setup help: strings buzz near low frets

[j_nition]

so hers what the prob is:

I am running as much relief as I feel I can get away with to chase out some fret buzz near the open through 4th frets and its got my action up higher than I really want toward the higher frets. plus theres still slight buzz there in those low frets anyway.

its not unplayable but I was wondering what I can do to get it lower with less buzz?

-Could it be that the nut slots are too low?
- or does the neck pocket need a shim?

[British Kid]

Could be one of those, if not both.

can you get a measurement of how low your nut slots are?

[lethargytartare]

Sounds like nut slots -- and changing the relief is not the way to address an issue in those low frets. Go back and reset the relief to a proper place (see the sticky for some guidelines on what to aim for). set your intonation, set you action, then localize the buzzing. Some things to consider --

Can you localize the buzzing to a single fret? Do you have any lose frets or frets that have heaved out of their slots. when you have the action set properly, is the buzzing affecting all four strings more or less the same?

Agreeing with BK -- get the slots measurement. Also, if you can post your relief and action measurements, and so of your other findings, that might help us narrow in on possible solutions.

Also, you'd probably only shim the neck if your saddles were bottomed out and you still needed to lower your action.

Cheers!

ltt

[JLS]

Originally Posted by j_nition

so hers what the prob is:

I am running as much relief as I feel I can get away with to chase out some fret buzz near the open through 4th frets and its got my action up higher than I really want toward the higher frets. plus theres still slight buzz there in those low frets anyway.

its not unplayable but I was wondering what I can do to get it lower with less buzz?

-Could it be that the nut slots are too low?
- or does the neck pocket need a shim?

Sigh...low nut slots will buzz ONLY when the string is open, unfretted.
Once your finger depresses a string so that it touches a fret, the nut is no longer part of the equation. No, shimming the pocket won't fix it.
What you probably have going on, is a "ski jump", which the trussrod will not address.

[Benjamin Strange]

Originally Posted by j_nition

so hers what the prob is:

I am running as much relief as I feel I can get away with to chase out some fret buzz near the open through 4th frets and its got my action up higher than I really want toward the higher frets. plus theres still slight buzz there in those low frets anyway.

its not unplayable but I was wondering what I can do to get it lower with less buzz?

-Could it be that the nut slots are too low?
- or does the neck pocket need a shim?

Since you're getting buzzing on fretted notes, then your nut has nothing to do with your problem. If you've got a significant amount of relief, and you're still buzzing in the lower registers, then most likely you've got some fret issues or a warped neck.

[lethargytartare]

Originally Posted by JLS

Sigh...low nut slots will buzz ONLY when the string is open, unfretted.

He did list open string buzzing as a symptom -- and if he allowed a lot of relief, poorly cut nut slots are a reasonable candidate for the open string buzzing.

Nothing says he only has one problem -- and, obviously, if the open string buzzing he's hearing is only from the strings hitting the 4th fret, then it's not the nut. But there's not enough information to dismiss the nut as a part of the problem so casually.

Originally Posted by JLS

What you probably have going on, is a "ski jump", which the trussrod will not address.

If he's got ramp-up at the heel, adding relief would have made the buzzing much worse, and it would likely be showing up from the middle of the neck on downward.

To the OP: I still think you'll have an easier time analyzing the issue if you reset the neck and action to a more ideal place, then take a look at something like this:

http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/buzzing.htm