Advice needed with strange buzzing problem
 

Hi,

New to this forum, but hoping someone might have encountered my problem before and can help.
I have an American made Martin DX1 dreadnought (discontinued, although the electro acoustic version is still made) and yesterday it was fine. Until I decided to restring it.
I put the same D'Addario acoustic light strings on, and suddenly the G string buzzes like crazy when it's played open. Fretting it at any position on the neck produces a clean tone, so it's only buzzing played open.

The strange thing is this though - the buzzing completely disappears if I do any of the following:

Lightly hold the tuning peg of any of the top three pegs (G, B, E)

Squeeze the sides of the neck near the nut



The machine heads are enclosed. I used a Phillips screwdriver just to tighten the screws on the back in case that was causing the noise. It made no difference.

Does anyone have any idea what the matter could be please? I'm totally stumped. Thanks.

Do the tuning knobs have a screw to tighten them? Sometimes a loose knob will vibrate and cause a buzz. Squeezing the neck at the nut could damp the vibration of the neck which causes the buzz but that is a bit puzzling. Chasing a buzz can be a real pia and sometimes you end up finding a buzz being caused by something totally unexpected. You also may think you hear it coming from the body when it comes from the neck.

Try playing a G note in other places to at least see if it's something that occurs only on a G.

Buzz versus rattle (semantics, but it can help).

Sometimes, the nuts that hold the tuner in its hole from front to back become loose, and the washers under the nuts and next to the wood vibrate.

You should also, just in case, check your G-string nut slot to make sure it isn't cut too low. Not likely, from your description, but still possible. (ie: holding the 3 string tuners as you mentioned just could be enough to dampen the vibration of the G string so it no longer buzzes from a low cut nut slot.)

As redir states, buzzes can be awful to chase down sometimes.

Hi redir,

Thanks for replying.

I can't get into the tuning peg proper because Martin pegs are enclosed. The only thing I've managed to do is what I mentioned - tightening the screws that attach the enclosed machine head to the headstock. But it has not made a difference.
I've done as you suggest, and played the G in different positions. It is only when the G string is played open. A capo at the first fret solves the problem, but this isn't a good solution not least because this is a guitar on loan to me. I'm so perplexed at what this could be.

Thank you for your reply.

You're right, the term does make a difference and now you mention it I think I would describe it more as a rattle than a buzz. Do you know what I can do in this instance where the machine heads are enclosed? I watched some videos on YouTube earlier to see someone taking enclosed heads off a guitar but he didn't then do anything with them except exchange for new ones.

If it is the nut slot, what can I do about that? Just a tiny slip of paper in the G groove? Or a new nut?
If it would be solved with just a slip of paper, would it change the intonation of the guitar at all?

Thanks.

If the rattle is from within the enclosed tuner mechanism, you should be able to identify it by a corresponding looseness of the tuner key. Usually, there aren't internal rattles except in the least expensive of tuner machine heads.

A tiny slip of paper is a "dirty trick" that just might work temporarily if it is a low nut slot. This won't affect intonation.

If it is a low nut slot causing string buzzing, then the slot depth will need to be raised. This can be done with a bit of baking soda in the nut slot, then a small drop of thin CA (ie: crazy glue) on the baking soda. Best, with this method, is to have some bone dust mixed with the baking soda, but most guitarists don't have bone dust lying around. The "raised" nut slot will have to be cut back down to the correct depth with a triangle file or a specialty nut file.

Or, if you have determined that the nut slot depth is the problem, a new nut with slots cut to the correct depth is in fact the most ideal solution (but certainly more expensive than filling in the slot with baking soda & CA).

If it only buzzes open sounds like the nut slot is too low.... But I'm no pro

Thank you so much folks for the help. I can say with deep and genuine joy, the problem is solved!
I took off the G, B, E strings. Removed the machine head to see what I could see. Put it back, tightened the nuts on all three, restrung it. Problem persisted. I checked the nuts on the other strings and hey presto, the nut on the low E was the culprit. It wasn't loose, mind, but it tightened up further than the others, and straight away the problem has gone and now no matter how hard I attack the G it's just a clean sound as it was before.

Ahhh, what a relief! Thank you very much for making me consider the difference between 'buzzing' and 'rattling' and suggesting the nuts and washers. I'm so glad I didn't have to go down the bone and glue route, though would have if this hadn't fixed it. Thanks again.

Glad to hear you got it sorted out. Thanks for the update.

Excellent!

BTW what I meant was the actual knob not the internals of the tuning machines... the thing you grab and twist to tune up a string. Tuning knobs are typically held on by a screw and if it gets loose will cause a rattle.

Glad you got it fixed.