6'th Fret Buzz

[MadMan118]

On my Ibanez SRX 500 my E string has some quite loud fret buzz. But only when fretted at the 6'th fret and no where else. I thought it was the truss rod, but the neck is fine, any ideas?

[Turnaround]

When it buzzes just at one fret, it's a pretty good bet that you have a high or low fret - i e. low sixth fret or high 7th. If it buzzed over a few adjacent frets it would more likely be a setup issue.

[MadMan118]

Originally Posted by Turnaround

When it buzzes just at one fret, it's a pretty good bet that you have a high or low fret - i e. low sixth fret or high 7th. If it buzzed over a few adjacent frets it would more likely be a setup issue.

I was thinking the same thing, the fret being high/low, so having the frets leveled, would be the thing to do.

[202dy]

Maybe. First you want to determine exactly what the problem is. It could be that F7 is "popped". In other words, the fret end is no longer being held fast in the slot. Fretwire is much like a spring. It will press into the slot and spring right back out. In the case of a popped fret, it would be a matter of gluing the fret down level with the surrounding frets. If done correctly, no spot leveling will need to be done.

On the other hand, if F5 is low it might require replacing that fret and leveling to the surrounding area.

[Atoz]

All good advice above, but here's another thing to check...

How old are your strings? If they've gotten a bit of use, your E string could be flat-spotted on the bottom over the 6th fret. That could cause the string to hit the 7th fret when you fret the 6th. It's something easy to check out before you start worrying about your frets.

[fuzzybob]

im having the same problem but mine actually buzzes behind the 6th fret towards the headstock. I slid a peice of paper in between the frets until it stopped. Its coming from the 2nd fret. My neck is fine so I have concluded the nut is low on top of the headstock- I can think of nothing else that could be causing this problem. Adjusting the neck has had no effect especially that close to the top. I will let you know if shimming or replacing the nut takes care of it.

[XylemBassGuitar]

Originally Posted by Atoz

All good advice above, but here's another thing to check...

How old are your strings? If they've gotten a bit of use, your E string could be flat-spotted on the bottom over the 6th fret. That could cause the string to hit the 7th fret when you fret the 6th. It's something easy to check out before you start worrying about your frets.

+1, definitely try a fresh E string before you start filing or gluing anything. This seems to happen more frequently with thicker strings too.

You can also get a fairly flat straight edge (accurate to at least .003") that only spans three or four frets around the 6th. Place it in the area of the buzz and see if it rocks slightly in place, if it does you probably have a high fret.

Unless you have experience with guitar/bass repairs, you might want to take the bass to a tech/luthier rather than filing or gluing yourself. It can be pretty easy to mess up your frets if you don't know exactly what is going on.