Gibson Firebird with fret buzz

[Len Biglin]

Hi guys , I have here a newish (unplayed) firebird , the frets buzz even with big neck relief and hi action , I seem to recall seeing this before . It has a 9 layer neck thru body , and is well made and finished . I tried new strings and the frets are level , do they maybe have a super flexy neck ? Buzz is on low E and A over most of the neck depending on relief and action .

[Jelle van Tilburg]

Hello Len, 

Many possible causes here. May I ask if you have leveled the frets yourself (or just checked to see if they are somewhat level?). If you leveled the frets yourself could you share your method of leveling the frets? (old school, or jigged under string tension). Same goes for checking if the frets are level.

I've seen flexible Gibson and Heritage necks. But in this case you would have be the one to judge whether this Firebird has a flexible neck or not.

I also came across quite a few Heritage guitars who have a nasty drop off towards the nut (causing buzz in the first few positions).

I suppose you have allready checked the neck doesn't have any humps or twists etc and neck relief isn't too big?

Jelle

[Mike Kolb]

It's always good to start from scratch and look at every possible cause.  Frank Ford has already done the "heavy lifting" and it can be found, starting right here....

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Setup/BuzzDiagnos...

[Paul Verticchio]

Hi Len.

Well, the problem is that it's a current issue Gibson. Whew...I finally said it. :)

It's been my experience that the first thing that should be done to all new Gibson's is a new nut and a complete fret level, recrown & polish.  See the recent post & comments on Gibson's lack of QC and it'll make more sense.

As a matter of fact, your (this) post is a perfect example of what we are talking about.

Best of luck in taming the beast. Personally, I love Firebirds :)

[Jeff Highland]

Try lowering the relief first to 4 thou then raise the bridge.

"big neck relief" gives apparent high action without giving adequate string clearance above the 5th fret or so.

[Len Biglin]

Thanks guys , I straightened the neck , inked the frets , lightly dressed and crowned with Stewmac diamond crowning file (not much wrong) but what really made a difference was lowering the pickups ! Still not great but acceptable.And the neck WAS pretty flexy and thin.

[Kerry Krishna]

Len, to better understand all that is going on with your axe, maybe you should go read the Gibson thread that is near the top of the main page. 

 There are virtually NO luthiers here who would buy one, and all with good reason. 

I am glad you got your problem sussed out too...

[Jeff Highland]

I had a Strat like that this week too with fret buzz from the pickups LOL

[Andrew]

I had this on my own guitar a few weeks ago. One I made nonetheless. Took me 20 minutes to find it, which is about 19 minutes and thirty seconds too long :P. so easy to overlook at first glance. And here I was wondering what the heck happened to my neck! Just shows how one can put the cart before the horse.

[Swamp Caster]

Every Firebird I have played in the stores has fret buzz on the low E and A. I've owned two and no amount of fret dressing could get rid of it.