Dingus420 Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 k so i got my jackson with its floyd rose copy and ive got some really bad fret buzz on the low E, B and high E strings, from open to about the 7th fret, the action is really high to and i want to fix it now. the neck is nice and straight so the only thing i can think of is changing the scale length of each string from the bridge to try and make them tighter so my question is... to do this should i make the strings longer so the string will be tighter at the same note as it would be if the string was a bit shorter? or is it the other way around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Neither. Changing the scale length is what intonation does. You want the gutiar to be properly intonated, or the notes will sound off, along the length of the neck. Adjusting intonation will do nothing to eliminate fret buzz. I would look at the action at the nut first. You said the action is high, but is it high the entire length or just end the bridge end. If it is only at the bridge end, it sounds like the nut might be too low and needs to get shimmed. The 7th fret is where the truss rod will start to noticably have relief and the high action at the bridge will eliminate the rest of the buzz from the 7th fret on up. And a low nut would cause buzzing to be more prone in the lower notes. And the wound strings are going to have more mass, therefore more movement and more likely to buzz. If it is high the whole length, you need to have a full setup done and then check it and possibly a fret level and dress. You said the neck is nice and straight. It might not have enough relief in it, which a full setup will fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus420 Posted January 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 alright well now that u mention it, the neck seems to be sloped back a tiny bit and most of the buzzing i think is coming from the first three frets, its hard to tell exactly. so your saying if i tighten up the truss rod some more itll fix my problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesy Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 alright well now that u mention it, the neck seems to be sloped back a tiny bit and most of the buzzing i think is coming from the first three frets, its hard to tell exactly. so your saying if i tighten up the truss rod some more itll fix my problem? I would try that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Ross Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 If your neck is sloped back (that is, away from the strings), tightening the truss rod would exacerbate the problem. If this is what's happening, you'll want to loosen the truss rod to allow the strings to pull the neck straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesy Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 If your neck is sloped back (that is, away from the strings), tightening the truss rod would exacerbate the problem. If this is what's happening, you'll want to loosen the truss rod to allow the strings to pull the neck straight. Of course you are right, well picked up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 Dingus, this is a new guitar or used? Regardless, don't touch the guitar yet -- take it a shop and have it properly set up by a tech. You can ask him to explain what he's doing, he might let you hang out and watch the process. No offense, but from your post, it's obvious you're not ready to attempt the setup by yourself. So either take the time do some research on the subject--there are a lot of setup guides out there-- or pay a pro. It's not expensive and it will transform the guitar. If you bought this from a shop, they should do the setup for free. Shame on them for giving you an unplayable guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus420 Posted January 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 well this was my first guitar i got new about 3 years ago, and if i would have known more about guitars back then i wouldnt have bought it, ive been fiddling with it since trying to get it set up nicely, it wasnt bad about 4 months ago but ive been playing it pretty hard lately and would like to know how to set it up myself, ive already taught myself every other aspect of the floyd rose and this is pretty much the last thing i hafta learn, ill post again after ive tried again to set it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus420 Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 ok so this is what ive done.. i adjusted the springs first to make the bridge as level as possible to the body loosened the truss rod, pretty much tested it with every single position possible set the intonation on the low E string (it was a bit sharp) raised the action even higher than it was before i even shimmed the nut a little bit and what would you know, IT STILL BUZZES!! so i take the strings off take off the neck and look down it, and oh ****, where did that big twist come from, well its not that big but big enough to make a difference when looking down the fretboard from the bridge side, the headstock is twisted about 1/8" counter clockwise so the bass side of the nut is low is there any way that i can fix this? or should i go down to L&M and get pissed off at them for selling me a crappy guitar cuz i dont think that will achieve anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Well you bought it 3 years ago, so even if it was bad from the factory, no dealer is going to take it back. They are going to nit pick everything you have ever done with it and say that it is your fault that the neck twisted. A qualiy luthier can fix it, but you have to ask how much it is worth to you to have it fixed. It will most likely require a complete refret and fretboard work. You are not looking at a cheap fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus420 Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 so your saying the only way to fix it is to take off all the frets and sand the fingerboard to counter the twist? i dont really have much money to blow right now and im just trying to fix it up so i can try and sell it, im getting an american strat soon but right now this is my only working guitar is there anything else that i could do? like heat it up and try and twist it back or just clamp it to a table in the right position? what if i shimmed the nut on the bass side only, i think that would work for a quick temporary fix... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) Well you bought it 3 years ago, so even if it was bad from the factory, no dealer is going to take it back. They are going to nit pick everything you have ever done with it and say that it is your fault that the neck twisted. A qualiy luthier can fix it, but you have to ask how much it is worth to you to have it fixed. It will most likely require a complete refret and fretboard work. You are not looking at a cheap fix. An aftermarket neck will be a cheaper and faster fix. Just a simple question though... Can you measure neck relief on the low E string? How does it compare to the high e? Edited January 14, 2009 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Look, I appreciate that you want to learn how to do the set up yourself and all, and I think that's a great objective and something you definitely should learn down the road. But this is your ONLY working guitar. Any 'fix' you might attempt right now will only put it out of commission, for a few days, weeks, or forever. Especially if you keep monkeying around with that truss rod. So suck it up and just take the guitar to the tech at the store -- pay for the set up. It won't cost you much, you'll probably get a fresh set of strings for the price too. If you haven't abused the guitar, then there's no reason for the guitar to be in as bad shape as you think it is. FWIW, sighting down the neck isn't really all the easy to do -- the twist is probably an optical illusion. At any rate, no point in panicking about it until you've had a professional at least look at the guitar. The buzzing could be caused by any number of different reasons. But you just don't have the tools to track them down right now. If the tech can't fix it, then start looking into a replacement neck. Chances are though, a good tech will have it sorted out within half an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus420 Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 i would like to take it in and have a tech look at it but im actually flat broke right now, any income i get goes straight to snowboarding as its a seasonal thing... my bros got a gibson and an epiphone les paul so i can still play when hes not around and my dads spending up to a grand on my grad gift and i think ill use it for a used american strat pretty soon how would i go about measuring the relief without any special tools? i think that would sort out if it is actually twisted or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Ross Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Where are you located? Maybe there's a charitable-feeling member here that could take a look... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus420 Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 I live in white rock, BC but if theres anyone from around surrey/richmond i would be willing to bring it to you, that would be awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 how would i go about measuring the relief without any special tools? i think that would sort out if it is actually twisted or not I always use a spark-plug gap measuring tool, one with fairely fine blades. I like the relief at about 0.25 mm. Put a capo on the first fret, hold the string down at about the 14th fret, measure at the 6th or 7th fret. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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