L_Z_Nut

Jump all over my thread why don't cha! J/K It's better to just post it in here then to start another thread. Maybe there should be an "official fret buzz thread" or something..... IDK. My friends who play guitar (since I only have 3 other friends who play) actually decided to pay me. I did it once for free on one of their guitars cause the way they did it was like a horror show to me (like a million wounds overlapping each other) And after that they all came to me to get it done, I was never gonna charge them but after I changed their strings they just said "here, this is for your trouble" I kept saying "no don't worry about it" and gave it back but I would usually just find the cash later sitting on top of my amp or on my computer. Besides, I always liked changing strings... I don't know why, I just think its fun. The only thing I've always been afraid to try was a truss rod adjustment, I just can't get that thought out of my head that if I mess up,*snap* there goes your rod, and your neck. But they never asked for a truss rod adjustment, nor have I ever needed one.

See the way they screw you at my shop is they charge around the same price for the nut as yours... maybe just a little more. But then they say they have to change the strings, which for them would be an extra $50-$60, whcih would bring it to around $70-$80, then they said depending on the labour involved it could bring the total up to $100-$120. I mean $50-$60 for a string change, I charge my lazy friends who always do a sloppy job only $10 to change the strings... all they have to do is buy the strings and bring me the guitar, 10 minutes later and I'm done. These people at Long & McQuade keep it for 1-2 weeks depending on how busy they are. Outrageous!!

That's good to remember incase I get any problems with present or future guitars. Thanks for the help

SWEEEETTT. After diddling around with my guitar for a while last night I found out that the buzz was actually coming from the bridge. So I remebered hearing about how SRV used to use some kind of string material of whatever to keep it from breaking the strings at the bridge, so I tried it. And HUZZAH it worked no more buzz. I so happy I don't have to waste my money on a new nut, or pay some jackass at my local shop $100 to fix it. Thanks again for the help.

YEah I tried it and it didn't do anything so I guess I'll have to pop in to my local shop tomorrow and get a new nut. But I will be putting some graphite in the braided string slots with my new nut. Thanks for the help.

LOL Yeah I know it's friggin crazy. It's a strat style guitar and nut that's just slightly wider then 1 5/8" (less then a 1/64" wider)and I have jumbo frets, would it be pretty easy to find a replacement for it. EDIT: Thanks for the help BTW, I think I'm gonna try a little graphite in the slot, if that doesn't work I think I'll just a new nut.

Yeah I use my trem quite a bit. I have a graphite nut, do you think that a little pencil lead might help alleviate the buzz? EDIT: if I were to change the nut what would be the best material to keep it from wearing down faster? I'm assuming brass?

For some odd reason my guitar has developed an open string fret buzz on the D string. It used to buzz very very slightly when I would change strings, but after I tuned up all the strings (I have a Wlikinson tremolo bridge) and played for a few minutes it would go away until the next string change where it would do the same thing as before. I changed my strings about 1.5 to 2 weeks ago but the buzz has not gone away this time and seems to be getting worse. I have a feeling it might be because the string is not properly seated in the nut slot, maybe it had some slight high points or low points in the slot and it just made it worse the more I played it. IDK. Any advice? I don't know how to file a nut nor do I have the tools to do so, which brings me to my main question. Do any of you know any luthiers in or near the Toronto Ontario region? All I have near me that can replace the nut or file it is Long & Mcquade, but they want to charge me for a re-stringing, replace the nut completely and slot it which they said would run me about $100-$120 depending on the time and work envolved. and that's just insane! Thanks for your time and help. EDIT: Also I don't know if this will help much, but it buzzes on a downstroke but not on an upstroke, IDK to me that seems like it might help. Lately I've been trying to make sure I pluck it on an upstroke LOL.

^^ looks like the same type of growth pattern or whatever you call it, but his is a little green in colour and that ones more grey. But it definately looks like the same thing only a dif colour. BTW are band name won't be "Fungus" that's just riduculous it's gonna be "The Fungis". Thanks again for all the help.

Well what I told my friend is that if it gets noticably worse and starts to effect his playing then I'll help him figure out what to do and fix it, but until then, he's gonna have to live with it. Thanks a lot for the help.

I really thought it was mold since, in person, (I'm not sure if you can tell in the pictures) it does look like it was sanded in those areas, and I thought the unfinished areas got moldy. But as long as most of you (people who actually know what they're talking about) think it's just some kind of chemical reaction of some sorts, then that's good enough for me (and hopefully my friend). If he brings it up again I'm smashing that damn guitar , cause that's all he's been talking about since he got it. "What do you think it is? Is it mold? Could it be this? Could it be that?" Shut the **** up it was free. In some ways having your neighbour as a bandmate is a blessing and a curse. Thanks a lot for all the help people, if only my bro's camera wasn't all screwy this problem could have been solved 15 posts ago. EDIT: ^ that pic is a little blury, but I don't think it's the same thing cause it's not that bright of a green.

^Ummm, the fretboard is rosewood, the back wood is maple. And I'm fairly confident that it's not dirt from his hands, because on the green areas it looks very lightly sanded down. I finally got some good pics. I put them as links to make this thread easier to load. I took a few more pics so if this doesn't help much I'll post some more.

I'm guessing maple doesn't right?

I'm having trouble getting a clear picture of the neck without glare from the flash, so I'll probably take some pics tomorrow during the daytime. Hmm... well if it's not mold and not oil/dirt residue build up from his hands then what the hell is it? Does maple have a little green tint to it when it hasn't been finished, or is it about the same colour as it is when it has been finished? Cause if it is maybe someone accidently sanded it down at the factory, and that's just the natural wood colour coming out. Thanks again for everyone's help.

Well for some reason getting a picture to show what I want is friggin' impossible. So for now he's just gonna have to live with it, well until he decides to refinish it or get a new neck. Thanks a lot for the help everyone.