about fret buzz

Betterman77

Ok is it just me or what, I sent my accoustic guitar away cause i was getting too much fret buzz (or so I thought) and they did a complete inspection and setup of my acoustic, I got it back, it does feel alot smoother to play and it has toned down on the fret buzz, but I can still hear some buzzing once in a while depending what chords I play, so what i wanna know is if it is normal to still hear fret buzz on an acoustic guitar, or should there not be any fret buzz at all? can someone with knowledge please let me know cause im frustrated and obviously have no knowlegde on how a guitar is suppose to work.

by the way I also mean about the buzz while playing through an amp

Oh, Jimmy

Betterman77 wrote:

Ok is it just me or what, I sent my accoustic guitar away cause i was getting too much fret buzz (or so I thought) and they did a complete inspection and setup of my acoustic, I got it back, it does feel alot smoother to play and it has toned down on the fret buzz, but I can still hear some buzzing once in a while depending what chords I play, so what i wanna know is if it is normal to still hear fret buzz on an acoustic guitar, or should there not be any fret buzz at all? can someone with knowledge please let me know cause im frustrated and obviously have no knowlegde on how a guitar is suppose to work.

by the way I also mean about the buzz while playing through an amp

My acoustic has no fret buzz. Maybe you need a new saddle or nut.

Betterman77

well wouldn't the guitar tech tell me if anything was wrong? he checked it out and said the neck was a little off but everything else was perfect. And he sent it back with that note explaining there is nothing physically wrong. Now could it just be me not pressing down good enough on my chords I don't know?

Oh, Jimmy

Betterman77 wrote:

well wouldn't the guitar tech tell me if anything was wrong? he checked it out and said the neck was a little off but everything else was perfect. And he sent it back with that note explaining there is nothing physically wrong. Now could it just be me not pressing down good enough on my chords I don't know?

If you can figure out where it is buzzing, that would be helpful. Is there certain chords that cause it to buzz or a certain area on the fret board. I think it could be a fret problem as well.

Betterman77

Actually listen to Stone Play Crazy Mary from a concert. I notice his guitar has buzz when he plays that, I really notice it good on the 2005 Canadian tour, so im getting the same kind of buzz like that for an example, so I don't know if its normal or just me. I don't think anyone really seems to know (guitar tech i had to do work on my guitar included).

Oh, Jimmy

Could be the way you play. When I got my Les Paul, it was apparently set up for 11's and had 9s on it. It buzzed and the intonation was off. I was so in love with it I just wore the 9s out and when it came time for new ones I slapped some 10s on it. Minimal buzz, and minimal intonation problems. I played it like that for a couple sets and decide I just cant have it. Slapped some 11's on er and bada boom. The intonation matches up perfect and you can go all the way up the neck with no buzz at all.

Betterman77

Ok I just got off the phone with a tech from a guitar shop, He said if its been set up properly and looked at (which I did have done), he said its most likely the way im playing, and im probably not pressing all the strings down evenly. It happens more with bar chords, open chords sound perfect, so he figured its just the way im playing and that i have to adapt and get used to this guitar and play alot with it. He also said that acoustic guitars will definately have some buzz once in a while, even on cd's you can hear sometimes a little buzz or rattle here and there in an acoustic song.

All Those Yesterdays

Fret buzz in an acoustic is common. Sometimes you just have to live with it. Obviously they must of put as much relief in the neck as they could. Do you strum really hard by chance? That will give you more buzz too. Is the guitar a lower budget acoustic? Not trying to offend you, just asking.

Bass players have the same problem. Fortunately it usually doesn't get picked up by the pick up.

brain of c

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

Fret buzz in an acoustic is common. Sometimes you just have to live with it. Obviously they must of put as much relief in the neck as they could. Do you strum really hard by chance? That will give you more buzz too. Is the guitar a lower budget acoustic? Not trying to offend you, just asking.

Bass players have the same problem. Fortunately it usually doesn't get picked up by the pick up.

back off the bass players.....and press the strings down harder.

All Those Yesterdays

brain of c wrote:

back off the bass players.....and press the strings down harder.

Easy man I'm mainly a bass player. Fret buzz is caused by other things besides string pressure. You could get a fretboard trued and it still has the chance to buzz on a bass, especially with that scale length

Easy killer!

Betterman77

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

Fret buzz in an acoustic is common. Sometimes you just have to live with it. Obviously they must of put as much relief in the neck as they could. Do you strum really hard by chance? That will give you more buzz too. Is the guitar a lower budget acoustic? Not trying to offend you, just asking.

Bass players have the same problem. Fortunately it usually doesn't get picked up by the pick up.

No my guitar is not a low budget, its an Ovation

who's_pearljam?

Try fretting each note individually, every string at every fret. Press hard and see how it acts. You may find your spots. If it doesn't happen then, possibly it's your fretting technique.
You'll get buzz on a properly set up neck if you aren't fretting right, or if you're playing hard, because the strings are vibrating harder when you play aggressively.
There's a fine line between having the strings close to the frets (Low action) for easy playing and getting more buzz,,and having higher action, which makes it harder to fret the note, but you can strum or pick harder.

You'd be surprised to see how high the action is on some of those hard bending blues greats' guitars! They have strong fingers and play hard and bend big time bends, so they prefer high action that would make most players send their guitars back for repair!