12th fret buzz

[dmraco]

I have had  three  guitars brought to me that have developed a 12th fret buzz.  The neck seems to have the correct amount of relief.  AM I missing something?  I find it hard to believe all need work on the 13th fret.

I tend to "eyeball" my neck relief.  Can anyone let me know if a more accurate method.

Thank everyone.

 

[TBurst Std]

How I do it is to place capo on the first fret (you want to take the nut out of the equation), then use another capo at the last fret. The string now effectively becomes your straight edge.

Eye the gap to find the largest space between the top of a fret and the bottom of the string. Slip a feeler gauge into the gap to measure it.

Also, if you have a short (say 3") straightedger, I would rocker the frets to make sure you do not have one sprouting. Not knowing where you live, it is winter, which can lead to fret sprout.

 

[Cagey]

I have had  three  guitars brought to me that have developed a 12th fret buzz.  The neck seems to have the correct amount of relief.  AM I missing something?  I find it hard to believe all need work on the 13th fret.

I tend to "eyeball" my neck relief.  Can anyone let me know if a more accurate method.

Believe it.

I'll tell you, though - eyeballing a neck just means you know what you're looking for. Doesn't mean you'll see it. I've been doing this for a long time, and about the only time eyeballing a neck is of any value is to see if a neck is worth working on at all. If you can see aberrations, it may be too far gone to fix. Then, there are necks that will fool you. For instance, compound radius necks always look twisted even when they're not. Necks that get more play in one area vs. another may present as bowed when they're not, due to fret burnishing or crown flattening. You really need to be able to measure/sense it.

If people are bringing multiple necks to the house for you to work on, it really behooves you to invest in some proper tools. Usually, they'll pay for themselves pretty fast. Plus, you get to use them on your own fiddles. A good straightedge, some feeler gauges and a fret rocker are invaluable in determining where the non-obvious problems are with frets. You can do the string straightedge trick mentioned, but strings will move away from the feeler gauge easily, so you can't really get a good indication. A couple thousandths can be the difference between buzz/no buzz, so you don't want a pseudo-straightedge that can move on you. You want something solid, rigid and dead-nuts straight.

Stewart-MacDonald is a good source of accurate and specialized tools, but sometimes their prices can be frightening. If you know what you're looking for, you may be able to do better. Other disciplines use precision tools, too, so you can find off-book uses for things that cost a lot less. Or, maybe just a different, less greedy vendor. For instance, you can get a straightedges, fret rockers, etc. from some European vendors quite reasonably if you look around.

Here's a fret rocker for $8.99...

Here's a straightedge for $15.90. A good set of feelers can be had at AutoZone for about $7.

Files can cost all over the place, depending on how hard you wanna work and what you're gonna work on. To me, the shaped diamond parts are the only ones to use, but I do mainly stainless steel and "gold" frets. If you mainly do the standard nickel-silver stuff, you can get away with less. Also, if you don't care about time, you can get away with less specialized shapes that cost dramatically less.

 

[misterfinn]

+1 to the fret rocker above. Neck Check also sells a relatively inexpensive notched straightedge that has helped me out a lot as I've been learning fret work. Very convenient for setting the neck dead straight before fret leveling because it sits right on the fingerboard - takes uneven frets right out of the process. Notched to Gibson scale on one side and Fender on the other.

 

[NovasScootYa]

Not knowing what brand of necks here are a few guesses...If the necks are imported, mass produced, older, etc. and have vintage rods the fret boards could be invisibly lumpy. If the necks are re-frets there's no telling what's wrong without tools and know-how. If the frets have been file leveled there's no telling what's wrong. Increased humidity or dryness could cause 3 necks to have the same problem. If the buzz problem is consistent for the G & D strings it's generally a too tight truss rod or it's a weak spongy neck. If the nut string height is too high means the bridge saddle height may be adjusted too low, lower the nut to specs and raise the saddle height accordingly.
To check relief: Hold the low E at the 1st and 17th frets; check relief at the 7th fret. Relief amount depends on neck radius. You may want to check relief on all strings.
Here's a site for more info...http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/repair/electric-guitar/index.php