Fret Buzz / options

[brianhejh]

Hi Guys.

I have just purchased a Gibson J 50 Acoustic.

It has some buzzing and I understand the check list involved to rectify, nut ,saddle ETC, thanks to what I have learnt from the members of this site but where do I start?

Firstly the Frets?
I have measured the fret heights in an attempt to eliminate any problems that may be with the frets. IE-

Fret Heights: 1 (41") 2 (41) 3 (39) 4 (40) 5 (39) 6 (38) 7 (39) 8 (40) 9 (42)

Frets 10 through 16 are 44/45". All measured in the centre of the fretboard

My question - It would appear that the lower frets may have been dressed previously? Would you suggest I bring frets 10 through 16 down to the lower frets IE 39' Or do you believe there is not enough to warrant any change here?

Any help would be appreciated
Regards

Brian

[mirwa]

Knowing individual fret heights measured from the fretboard are irrelevant to diagnosing a buzz. Actually they are pretty much irrelevant to anything.

Buzzing is caused from and not limited too

Bad nut,
Bad saddle,
Too little relief
High frets
Low frets,
Incorrectly adjusted truss rod,
Loose fret,
Not Setup to the player,
Pickups mounted to high,
Incorrect strings,
Loose braces,
Excessive bridge rotation,
Collapsing top,
Broken neck block,
Etc etc etc

Steve

[brianhejh]

Thanks for the reply.

Yes there are many factors as you say, you noted high and low frets in your list.

This was my question in the process of elimination, would these fret measurements be a concern /need to ne levelled equally or left alone.

Thanks

Brian

[mirwa]

The fret height measurements have no relevance, all they are indicating is the distance from the fretboard to the crown of the fret, is the fretboard flat, if the fretboard has a twist to it or is warped or a slight rise and fall, then any subsequent levelling of the fretboard in its lifetime will result in a mishmash of fret crown height measurements.

High and low frets are only relative to the fret adjacent to them, hence we use a piece of steel and label it a fret rocker to check for high and low frets and then deal with that fret.

Steve

[Ned Milburn]

Steve (mirwa) stated already... individual fret heights do not matter.

What matters is precisely this: The plane of the top of the frets.

Fingerboards are not straight. Often there is a hump or fretboard fallaway on the fingerboard extension (the portion of f.board that goes over the body of the guit.) Rarely, but still sometimes, there is the reverse of fret-board fall-away.

First, we need more info from you...

Where is there buzzing?? (ie: what string(s) and where on the fingerboard).

If, for example, you said it buzzes on all strings from 10th to 13th fret, then likely the issue is the hump at the 14th fret join on the body.

If, for example, yo said it buzzes only on 1st and 2nd strings from 4th to 7th fret, there is a chance that the 8th fret is lifting a bit on the treble side.

Again, we need a more accurate description of the symptoms.

Patient: "I'm coughing, doctor? What do I have??"
Doctor: "I don't know."

[brianhejh]

Hi Guys.

Thank you for the advice.

I intend to replace the nut, saddle and tuners with this guitar, my first project.

Yes the buzz can be anywhere within the lists presented and look forward to identifying it.

(Forgetting the buzz for the moment) with the measurements made, IE lower frets are roughly 3" to 6" lower than the higher frets. Would you guys dress the frets to obtain equal heights across all frets IE (general maintenance) or is it not enough variance to warrant the extra work for no benefit.

Thanks again

Brian

[Rodger Knox]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Knowing individual fret heights measured from the fretboard are irrelevant to diagnosing a buzz. Actually they are pretty much irrelevant to anything.
Steve

Originally Posted by Ned Milburn

Steve (mirwa) stated already... individual fret heights do not matter.

What matters is precisely this: The plane of the top of the frets.

Fingerboards are not straight. Often there is a hump or fretboard fallaway on the fingerboard extension (the portion of f.board that goes over the body of the guit.) Rarely, but still sometimes, there is the reverse of fret-board fall-away.

Originally Posted by brianhejh

Hi Guys.

with the measurements made, IE lower frets are roughly 3" to 6" lower than the higher frets.
Brian

First, your measurements can't be correct, you've obviously left out a decimal.
Frets are not 41", maybe 0.041"? 0.003" to 0.006"?

Nobody does it that way, but if you wanted to measure the fret heights, you would first need to verify that the fretboard is flat enough to be a valid frame of reference. I believe that's your assumption, and it's probably not valid. Read Ned's post again.

I'll hit the horse one more time, it's the top of the frets along the string path, what Ned has called the "fret plane" (which is typical terminology). It's not really a plane, it's six non-coplaner lines that converge toward the nut. Frets are high or low relative to the adjacent frets along those string lines. Frets can have high or low spots along some string lines, and be fine on other string lines.

[ruby50]

Just trying to get you going, this is a likely repair sequence, but there could be multiple reasons for the buzz.

Try this as a first step. Put a capo behind fret 1 and behind fret 14, then measure the height of the strings above the fret at about the 7th fret. If you are a fingerpicker, this should be about .008, a little more if you beat on the guitar This a measure of relief and is adjusted with the truss rod (hope you have one) using an allen wrench.

Once that is right, use a small straight edge to span 3 frets and rock it back and forth - you will need a shorter straight edge as the frets get closer together, and you can get a "fret rocker" on the internet for under $5. Rocking means the center of the three frets is high in reference to the other two. Check each fret at 3 locations - left, right, and center. I mark the high spots with a magic marker on top of the fret. Now you have a map of the differences in the fret heights. If you have confidence and a couple of tools, first tap firmly on the high frets with a plastic or brass hammer and check again, and then you can knock the remaining high points off and re-shape the fret crowns using files and one of the many videos on the internet under "fret dressing".

Make sure you understand this before you attack your frets with a file, but this is not rocket surgery.