killemall8

So just an update.
Ive since put together 4 guitars, and they all still do it as well. Same identical problem.
The low strings seem to be even worse. A simple power chord on any of the low strings dont even ring out.

Im done for.

3 hours ago, MiKro said:

Luis would you be interested in a billet of Pale Mun Ebony? I have one that is about 40" x 8" x 2-1/2" about 4 years old now? I can get better measurements if needed

Mike

i'll message you!

4 hours ago, ScottR said:

Awesome!

I was going to say that's an excellent dye job, but it isn't is it? That's all toner if I'm not mistaken. Was this the one where you bookmatched on a live edge, or a depression and filled the area with resin?

SR

Yes sir, it is!
Looking at the pics, it looks like it has little dimples in the clear. but its actually the reflection of some red metal flake i put in the kandy red

Got this one 99% done today.

On 2/25/2021 at 7:28 AM, ScottR said:

Tasty tasty tasty! (all of them)

Something about the quilted HS cap on the explorer really does it for me.

SR

I refuse to make a guitar with a non matching headstock!

very nice

Here are a few updates.

Took this black flame SS out to clean up for final presentation. Hes only the second ever local guy to buy one of my guitars.

Also finished up the sunset explorer. Buyer is adding his own hardware and pickups.

That one came out great! I saved the top on this one for something special. I resawed it from a massive piece i got last year.

44 minutes ago, mattharris75 said:

Man, I wish I could produce finishes like you! Always been very impressed by them.

Not nearly as hard as people think!

4 hours ago, mistermikev said:

the thing that stands out to me in your post is .08mm... that's pretty low no?  I mean, I like low action myself... and don't bother to measure ever... but I thought 1-1.5mm is good - def not high.  I'm pretty sure my jem is in that range... and it plays great.  If you manhandle that guitar it will buzz but it's not fret buzz - it's string rattle.  If you play soft/fast - no buzz. so if you are getting 2mm at the nut/24th and .08mm at the 13th... sounds like the issue is too much relief.  I would think relaxing the bow  and doing some fall off at the 17-24 would allow the string some room to vibrate w/o hitting the frets.  perhaps I'm misunderstanding something.  

sorry, saw my mistake - "when fretted .08mm"

Sorry, it was late and i might not have been as clear as i needed to be.

That is with 2.0mm action, unfretted at the 12th. which i consider very high action.

That is also with almost no relief in the 7-9th fret area

3 hours ago, Gogzs said:

I'm gonna lean myself now faaaaar out of the window, I don't wanna question your guitar building skills because I have only the highest admirations for the stuff you pull off, but in what relation is the fretboard to the body. Are they perpendicular or is there a break angle? Because if there is none, and the bridge is too high and you try to lower the action by tightening the truss rod, you will get buzz at pretty much every fret except perhaps the few highest ones.

This is the roughest of the rough sketches of what I'm trying to talk about. There are things that aren't the most accurate representation of a good setup, but just to give a visual representation of what I mean, consider I use paint for all of my sketches. And again, I'm sure you're aware of all this, and probably take better care of it than I'll ever do, but this issue is driving me personally nuts, because I can't accept the fact that those insanely sexy instruments have such a massive flaw. 

I appreciate the drawing.
I never try to lower the action with the truss rod. that is setup 101.
And actually, almost all of my bridges are recessed into the body. I setup my guitars with almost no relief in the middle of the neck.

On 1/23/2021 at 2:18 PM, Bjorn.LaSanche said:

Have you checked to ensure none of the hardware is cracked along the string path.  Especially check the face side of the headstock tuner collars.  Mainly along the threaded portion.  I had a bass this year come in that was making similar buzzing as well as tuning instability.  The string that wouldn’t stay tuned, the collar to the tuner was cracked along the threads and when I noticed that collar was loose and tried to tighten it the collar failed. Necessitating a replacement.  Not saying the issue is that, but it’s something I had not come across before the collar was chattering when the string would vibrate.    Just something uncommon to check and eliminate as a source. 

This has happened on nearly 30 guitars, all different hardware, pickups, shapes, headstock shapes, headstock design (angled and fender style) different control cavity shapes, pickups, pots, and hardware.

On 1/8/2021 at 9:04 AM, 10pizza said:

took a quick look at the particular guitar and tested by tapping the neck to see if there's anything rattling/buzzing and there is. 

Given that you have the same problem with several guitars, my problem-solving-guts would say there's something in the way you build them that is causing the problem and not the hardware or setup. If you use the same router bit and truss-rods on those guitars it might explain why they all have the same problem. The cause of it happening over time might be that they've been held in place with some excess glue maybe at first and now have come loose? 

here''s a vid describing how to possibly fix that. I'll try this on my guitar and see if it solves my problem. Maybe you could try this on one of yours as well?

 

 

Definitely not a truss rod rattle. Its easy to tell the difference between truss rod rattle and fret buzz.

On 1/8/2021 at 2:25 AM, pan_kara said:

I've had these mystery buzzes and strange sounding strings in the past. Some still unsolved I even had a guitar recently where one string would have the 12th fret harmonic over the 13th fret almost. (turned out it wasn't my sloppy building, it was the string itself). But I never had an issue this severe so I can only imagine how frustrating it must be..

Here's my suggestion: you have to make sure if this is the following fret(s) that's buzzing or something else. (bridge, fret seated loose, truss rod resonating, flat crown) I know you checked all those things, so all evidence would point to "following fret"... Including having no buzz on the last fret. But if it was that, it should go away when raising action, so there's our mystery right there.

What I'd try: pull out just the last fret, see if the last-1 fret still buzzes. Maybe continue for a few more frets. If the buzzing disappears, then we have a problem with neck-string-fret geometry. If it doesn't, then it's something else.

I measured some guitars that I have at hand and in general the way they're set up is that when I fret a note at the 12th fret, the clearance between the unwound strings and the 13th fret is around 0.10-0.15mm (.003-.004 inches) with no buzz

Ive tried that many times. All of them are consistent. They dont buzz on the last fret but buzz instantly on the second to last fret. Even if i level down ONLY the last fret significantly.

On 1/24/2021 at 6:40 PM, Bjorn.LaSanche said:

Last idea is that you mention that the issue is on the instruments you built this year?  If it is fret buzz, we’re all the guitars built using the Sam batch of fret wire?  Could you have gotten a batch of bad wire where the size of the wire is off somewhere or the tang is separating from the fret after installation?

5 different batches of fretwire. 3 different sizes, 3 materials. Standard, evo and stainless.

On 1/14/2021 at 4:14 PM, mistermikev said:

could it be that you've managed to consistently make the most resonant guitars ever?  strings resonate so well they rattle on the frets?  (congrats!)

i dunno... just spit balling here.  I def feel your pain and truly wish I could help.  I think when you've tried everything you think it COULD be... maybe start looking at the things you think it COULDN'T possibly be.  sometimes just trying something stupid might stumble you into something that gets you going back in the right direction. 

In the interest of offering something constructive... can you put your neck on someone elses' body?  your body with someone elses neck?  what else can you start changing up?  perhaps build a guitar going in a completely different direction than you are used to to try and scare out the issue?  build a run of the mill strat knock off.  don't use the sm nut/tuners/truss-rod/pickukps.  even things you think would have nothing to do with it... don't use the same knobs.  different pots.  I know... "how in the world could the pots I use have anything to do with string buzz"... they probably couldn't... but idunno... maybe because of those pots you cut your control cavity different and you realize you were creating a sizemic megaphone under the strings.  if you are doing string string thru maybe do something different there?  surface mount? honestly the fact that the strings are buzzing the frets despite being high off the board... while it doesn't sound pleasant... it suggests you are getting some wicked string movement.  the fact that it stops at the last fret would surely suggest it HAS to be something with the frets/neck/relief... but that right there is the thing you thing it MUST be... what if you put a mega high nut on the guitar?  Maybe the string is rattling BEHIND the finger?

sooner or later you are going to find the answer but I have to believe you just have to keep trying things until the direction of the wind changes.  so difficult when the frustration level is so high and you just keep going in circles... so stop going in circles and try anything you haven't looked at already.

i hope there is something here you can use but more than that I hope you get out of the place your in and rise above this asap.

Ive tried nearly all of those. From Different headstock design (non angled) Different bridge types, different hardware all together. Different size and material of frets (evo, stainless and standard) All enitirely different woods,
Ive tried a high nut actually. I thought the same thing! It still buzzes the same.

On 1/8/2021 at 2:25 AM, pan_kara said:

I measured some guitars that I have at hand and in general the way they're set up is that when I fret a note at the 12th fret, the clearance between the unwound strings and the 13th fret is around 0.10-0.15mm (.003-.004 inches) with no buzz

Measured one guitar that has horrible buzz, and with super high, 2.00 mm action at the 12th, when fretted, has a .08mm gap between the string and the 13th.

8 hours ago, Gogzs said:

I still can't believe these works of art have fretting issues. This top looks insane, I'm not even sure it's wood we're looking at. Such a happy sad story man, but yeah. Take care of yourself first, rest will be easy. Burnout is one hell of a state, don't push yourself there. 

Yeah man, super disappointing when i spend hours on leveling and crowning, and the frets are basically mirror reflective and smooth, and yet ever fret still buzzes.

Been so cold, havent been able to spray.

Still finishing up projects from months ago. This has been my longest turn around time ever.

Also still having fretting issues.

I also announced that i wont be taking custom orders anymore. Got way too stressful, got in over my head, and it was too much pressure. I couldnt handle it.

Nothing major to share lately. Been spending every day spraying. I have 9 guitars that are in the spraying stages.

Also looking for somewhere to outsource my fretwork to. After just one fret job my hands cramp so bad that i cant do anything the rest of the day.

I did end up becoming a dealer for gator cases and graphtech nuts.
im kind of regretting the gator one. Its a minimum of 2500$ purchases a year.

1 hour ago, komodo said:

Total porn.
I'd love to see an over the shoulder of your core-laminate process. I'm kicking around a neck through and trying to wrap my head around milling and glueup of all the veneers.

That is actually something i plan to do a video on. Not nearly as difficult as it sounds

10 hours ago, mistermikev said:

there's a lot of stuff on your builds that is nice and don't mean to sidestep that... but man, your finishes are just top notch.  I'm not even an explorer guy but that red/yellow top is just a 10.  vnice.

Thanks man! Very similar to the one you did!

And here are a few bonus pics

Finished up this Traditional explorer.

This is what i dub my best overall build to date.

Specs:

Body: 2 piece black limba

top: Figured claro walnut (resawed myself)

Neck: 13 piece Bolivian rosewood, paduak, purpleheart and maple veneer

Fretboard: Ziricote, 25.5" scale, 24 fret, XJ jescar stainless, Blue luminlay side dots

Custom wound pickups with matching black limba covers (made the covers and sent them to the pickup maker)

1 volume, 1 tone, push pull split

Just now, ADFinlayson said:

Well I've listed my first For sale guitar (instead of usual commissions) on reverb, ebay, my facebook page, handmate page guitar page on fb, and I still haven't sold it  

Finding the right audience and buyers is the hardest part. Once you dial that in, then you can sell easier. You have to make things that specific players will like. Trying to appear to a general audience rarely works.

9 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said:

It's an expensive game! How many of the 36 did you sell? 

30 of them.
I did see that my tax program excluded some of profit. What a relief!

So after prepping my business taxes for last year, i realize i am not as successful as i thought. Not even close.
I made 36 guitars.

After buying a ton of new tools, wood, supplies... I netted $4500. Insane. I worked 14 hour days all through the summer and worked 6 days a week minimum.

What a waste of a year.
time to look for a part time job.

5 minutes ago, ScottR said:

HOLY CRAP LUIS!

Every time I think you've raised the bar (you absolutely did), you come back next time and raise it again. You must have a pretty impressive client list (of impressed clients) by now.

Do you have a pretty good number of repeat customers by now? What's the biggest number of guitars you've sold to any one player?

SR

Thanks scotty!
Yes, repeat customers make up the majority of my client list.  A lot of guys have 4, i think 2 have 5. A lot of 2s as well. Business has been great, thankfully.

5 hours ago, Drak said:

Have you ever considered taking one (or two) of them to a luthier in Albuquerque?

I would take it to Pimentel and Sons maybe, seem like pretty cool peoples from the YT's I've seen.

They've been luthiers for ~40-50 years.

Maybe a just a few short months ahead of you...

In other words, turn your Problem into an Opportunity.

 

 

They are the only ones in town, and they dont really offer any other services anymore, from what i hear. I cant check it out though

On 12/15/2020 at 10:41 AM, MiKro said:

Try a different set of strings, brand and size?

mk

Yes tried 3 different brands and 3 different gauges. Obviously the heavier gauges help in standard tuning because there is more tension, but other than that, no difference.