is tall when compared to some other guitars. If you'll notice, you can fret lightly and not touch the fretboard. This is one of the reasons that Gibsons bend so smoothly. I suspect that your action is a little low. When you fret lightly, you dont' have much, if any, clearance of the string over the next fret. When you press harder, the string past the next fret bends up a little more and you now have clearance. There's a minimal see-saw effect when you press harder and lighter on the string.

 

You can prove this by backing out on the bridge adjustment screws a half turn or so to raise the bridge and see if the problem goes away. You can also check clearance by fretting a note and checking for just a slight amount of clearance when you press on the next fret while fretting the previous one. Fret the 7th and push down on the 8th. You should have a tiny bit of clearance there. The clearance on the 8th will increase when you press harder on the 7th. Compare a spot on the neck where the buzz is gone or minimal with the fret where it buzzes the most. If the buzz is all over the neck, raise the bridge. If it's only in one area, check for high frets.

 

You can find high frets by doing this all over the fretboard. You will also develop a feel for what is correct and what is not by comparing all the frets. A fret dressing may be in order if you need low action with no buzzing.

[TWANG]

If a guitar is well set up, minimal pressure when fretting is what that's partly about.

building strength in your hands is not about gross application of force, it's about fluid, effortless playing without tiring.

A good set up combined with a good technique should produce no noise.

 

 

Part of my daily practice is about not using force.

So I don't understand any of this.

 

I have a Taylor 310 dreadnaught acoustic. They are notorious for high frets. Taylor does this so that you can get more life out of the frets

over the years. It will take a couple of refret jobs.

(assuming you don't run into someone heavy handed who takes that away from you.)

This guitar, brand new, played perfectly, with no noise.

 

I have a jackson copy shredder here.. a couple of them, imported copys with floyds.. and very low frets.

There's virtually no difference in how I play them, as far as fretting hand goes, and how I play the Taylor.

 

The only time I have to push harder is when I have heavier strings, or higher action.

Or when I'm asking myself to do something that's hard and then it's really an error in technique, or getting tired, or something else.

So, I'm stuck on this one!

 

Not meaning this to be critical. We all play differently.

TWANG

[InsideMan]

One other suggestion, vis-a-vis barre chords and hand pressure. Try fretting the chord first, then applying the barre, instead of the other way around (which is more usual). You might find it takes less pressure and gives you a cleaner sound. Cheers.

[animalfarm]

A thought..... Does the buzzing occur when the strings are plucked lightly or

only when plucked harder? Initital string oscillation will be more pronounced

with "wider" string travel on a hard strike, causing fret buzz if action is too low.

And of course, have you raised the action to see if problem will go away?

You mention problem is consistent with all your guitars. Is there a common

factor between gits, such as same action setting as per your preference?

Do you use an unusual tuning?

 

And as Dave said, may just need fret dressing...But ALL your guitars?

[Marcelo1281734115]

The buzz seems to be more pronounced when plucking is stronger, because when playing, I tend to do pluck more stronger. The common factor on my guitars is that I listened to some people ans I am using light gauge strings like 009s mostly and one guitar has 010. Tuning is normal eBGDAE. I did some reading and this is what might be happening:

 

1. Frets are loose: I read that frets may not be secure and sometimes need to be glued down with Super Glue. They might be jiggling in their place and this would explain the buzzing. Very difficult problem to spot, I wish I knew a way to test for loose frets, if you know how, let me know.

 

2. Buzzing could be rattling from somewhere else on the guitar. Could be loose pickguard, bridge, nut, tailpiece, etc. I need someone to listen closely to the guitar and run their ear along the length of the guitar to spot where the noise is coming from while I play it.

 

3. My Peavey Strat has frets that seem that they do not protrude too far outward from the fretboard. I am using 009 strings on this guitar and I keep pressing so hard that I hit the fretboard really hard and I still get buzzing (so, more finger pressure, would not make any difference as I am already smothering the string really tight against the fretboard already). Sometimes the buzzing goes away if I fret just behind the fret (as opposed to fretting in the middle of the fret). My guess is that this guitar needs thicker strings to work properly. The previous owner was using 010s and 011s on this guitar. I am going to try 011s or a set of 012s on the next string change.

 

4. My guitars are all 10 years old or older. I have purchased them from people that kept them in very high humid conditions (likely their moldy garage) in South East USA. Maybe these guitars are perfect candidates for a fret dressing, I need to get it done on one guitar and see if the problem disappears. I want to use one of my guitars to learn how to do a fret dressing myself, so I don't have to rely on a tech for this. I am in the process of looking for the right tools I will need to do this, but this tool search might take a while.

[antwhi2001]

You seem to be saying it happens on all your guitars but it isn't noticeable when amplified.

 

I have had much the same experience on some strings/frets with every Epi solid body I've owned. Less so with Gibsons and Fenders.

 

My advice is, get used to it.

 

Surely all that matters with an electric guitar is what it sounds like amplified? Who's going to judge your playing/sound unamplified?? It's an electric guitar, it's designed to be played through an amplifier.

 

For all you know, other electric players get the same problem when unamplified. Except it isn't a problem - because no-one is listening.

 

If it bothers you that much, you need a better guitar, well set up, and action not too low...but surely all that matters is the quality of your amplified tone, and your own technique?? Focus on your playing, not tiny perceived imperfections in your instrument which aren't audible to an audience.

[Ricochet]

 

My advice is' date=' get used to it.

 

Surely all that matters with an electric guitar is what it sounds like amplified? Who's going to judge your playing/sound unamplified?? It's an electric guitar, it's designed to be played through an amplifier.

[/quote']

 

Well, I would think any extranous noises playing unplugged, will be...erm amplified, playing plugged in.

[Ron G]

I have some reservations about these complaints, coming from a guy who uses dishwashing soap and salad oil on his fingerboards. While I commend your efforts to develop your own unique conclusions regarding guitars, action, hockey stick necks, bad cases, etc., I submit that you may be quite incorrect about some or all of it.

[Marcelo1281734115]

I am trying to live with the noise. Sometimes the buzz makes as if the note you hit is out of tune temporarily, so it is hard to hide, even through an amp.

 

I will get to the bottom of this,....a fret dressing excercise might discover loose frets and it might be that only certain gauges of strings work well on certain guitars with certain frets. I will experiment and post my results.

[Marcelo1281734115]

I have some reservations about these complaints' date=' coming from a guy who uses dishwashing soap and salad oil on his fingerboards. While I commend your efforts to develop your own unique conclusions regarding guitars, action, hockey stick necks, bad cases, etc., I submit that you may be quite incorrect about some or all of it.[/quote']

If you disagree with something, you are welcomed to make corrections, I would listen to you, I am always willing to learn. I never claimed that I am perfect.

 

I met couple of musicians recently and I was shocked that, even after they had been playing for 10 years or more, they did not how to adjust a bridge,..they always send their guitar in to a tech for this. I am different, I like to learn how things work, and doing things myself is how I learn. I also come to these forums to share info on the things that I find. Others folks are different, they either don't experiment, or when they discover something they don't share.

[snookelputz]

You might look at your hand position when playing barre chords, compared to your hand position playing an open chord. I often find that my hand position has slid too far around the bottom of the neck. This happens because I have shortish fingers, and it gives me extra length when play lead, or (my favorite) off-lead pentatonic stuff. My wrist "forgets" to pull back behind the neck and barre chords suffer because only the last 2 joints of the finger are close enough to the fretboard to get clean pressure on strings 1-3, which buzz. Basically, if the wrist on your fret hand is bent, barre chords buzz. Remember your first karate punching lesson? Same thing, robs strength due to bad angle. I hope that makes sense.

 

EDIT: clean pressure on strings 1-3

 

I said that backwards. You can fret the upper strings but can't get clean tone FROM strings 1-3, which buzz. Whew.

[Gordy01]

Marcelo,

 

A lot of things have been said here. Some good, some just OK.

If you feel that this is a playing problem versus a mechanical problem, try playing your barre chord, maybe an A, and strum slowly to make certain all the strings are ringing, and clear.

Strum a little harder to check if the buzz returns. If it does, and your hand hasn't moved, the action could be too low. The harder strum is making the string hit one of the frets above your chord.

Now change Barre chords. a little lower on the neck. Maybe an F. Strum slow, make sure again that it is clear. Your hand has to spread out a bit more to make that chord sound right. Change back and forth between chords to see if it returns.

A Barre Chord takes some practice to get it right all the way up and down the neck.

Even the guys who have been playing for many years still get cramps in the thumb muscles from playing a lot of Barre chords.

Like me. Been playing for 44 years.

[Ron G]

If you disagree with something' date=' you are welcomed to make corrections, I would listen to you, I am always willing to learn. I never claimed that I am perfect.

 

I met couple of musicians recently and I was shocked that, even after they had been playing for 10 years or more, they did not how to adjust a bridge,..they always send their guitar in to a tech for this. I am different, I like to learn how things work, and doing things myself is how I learn. I also come to these forums to share info on the things that I find. Others folks are different, they either don't experiment, or when they discover something they don't share.[/quote']

It's just that you throw so much stuff into the mix that it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to sort through it all. Perhaps I shouldn't try. I don't know what to think about those who can't adjust a bridge.

[Steven Lister]

One obviously overlooked approach to solving this puzzle is for the OP to roll down to nearest guitar store and play several guitars that are properly set-up. Does the buzzing problem continue?

If yes, then it's player related. Lessons from an expert are then needed.

 

If no, then it's the guitars -- so start with having a pro do a correct set-up.

If that doesn't fix it, then the pro will also be able to advise what to do.

 

Otherwise Marcelo, you're just shooting blind and repeated trial/luck will be your only hope of solving the buzz puzzle.

 

Hit every BLUE NOTE baaaby..., I'm going to play on:-"