Unusual fret buzz? Or not?

[ghostrider]

So I recently got a new neck for one of my non-Warmoth gits. I bolted it on and it felt and sounded great. I LOVED it. I thought to myself, "This is the neck I will be buried with." Then I decided I wanted to add a water slide decal (headstock refinished of course). Done. So I bolt the neck back on last night and now I'm getting this really strange sound with my open A string.

It's almost like a feedback type of sound but I hear it even with the guitar unplugged. I thought something might be rattling that only rattles at that freq. Nothing so far as I can tell. I muted the saddle, bridge, trem block, tuners, etc, and no change. If I fret the A string on the first fret, the sound goes away and the string sounds crystal clear. So it must be buzz right? It must be just barely grazing the fret or something? Right?

So I raise the action on that string and it actually got worse! I lowered it and it got a little better but not much but it's way too low. Now I'm totally stumped. If I plug it into the amp, anything with an open A just sounds hideous.

What the heck, man?! The natural harmonic freq of the decal must be 440hz, lol! Any ideas?

:sad1:

 

[croquet hoop]

I muted the saddle, bridge, trem block, tuners, etc, and no change.

I would check the nut — the way the string is sitting, specifically.

Otherwise, since you are talking about resonance frequency, have you tried adding some weight to the headstock to see if it changes anything ? (just out curiosity — I do not think the problem is here).

 

[ghostrider]

Ok, I changed the string and that didn't do it. I hold the headstock and that doesn't help. I pull back on the headstock slightly and that seems to help. So does that mean some sort of truss rod adjustment?

 

[Cagey]

Sort of a singing, sitar sort of sound? It's almost certainly the nut. Warmoth is usually good for a fine part there, but things happen. Nuts don't last forever, and a surprisingly small defect can cause what you're hearing. The A string is wrapped, so it's naturally abrasive.

It's not the best solution - ideally you want some proper nut files - but you may be able to take some fine sandpaper, say about a 480 to 600 grit, wrap it around a knife edge, and take a couple passes on that slot. Be sure to angle it forward toward the tuners; you want the edge of the nut that faces the strings to be in contact with the string, and the back edge of the slot to fall away from the string. Read this article to get an idea of what it should look like.

 

[ghostrider]

Ok, thanks. It's exactly how you describe. It sounds awesome other than that open A. I'll give this a try.

 

[ghostrider]

BOOM! A couple of gentle passes with the 600 grit angled back did it. Thank you very much!

 

[Cagey]

You're more than welcome. I'm glad that worked out for you.

 

[nandrewjackson]

I was gonna say pickup mounting springs......