nut height and setup on a floyd

[nsherman2006]

I'm setting up my rg550, equipped with edge floyd, and i've encountered a problem. I like the action, but i'm getting buzz on the lower frets. I'd like to raise the nut up a bit, or maybe put some shims onder the strings at the nut to raise the action there, as this seems to be the most sensible option. Any suggestions from you experts? Thanks. Neal

[daveq]

If the buzzing happens only on open strings, then raise the nut (with shims). If it happens on frets 1 to 7 - the truss rod may need adjusting. Adjusting the nut will not help with anything other than an open string buzz. The higher fret buzzing (12 - 24) are usually adjusted by the bridge height.

Of course, there's always the issue of fret leveling and warping which could also be responsible for the buzzing. Did you just refret the guitar or build a new neck?

I think there's a section on jemsite.com that explains a lot of these setup issues - have you tried there yet? If not, give it a try - I remember there being some good information on this somewhere on that site.

[nsherman2006]

well, the neck is the original neck with no freat wear, and it buzzes on 0-10, so i'll try a little less relief, but what should i use as shims if there is still open buzzing? Thanks for your help. Neal

[Slaughthammer]

i used higher grid sanding paper (like 600 or so) as shims under my locking nut, worked fine for me. if the frets 1-10 buzz, check your neck if it is absolutely straight. if it is so, or if it has even a slight backbow adjust the truss rod counterclockwise (by quarter-turns at once or even in smaller steps) until you have a slight frontbow on your neck (look for this also on the main site, there's a tutorial on how to set up guitar-necks). if now the open strins are still buzzing, think about shimming the nut

[nsherman2006]

problem solved, i wrapped the shims in tinfoil and cut them to match the originals, then i lowered the bridge, and it's feelin pretty good, cept for the fact that i forgot to tune the strings back up to pitch before unblocking the floyd and now its being a bitch, but all should be good now. Thanks. Neal