Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

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walterh

New member
Hey guys, I’ve got a question about this Epiphone G-400 that I bought. When I bought the guitar, it had 9 gauge strings on it. Well, last night I changed it to 11s. The guitar seems to buzz a lot more than when it had 9s on it, especially the open E. I know that this is a short scale guitar, but don’t really understand the technical things behind it. I would have thought that 11s would be fairly tight, but they seem very loose to me. Now the buzz doesn’t seem to be audible through the amp, and I may just be paranoid but do these guitars just buzz??? The action is not super low and the relief seems to be ok. Could it be that the nut needs to be replaced? Any info and comments are appreciated.

Also, how can I find out what year this guitar was made? Is there a way to decipher the serial number???

Thanks!!!!
 
Re: Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

if you went from 9's to 11's there should be a noticable increase in tension. it is possible that the nut isnt cut properly for the larger strings which would cause buzzing on the open strings but once fretted it shouldnt matter.

ive never owned a g400 but ive played lots of them and there is no reason for them to buzz
 
Re: Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

The 11s are thicker, so if the action was low to begin with, the thicker strings will hit the frets = buzzing.
Have you tried raising the bridge?

As for dating - Google "Epiphone Guitar Dater Project".
 
Re: Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

I don't have the exact measurement for my action at the moment. (at work). My idea was to put 11s to increase the string tension for lower action, but it just doesn't seem to have the "desired tension". How do you check if the nut is cut correctly? Also, should I just put 10s on it?
 
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Re: Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

If I could guess the action on the bass side is probably 2mm. I'll mess around with it, but I open buzz is usually points to a low nut right? What should the measurement be at the nut???
 
Re: Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

guitarded said:
I would raise the bridge just a hair.
Click to expand...

and tighten the truss rod a 1/8 turn or so. Check it again in a day. If you fret the 6th string at the 1st and last fret, you wanna see just a hair's width of space between the bottom of the string and the top of the 6th fret. You could turn it just a lil bit every day until it touches the fret, and then the next day, back it off a 1/8 turn, and then you should be good.

edit: you did say the relief seems to be OK, but I'd always double check
 
Re: Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

Normally, you would expect the additional tension from heavier gauge strings to increase the neck relief and, hence, reduce the likelihood of fret buzz.

If you removed all of the old strings before fitting any of the new ones, it is possible that you knocked the TOM height adjustment thumbwheels and inadvertantly reset the action too low.

Er, where exactly do the buzzes originate? High fret positions only? Lowest fret positions only? You could have an S Curve in the neck. You could simply have a loose nut.

EDIT: Standard test for nut slot height.
1) Fret suspected string between third and fourth frets.
2) Observe whether the portion of string between the third fret and the nut clears the second fret.
3) Pluck the portion of string between the third fret and the nut. It should sound clearly.

If the string clears the second fret but sounds lousy, the nut is the problem.

Quick thought: How many turns of string do you have around the machinehead posts?
 
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Re: Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

walterh said:
My idea was to put 11s to increase the string tension for lower action, but it just doesn't seem to have the "desired tension".
Click to expand...

Er, how is your stopbar tailpiece adjusted?
 
Re: Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

"Shorter scale guitars also have trouble accepting heavier gauged strings because the slackened tension causes wider vibration and fret buzz." ---- found this in a internet article about short scale guitar.

I will check those things this evening. I think I will probably switch it to 10's.

I wrap the strings around the tuners at least 3 times.
The stopbar tailpiece is screwed all the way down.
 
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Re: Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

walterh said:
"Shorter scale guitars also have trouble accepting heavier gauged strings because the slackened tension causes wider vibration and fret buzz." ---- found this in a internet article about short scale guitar.
Click to expand...

I think that, by shorter scale, the article meant offerings with 22 to 24 inch scale lengths such as the Fender Mustang, Duo-Sonic, Jaguar, JagStang and so on.

The SG does not fall into my idea of the short scale category.

The only hint that you have given so far of where your guitar buzzes is on the open strings. This MUST suggest either a nut slot depth problem or that the nut is not fastened properly. A professional nut replacement and set up could cost thirty to fifty Dollars. Perhaps, this is why the previous owner let the instrument go so cheaply.
 
Re: Help from G-400 Owners Please!!!!!

FuseG4 said:
and tighten the truss rod a 1/8 turn or so. Check it again in a day. If you fret the 6th string at the 1st and last fret, you wanna see just a hair's width of space between the bottom of the string and the top of the 6th fret. You could turn it just a lil bit every day until it touches the fret, and then the next day, back it off a 1/8 turn, and then you should be good.

edit: you did say the relief seems to be OK, but I'd always double check
Click to expand...

+1. It's probably just a matter of tweaking the truss rod and bridge height. No big deal. Why not use 10's anyways, so you can bend better?
 
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