guitarjeff Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Hi, all! I have an Epi Firebird V. Recently, from one weekend to the next, my bolt-neck 'bird developed a buzz starting at the third fret. I took it to a friend so he could adjust the truss rod, and it seems the rod is maxed out. Anyone know where I could find a new neck? I also remember a Skynyrd tribute tour video where Randall Hall played a Firebird with a reverse headstock tele-style neck with a maple fretboard (actually looked pretty good). I've looked at several of these, just in case I have to go that route, but they all seem to have a 25" or 25 1/2" scale. If you put a neck like that on a body from a 24 3/4" scale guitar, will that completely screw everything up, scale length-wise? Any thoughts or suggestions? it's actually a nice playing guitar, and deserves better than to just be a wall hanger. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Hi Jeff and welcome here. When a neck exhibits fret buzz it's usually because it has a back bow, it needs more relief added, to do that the truss rod should be backed off (turned ccw) and not tightened, it should be turned a maximum of 1/4 turn at a time and left to normalize for at least an hour (many leave it overnight) before being checked and further adjustments made. The strings should also be slackened before any adjustment is done. One of the main reasons a guitar might pick up fret buzz is the change of ambient temperature bought about by the change of seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarjeff Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 Yeah, my buddy gave it a 1/4 CCW turn, and when he took the allen wrench out, the truss rod came with it, about a 1/2" or so. Also, it was always kept in the same place in same temp and humidity conditions- on a stand in a corner of the bedroom, out of direct sunlight, plus this was during that 3 week period here in Texas when every day was over 100 degrees, so the AC was on all the time. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Yeah, my buddy gave it a 1/4 CCW turn, and when he took the allen wrench out, the truss rod came with it, about a 1/2" or so. Also, it was always kept in the same place in same temp and humidity conditions- on a stand in a corner of the bedroom, out of direct sunlight, plus this was during that 3 week period here in Texas when every day was over 100 degrees, so the AC was on all the time. Hope that helps. Seeing as it's in a constant temperature environment, another, though less common reason it may develop fret buzz is that one of the frets has become unseated slightly, do you have a straight edge or an 18" engineers rule available to you ??? You can use a credit card to check for high frets too, place it's long edge centred on each fret, then each end should contact the fret below and above it equally, if it rocks then it usually means that fret is sitting high. To re-seat it, use a small soft hammer or a block of wood and a small hammer and tap it over it's whole length, it's important to cradle the neck with your other hand directly under the fret you're tapping on. This video shows how to check for high frets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt0P4U5XYx8&feature=player_embedded#! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarjeff Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 OK, thanks, RaSTuS. I'll give that a try this weekend. Thanks for that video, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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