help: i'm buzzing

[thethingupstair]

howdy chaps
on both my acoustic guitars (a fender dg10 and a takemine eg350) the last string buzzes horribly at the second fret. what steps should i take to remove this buzzing, bigger/smaller strings or should i raise the bridge?

please help as the sound is truly horrible
and also check out my website
www.thethingupstairs.com
free cd to anyone who can help me!

[martinedwards]

Both guitars?

is the action particularly low on both?

Assuming they have standard bridges it's simple enough to buy another plactic strip and sand it down to say 3mm taller than the one you just took out, labled and put away safely.........

another possibility is try a set of lighter strings.... that MIGHT help,

I don't think it's a fret dress issue as it would effect only one guitar surely.....

[dkitt]

Four things you could try, in no particular order:
1. Use heavier guage strings.
2. Raise the bridge by inserting a thin piece of wood veneer under it.
3. Loosen the truss rod ONE quarter turn. Righty tighty - lefty loosey.
4. Find out if you have a bad third fret that is higher than the second and third.

[guitaraholic680]

I've had that problem. Here is my solution. Go out to the nearest music store. Buy a guitar humidifier like a "dampit". THe dampit is a long green pipe thingi with holes in it and a sponge on the inside. It also has a soundhole cover. Buy one of these or another type of humidifier and leave it in your guitar for about a week. Don't really play it unless you have to. Especially since the seasons are changing, this will rehumidify your guitar. Keep your guitar himidified all year round. Especially if you have oil heat in your house. That will suck the humidity out of your house so fast. On both of my acoustics i keep them highly humidified in their cases. It is higher than 60 percent in each. Let them get rehumidified and keep them humidified all year around, as i said. This should solve your problem in a about a week. Sometimes it may take more, depending on how badly your guitar needs humidity.

[socialmisfit]

strip the rubbery plastic insulation off of a thin wire, then cut it in half so it sits comfortably inside that little notch that the string sits in at the nut. then place the string on top, so the wire is underneath and it raises it up ever so slightly...like two sheet-of-paper widths. thats pretty ghetto, but thats what i just did to mine and its never had buzzing before. im pretty sure its just the humidity, and if it is, itll go away once the humidity is gone. but if you need a quick temporary fix, thats what i do for my 6th string when she buzzes a bit :D

[Silenus]

SocialMisfit,
that seems a pretty good solution...

Do you place the half plastic insulation on the nuthole of 1 string with the curve in the direction of the string or am I completely wrong?
Can you post a pic of your nut (sounds weird eh)


My acoustic buzzes like a garbagecan.
Kinda like it but too much is too much...
Kisses to all

[thethingupstair]

thanks chaps

i'll give a few of those suggestions a whirl

if any of you want a free cd email your postal address to nick@thethingupstairs.com and i'll post u one out. (limited edition of 100)

regards

[seekir]

I would suspect a potential worn or loose fret if the buzzing is only occurring at the second. If by "last string" you mean the high E, the second fret gets a lot of wear from most players (an open D chord comes to mind). Do you see a deep groove worn in this fret, but not as deep in the third? If so, you'll be pushing the string down into said groove when you fret at the second, and the ungrooved third fret may contact the vibrating string and cause a buzz.

Though it can improve action and open string buzzing, shimming the nut will do nothing to stop buzzing unless it's an open string buzz!

As to loosening the truss rod - be cautious, and make adjustments in small increments, allowing the neck to "settle" for awhile before decreasing truss rod tension again (if necessary). You don't want to "overshoot" and have to retighten the truss rod if you can avoid it (Before tightening the truss rod after loosening the strings, I prefer to relieve any upward bow in a neck with a clamping setup to straighten the neck and help the truss rod to do it's thing initially. Excessive relief [bow toward strings] can be detected by sighting along the neck or capoing first fret and using one hand to fret the string at the highest fret, and then measuring the gap twixt string and frets near the middle of the string, but buzzing indicates potential back bow - too much tension on the truss rod.)

If you're going to shim nut or saddle (rather than cut a new one) I'd recommend using something hard that wont mute the string - I've used layers of aluminum foil. I believe Dan Erlewine suggests super glue deposits in the string slots at the nut, but I'm not sure how hard this substance is, or whether it would wear well.