Takamine buzzing/rattling

[tunerider]

Hi Guys, just bought one of the takamine g 340's and as I played it for awhile I began to notice a buzzy rattle playing bar chords this is very slight and occurs anywhere on the neck. I have since change the strings to extra lights and adjusted the truss rod lowering the action, and then raising it back up and nothing changes. I can note every string at every fret all the way up the neck and they ring clean no buzz but when you slowly let off the finger tension you get a ringy sort of buzz at that fret. Any thoughts?

[bnjp]

I've never liked extra light strings on an acoustic. 10's, right? was it like that before you changed strings? Also, know what your truss rod does. It's for adding or decreasing relief in the neck, not for raising or lowering the action. Most acoustics dial into a comfortable amount of relief somewhere between .012" and .009", in my experience.

You probably want 12's on that guitar, but if you must go lighter...try custom lights rather than extra lights.

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by tunerider

I can note every string at every fret all the way up the neck and they ring clean no buzz but when you slowly let off the finger tension you get a ringy sort of buzz at that fret. Any thoughts?

If the buzz begins when you loosen your finger pressure, this seems to be consistent with "not fretting the note hard enough". Most factory guitars from standard music stores are not set up with the most ideal action, especially the nut slots which are rarely cut deeply enough. This can lead to difficulty in fretting, and notes that are sharp near the lower frets. Hence, I wonder if your guitar is set up to its full potential. Other parts that should be verified are the neck bow, frets (for level), and saddle height & top profile.

If the buzz is independent of your finger pressure, it is important to isolate the location of the buzz/rattle, since then you can more appropriately determine the cause (ie: loose truss rod = neck rattle; loose wires = body rattle). But from your description my immediate guess is that the setup could be improved for you. If you search the forms you can find how to check the nut slots and neck bow. For example, here:

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...light=nut+slot

[vbakh]

On both my Takaamines, rattling/buzzing was caused by the preamp not sitting tight in the preamp frame. The solution was to put a business card in between the preamp and the frame :-)

Regards,
Vlad

[tunerider]

Hi guys, thanks for the help.

[big batti]

My Takamine SCL-400 had a buzz sound on every fret, especially heard when playing through a PA system. I thought for a long time it was caused by a tiny crack or something, but I finally discovered that the two nuts located behind the bridge was loose. I tightened them, the buzz sound is gone. Hallelujah!!!
See youtube link for details:

https://youtu.be/fTtJScHJyUw

Hope this helps!

[John Arnold]

Buzz only when lifting the fretting finger is an indication that the frets are not properly crowned. Flat spots that are the result of wear or fret leveling will do this. The frets need to be rounded on top.

[Frank Ford]

Originally Posted by tunerider

I can note every string at every fret all the way up the neck and they ring clean no buzz but when you slowly let off the finger tension you get a ring-y sort of buzz at that fret. Any thoughts?

This effect occurs on all instruments and is more prominent on some, more obvious with very high action, and not noticed most of the time unless you let off slowly as you describe.

Semi-related:

As a mandolin player I spent a fair amount of time working to try to achieve a measure of the amazing "bubbly" tone that characterized Bill Monroe's playing. I finally decided that part of his signature sound was that buzz or chirp on release of the string. He played with action so high that the instantaneous buzz was unavoidable, and was part of the unmistakable energetic tone.