An almost buzzing question.

[Wooly]

I have an Alvarez AF60 and an AP70.

What does it mean when you have a clicking metallic, on the verge of buzzing sound from the 7th to the 12th fret on the unwound B & E strings only? All the others sound clear. This is on both guitars. The AP70 even had a fret level. Seemed OK for a while. I checked for high frets on both guitars. All good. I have tried more relief and less on both and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Relief is at .006
Saddle height is 3/32 on the low and 2/32 on the high.
Using 11-52 strings.

To me, these measurements should be acceptable. Maybe I'm wrong.

Any ideas? I showed it to a local and the only guitar tech we have in this city and he wasn't sure either.

[John Arnold]

Make sure the frets are not flat on top.....especially if they are worn. The same applies to the saddle.

[Rodger Knox]

Not more relief, more action height or a little better fretwork. That's pretty low action, and light strings. That requires pretty good fretwork. I'd guess it's just a little off, not enough to find with a fret rocker, but enough to make that almost buzz sound. I'd guess the 12th is a little high, but they all could be. That sound usually come from further away than the next fret (it happens when the extreme excursion is just enough to touch a fret) . Relief won't have much effect between the 6th and 12th frets, and it's the relationship of these frets with each other that's the problem. That's only under the B&E strings, so it's not that much. A loose fret is another possibility.

[mirwa]

Your treble string is a little on the low side imo, just, add another 10 thou and it will be good. Relief for an action thatlow is also too much, take it down to around 3 or 4.

Acoustics are not like electrics, you need the string height to drive the soundboard, the moving soundboard in return moves the strings up and down as well, this is why acoustics are sethigher than electrics.

Levelling frets unstrung is Different to levelling with string tension applied, necks twist and bend under the load.

Use a fret rocker in th strung up position and be really critical of any slight rock, mark it it with a texta and lower those frets

Steve

[Wooly]

Thanks to all for the info. This is place to come when you need it.

First chance I get, I'm going to flatten the neck a bit and raise the action. Like Rodger said, relief doesn't have much effect between the 6th and 12th which makes sense.

[surveyor]

For leveling frets while under simulated tension, I built one of these out of scrap metal. The 2 allthread posts are for dial micrometers (not attached). I saw a version of it on a Dan Erlewine trade secrets video and thought it would be a good idea to have one. Some guys just block up the peghead andweight the upper bout with (2) five lbs. sacks of flour or whatever.