Fret buzzing

[Richard Krosin]

Hey ya'll!  I recently picked up a Bourgeois DB signature dreadnought.  The guitar sounds great, but on the G string (only), frets V-XII, I can elicit string buzzing, particularly if you really lay into the strings.  The harder I play, the stronger the buzzing.  The buzzing appears to be strongest at around the VII fret and it's somewhat of a "sitar-ish" sound.  Any advice on possible causes and solutions to this problems?  The guitar doesn't appear to be dehydrated, and I've been using an Oasis humidifier with it in it's case.  Look forward to hearing any responses.  Thanks in advance! 

[Mark Wallace]

Assumimg none of the other strings exhibit this, you can probably rule out a truss rod adjustment issue. Are there any grooves or pitting in the frets under the G string? If not, I'd check for a possible high fret at the next one to two higher frets. A fret rocker type tool is great for this.

[John Cartwright]

I agree about the fret-rocker. They seem expensive when you look for one on Luthiers Mercantile or Stew Mac, but well worth it. But just don't drop it! Also, check out this link for a treasure trove of buzz info:

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

best,
john

[Richard Krosin]

Thanks so much for the advice. My friend who repairs guitars has one. I'll see if I can't borrow it.

[Tom Krebs]

You may have done this already, but did you simply change that string?

[Richard Krosin]

I have not yet tried changing the string, but it's certainly worth a shot. I'm thinking that I might as well just put on a new set of strings if I'm going to check the fret heights anyway, so maybe I can kill two birds with one stone.

[Richard Krosin]

Well, I took the guitar to a repair tech. There was a "crown" on the 12th fret which was filed/sanded down. The buzzing is significantly less, but is still moderate. I don't mind having a slightly higher action to eliminate the buzzing, if that's what it takes. Might a strip of masking tape under the saddle suffice?

[Ned Knepp]

I don't think I would put something "soft" under my saddle, particularly on such a nice guitar. I own a Bourgeois too so I feel confident in saying that the instrument is worth the cost of fixing it correctly. If it needs a new saddle, have a new one made for it.

Ned

[Richard Krosin]

OK, I'll take your advice and avoid the masking tape. Generally how much does it cost to have new saddle built?

[FRANK]

$50 FOR A BONE SADDLE ON THE AVERAGE MAKE SURE ITS POLISHED NICELY LIKE SCRIMSHAW

[Paul Runge]

All respect to Mark, but I had a slightly different, yet similar problem. My guess is a quarter turn softening the trus rod should do the trick.

On my new Taylor 314 - the open A string buzzed when laying it on. 1/4 turn later....all gone. I was told by my luthier guy never to adjust more than 1/4 turn at a time, and then give it a day or two before deciding...or take it to your guitar set-up guy and let him do it so you can blame him when it doesn't work! Ha-HA

[Richard Krosin]

Thus far I've been hesitant to adjust the truss rod, and the technician who filed off the crown on the 12th fret didn't seem to think the buzzing related to the truss rod. That does not mean, however, that I'm completely hesitant to make a small truss rod adjustment, because who knows...it might work just like it did for you, Paul. Just like you said, most people have recommended not making any more than an 1/8 to 1/4 turn of the truss.

[Jeff Highland]

Don't "play" with the truss rod adjustment, it is there to adjust the relief in the neck not to adjust the action.
You need to ckeck the relief and only adjust if it is not acceptable
And with your problems occurrring at around the 7th fret, on just one string, adding relief is not going to fix it anyhow.
You may need a full fret dressing or a slightly higher saddle or even just a slightly higher radius on the saddle, this would have to be checked in hand.