open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

G

greekdude

New member
The problem was on my Carvin DC135, the one i had been butchering for over 15 years to make it play nice, oopss and also convert it to right hand :)
Well, one year before i had installed a new Gotoh locking nut (41mm, top mount), to get rid of terrible poor open G performance i had with the previous Schaller R3 nut. So i put this new Gotoh, i was happy with the open G harmonics, but i noticed that open B just sucked....
I tried to blame the new Gotoh nut, the saddle, the tension adjustment spring at the saddle, etc... until i realized .... the 1 fret was too high!!! AT ONLY THE B STRING AREA!!!!!! that's why the rest of adjacent strings (G, high E) were sounding clear and loud open! I had to put my new glasses to spot this, so detailed observation plays a great role. I put some fillers underneath the 1st fret of each of E,B,G strings and watched for clearances. Turned out the 1st fret on B was a little high. Just sanded this down, problem solved.
So, moral of the story : always measure all parameters of the problem, even the most unlikely ones! The solution might come from there and not the usual suspects!
 
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Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

I personally have never heard of a high fret causing fret buzz before :duck::naughty:
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

I used to have a fret that sat a quarter mm higher at the high E area... a hammer fixed it.
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

kramersteen said:
I personally have never heard of a high fret causing fret buzz before :duck::naughty:
Click to expand...
ok but :
1) this was not a high fret in the general sense
2) the problem was on OPEN b!

come on, tell me how many times this has occurred to you!
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

^^^^ problematic Gotoh locking nut slot. It gets better when doing the known trick of pulling this from one side or the other while tightening the nut.
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

WHAT??!!!!

You mean frets can be uneven?!

Man, I've never heard of that before. Well, that's not entirely true...I've heard of some very special luthiers actually filing the frets to make them even.
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

as i said, i was way too optimistic that the problem would be on the 1st fret. I just wished it was that way. I raised the action, raised the relief, created huge clearance on the first fret, yet, the problem would still be there. Unfortunately, all sitar-like sounds on open strings originate from the nut. The Gotoh nut has a problematic B slot, just like the Schaller before this had a problematic G slot.
So, I admit that my diagnosis on the first post was wrong, but I also cannot understand the ratio of off-topic irrelevant posts in this thread. If people are lazy to make a semi-decent comment, at least they should read the comment just before theirs. (GuitarDoc I am refering to you)
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

A while back I had done a complete fret level on a customer guitar and when I was done, I had one note on the G string buzzing. Everything was perfect except for that one note.

Turns out there was a kink in the G string that was causing it. I felt it when I ran my finger over that area. Brand new string. Changed it out and everything was fine, no buzz. I was very relieved.

Weird stuff happens...
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

^^^ that is a possibility, but when the effect is recurring, the solution is much harder to find and correct.
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

Have you tried any other brands of strings and or gauges?

Hows the ibby?
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

I have been playing daddarios since i dont remember, 10s are pretty standard for 24.75" floyd rose shred sticks, i guess.
The ibby is sent back man. Awaiting the replacement. I could handle it myself, but I guess it would suck to hack a new and expensive guitar from a moral POV.
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

greekdude said:
I have been playing daddarios since i dont remember, 10s are pretty standard for 24.75" floyd rose shred sticks, i guess.
The ibby is sent back man. Awaiting the replacement. I could handle it myself, but I guess it would suck to hack a new and expensive guitar from a moral POV.
Click to expand...

I think you will find your carvin is 25'' scale.

Try some eb 9's for ****tas and see if it changes anything,
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

greekdude said:
The Gotoh nut has a problematic B slot, just like the Schaller before this had a problematic G slot.
So, I admit that my diagnosis on the first post was wrong, but I also cannot understand the ratio of off-topic irrelevant posts in this thread. If people are lazy to make a semi-decent comment, at least they should read the comment just before theirs. (GuitarDoc I am refering to you)
Click to expand...

Merely making a comical comment about your first post, especially relating to..."Turned out the 1st fret on B was a little high. Just sanded this down, problem solved.
So, moral of the story : always measure all parameters of the problem, even the most unlikely ones! The solution might come from there and not the usual suspects!" and specifically to your referring to the high fret as an "unlikely" problem and not a "usual suspect".

Making a comment about the frets certainly was NOT an " off-topic irrelevant post".

Ironically, you just admit that the fret wasn't even the problem.
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

@GuitarDoc everything is relevant as long as someone tries to help.

An update, I just did the trick with adding some piece of paper underneath:
15536795359_47999cdc32_n.jpg

With some tweaking on the pad/string left/right forward/backward, i settled down in pushing the B string towards the G string and pad forwards to the fret-side. It has equal strength and clarity to the open E and G now.
However I still believe that this nut has a problem in B slot. It shouldn't be that hard to get a nice open tone in every string.

Another option i might think is putting a little of metal putty in there, then carefully sanding the slot to get a nice round shape. That would be better than the paper fix.
 
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Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

Yes. perhaps mixing metal filings with superglue would work.
 
Re: open b string buzz : bizzare cause of the problem

latest incarnation : glued down a smaller (tiny) piece of paper (which i managed to partly paint black, but not the part in the slot) :
15710359026_8077a4a456_b.jpg


I just think that putty and/or metal filings would require visual precision beyond the powers of a middle aged shredder, in other words it would create a mess and significant rise in nut height action for the specific string. Even this paper hack surely gave it a little height more than adhacent strings. I hope it stabilizes and compresses a little.

Now as far as sound is concerned : the tones are almost instistinguishable from E or G. Some suspicions of weakness compared to E or G might still be there, but I really have to push my self to hear it.

So, I can say that it is a nice trick for all those sitar-sounding-effect suffering floyd-rosers!
 
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