I got a guitar setup and my string are still buzzing...

[ElectricTurkey4369]

I got my guitar set up last week. I needed a truss rod adjustment basically. Now once i tune down a half step on the 3rd and 5th frets of the A and D its rattling sound. it sounds like a bee buzzing, and it's extremley annoying. Do i have to adjust the sattles on the bridge or something? Im just very annoyed because I can't get anything right, there always a problem with something, I spent $40 for nothing!

 

[ryjan]

So you got your guitar set up... then changed tunings? You changed the string tension dude! Before you run back to the guy that set up your guitar and make an *** out of yourself read up about what string gauge/neck adjustment is required for different tunings.

 

[giantstepjoe]

So you got your guitar set up... then changed tunings? You changed the string tension dude! Before you run back to the guy that set up your guitar and make an *** out of yourself read up about what string gauge/neck adjustment is required for different tunings.

I have to agree with this.

 

[ElectricTurkey4369]

Alright, I'll check it out.

 

[ElectricTurkey4369]

So you got your guitar set up... then changed tunings? You changed the string tension dude! Before you run back to the guy that set up your guitar and make an *** out of yourself read up about what string gauge/neck adjustment is required for different tunings.

My E string is a 0.56, my A is a 0.42 and my D is a 0.30, those are pretty big. What neck adjustment would I need then less relief on the truss rod?

 

[ElectricTurkey4369]

Sorry, my E is a 0.52

 

[iceman]

First realize that the main purpose of the truss rod is to make the strings parallel to the neck, the bridge is the primary control of action. If your open strings are buzzing then you need to loosen the rod, i.e the neck is backed bowed. This makes sense if you down tuned your guitar, since you have less tension on the neck, it is now backed bowed. Only make small adjustments on the nut, like 1/4 turn at a time, some guitars can only have their truss loosened so much. Tune it first then adjust the rod, then set the action via the bridge. If you loosen it too much you will have buzzing when playing in the middle of the fret board. Your goal is to have a slight bow in the neck but not much.

Here is the process. Fret your 6th string on the 1st fret then with your other hand fret around the 16th fret (where your neck meets the body), then with your index finger of your right hand tap on around the middle of the fret board (6-9 fret). You should have a little space there you can also just look at it and just see a slight amount of space (0.3-0.5mm).

If you are not comfortable doing this then don't, you can mess up the neck if you over adjust (so I've heard). However if you learn what your are doing and why you can save your self time and bucks. I make small adjustments to my truss rod throughout the year as the seasons/humidity change.

 

[ElectricTurkey4369]

First realize that the main purpose of the truss rod is to make the strings parallel to the neck, the bridge is the primary control of action. If your open strings are buzzing then you need to loosen the rod, i.e the neck is backed bowed. This makes sense if you down tuned your guitar, since you have less tension on the neck, it is now backed bowed. Only make small adjustments on the nut, like 1/4 turn at a time, some guitars can only have their truss loosened so much. Tune it first then adjust the rod, then set the action via the bridge. If you loosen it too much you will have buzzing when playing in the middle of the fret board. Your goal is to have a slight bow in the neck but not much.

Here is the process. Fret your 6th string on the 1st fret then with your other hand fret around the 16th fret (where your neck meets the body), then with your index finger of your right hand tap on around the middle of the fret board (6-9 fret). You should have a little space there you can also just look at it and just see a slight amount of space (0.3-0.5mm).

If you are not comfortable doing this then don't, you can mess up the neck if you over
adjust (so I've heard). However if you learn what your are doing and why you can save your self time and bucks. I make small adjustments to my truss rod throughout the year as the
seasons/humidity change.

Thanks for the info on the truss rod. But the thing is, my open strings are fine, it's just the buzzing on the one fret. I already raised my bridge a bit, do I have to raise it some more?

 

[volatileNoise]

so what was it like before getting it setup, high action?

and what make of guitar is it?

if you had high action before, and the guitar was "ok" but now it isn't, then it could have some bad frets, or if it is a lower end guitar, the fretboard shape may not be the best for working with what is a fairly "correct" setup...

horses for courses, I know my acoustic pig is a bit like that, have to run reasonably high action, making it a **** guitar to play, but any lower and it will buzz randomly all over the place...

 

[DaveBorn2Rock]

So you got your guitar set up... then changed tunings? You changed the string tension dude! Before you run back to the guy that set up your guitar and make an *** out of yourself read up about what string gauge/neck adjustment is required for different tunings.

+1
First of all a good set up is always specific to the tuning and gauge of strings used and changing either of those can change the setup.
Also you should know that a good setup is more than simply adjusting the truss rod or the saddles. It is a three part process of adjusting the neck, the nut and then the saddles. Each adjustment to one of those parts will change the way that the others behave, for instance putting more bow in the neck will raise the nut and the action even if you don't touch the nut or the saddles. Also messing with saddle height can throw the intonation out of wack.
Especially on electric guitars there are a lot of movable parts and it's really easy for someone without a lot of experience to try to adjust one thing and then mess up the whole setup, so I'm just saying this to warn you against trying to make random changes by yourself.

Also, how do the frets look? Is there a lot of wear? There is always the possibility that the guitar could use a fret level and dress.

Dave

 

[ElectricTurkey4369]

so what was it like before getting it setup, high action?

and what make of guitar is it?

if you had high action before, and the guitar was "ok" but now it isn't, then it could have some bad frets, or if it is a lower end guitar, the fretboard shape may not be the best for working with what is a fairly "correct" setup...

horses for courses, I know my acoustic pig is a bit like that, have to run reasonably high action, making it a sh!t guitar to play, but any lower and it will buzz randomly all over the place...

Its a Gibson Les Paul Studio. It never used to buzz before if I can remember. It had a pretty high action because I'm using 12's for my lower strings, then i got the setup with the same strings and the guy asked me what kind of action i wanted. I told him medium, so around the middle. And when I brought it home it sounded great and no buzz, now 2 weeks later the buzz is back. So i raised my bridge a bit and it still is buzzing on the same fret, which leads be to believe it's a fret problem...

 

[MrMarkIII]

If it buzzes at a certain fret and nowhere else, the fret causing the buzz is the fret in front of the fret being fretted. "In front" means toward the bridge.
It could even be more than one fret, but it's usually just one.
Or maybe your neck has Peyronie's Disease. :lol:

 

[volatileNoise]

Its a Gibson Les Paul Studio. It never used to buzz before if I can remember. It had a pretty high action because I'm using 12's for my lower strings, then i got the setup with the same strings and the guy asked me what kind of action i wanted. I told him medium, so around the middle. And when I brought it home it sounded great and no buzz, now 2 weeks later the buzz is back. So i raised my bridge a bit and it still is buzzing on the same fret, which leads be to believe it's a fret problem...

Yeah I never played a studio yet with low action... I run 12's before, and now 11's no problem, thing is heavy gauge string shouldn't make any difference, if anything should reduce buzz as they have more tension, string height remains the same regardless of what gauge strings you run...

 

[rocksalt7]

Yeah...as DaveB..above said, a 3 part process and a very iterative one at that. If you change 1 thing, you have to go back and re-check everything again, and so forth, over and over until it adjusts the way you want it. Typically, a fret dress and level aren't part of a "basic" set-up. But for the problem you're having, you may have you pay up, so to speak.

It is even more dificult to set up a guitar for mutiple tunings. What works for one may kill the other...I think that's what you're seeing now. I spent over 12 hours on one of my old Les Pauls trying to do this. I was ultimately successful, but towards the end I was about to go find an overpass to jump off of!!! Seriously, just go slow and be patient. Small steps will work better than large ones. Good Luck...