Fret Buzz, problem with the nut?

[georgestrings]

What GS is referring to is known as "back buzz". It is very real and can be frustrating to deduce. Furthermore, when trying to find a buzz on the neck it can confuse the situation.

Back buzz is mostly a problem with acoustic instruments. It is acoustically audible and in many cases and is amplified by both magnetic and peizo pickups. It is less of a problem on solid body instruments. When it occurs, it is usually an annoyance only when playing unamplified. But it is not unheard of to have the back buzz amplified by the pickups of an electric guitar. It is rare but it happens.

BTW, it can also be caused by a string that is out of spec. Sometimes these will slip through QC unnoticed. Of course the remedy is to change the string. Unfortunately, it might take an hour to find out that the problem is the string.

That's most definetly what I'm referring to - I had never actually experienced it myself until I bought a used Spector this past summer, and ran into it while setting up that bass... After careful examination, I determined that I had a buzz between the fretted note at the 8th fret on my E string(on a 5'er) and the nut, that I could shift to the 7th or 9th by altering neck relief - or could elimininate by adding excessive neck relief... Two thicknesses of paper in the nut slot stopped it(as a test) with the neck relief properly set - so there is no doubt in my mind that it's a result of the slot being too deep... I'm probably going to replace the nut eventualy, although I *might* build the slot up with epoxy or super glue/baking soda and see how well that works, 1st...



- georgestrings

 

[PilbaraBass]

That's most definetly what I'm referring to - I had never actually experienced it myself until I bought a used Spector this past summer, and ran into it while setting up that bass... After careful examination, I determined that I had a buzz between the fretted note at the 8th fret on my E string(on a 5'er) and the nut, that I could shift to the 7th or 9th by altering neck relief - or could elimininate by adding excessive neck relief... Two thicknesses of paper in the nut slot stopped it(as a test) with the neck relief properly set - so there is no doubt in my mind that it's a result of the slot being too deep... I'm probably going to replace the nut eventualy, although I *might* build the slot up with epoxy or super glue/baking soda and see how well that works, 1st...



- georgestrings

if the paper in the slot fixes your problem, then definitely your slot(s) is(are) too deep.

the superglue/baking soda thing is really dead simple to do...if you have an eye for detail, you can get good results well within one hour...

I did a thread on my experiences and there's some more info available online, too...

go for it.