Need a little help, please. My Epiphone SG-400 played pretty nicely right from the factory, but the intonation sounded a little off to my tone-deaf ears so I took it in for a setup at the shop where I bought it. It came back sounding better on the one string that was bugging me, but it also had a new fret buzz problem that it hadn't had before. I asked the technician about it, and he said it was because I had selected a lighter string gauge (.09's instead of the .10's that were on it when it went in), and the lighter strings require a lighter touch. This was a slip on my part, not deliberate. Anyway, he told me to restring with .10's and see if that corrected the problem. It didn't. I took it back to him and he tweaked it again -- now it's better, but still not where I think it was before. Now I'm wondering about his assertion that lighter strings buzz more than heavier strings, because I just got my Fender Strat, which was shipped with .09's, and it doesn't buzz. Is this technician out to lunch? Should the same gauge of strings buzz on one guitar and not on another -- assuming the neck and action are adjusted similarly? I bought both guitars new, from different shops; the Strat has not been in for a setup yet (and sounds like it doesn't need one right now), unless they did one at the store (not sure); the SG came straight from the factory. Any thoughts?
its hard to compare two guitars and get a realistic answer. lighter strings will buzz, provided the neck isn't adjusted to compensate when they're installed. where exactly is it buzzing? all the strings, or just one or two?
which frets? check the neck relief- fret the bass E string at the first fret, and the 17th. look at the 7-9th frets. there should be enough space between the bottom of the fretted string and the 7-9th frets to slide a matchbook cover in, at a minimum. if not, loosen the trussrod 1/8th of a turn (counter-clockwise) and retune the strings. let it sit for a day or so, if it still buzzes, another 1/8th turn should do it.
It's not the strings fault if a guitar buzzes. It's the setup and/or the guitar itself. I use 9's on mine and they all really ring with sustain. No buzzes at all. When I was young and learning and couldn't afford a decent guitar, I had buzz issues too, no matter what was done to the guitar. Have a real good look at the neck and get a feeler gauge and see how consistent it is across the frets. If it is consistently bowed, then a trussrod adjustment should fix. If the action is too low, then it needs more tweaking at the bridge. If the measurements are all over the place, and you can see that the fretboard twists, then it will be tough to get rid of all the buzzing.
Where is it buzzing at? What frets does it start on and what frets does its stop at?
This will tell you alot about what to do next.
PS your tech sucks...find a new one...Id even ask for a refund.
A truly talented tech should be able to set up any guitar to play perfectly with any string you require. Also a tech who is proud of his craft would not give your guitar back without discussing the buzz and its repair first.
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"The difference between the Blues and the Blahs is that you can't sing the Blahs!" George Carlin
Need a little help, please. My Epiphone SG-400 played pretty nicely right from the factory, but the intonation sounded a little off to my tone-deaf ears so I took it in for a setup at the shop where I bought it. It came back sounding better on the one string that was bugging me, but it also had a new fret buzz problem that it hadn't had before. I asked the technician about it, and he said it was because I had selected a lighter string gauge (.09's instead of the .10's that were on it when it went in), and the lighter strings require a lighter touch. This was a slip on my part, not deliberate. Anyway, he told me to restring with .10's and see if that corrected the problem. It didn't. I took it back to him and he tweaked it again -- now it's better, but still not where I think it was before. Now I'm wondering about his assertion that lighter strings buzz more than heavier strings, because I just got my Fender Strat, which was shipped with .09's, and it doesn't buzz. Is this technician out to lunch? Should the same gauge of strings buzz on one guitar and not on another -- assuming the neck and action are adjusted similarly? I bought both guitars new, from different shops; the Strat has not been in for a setup yet (and sounds like it doesn't need one right now), unless they did one at the store (not sure); the SG came straight from the factory. Any thoughts?
Is it just one string buzzing on one fret - or is it happening all over the place? If it is one string, one fret, then in all probability you have a lifted fret; this can happen. A good tech will be able to put the fret back where it belongs and do a slight dressing to get it perfect.
If it is all over the finger board, lift the bridge slightly with the screws at the ends until it no longer buzzes. If it is the far end of the fingerboard where the buzzing happens, the neck does not have enough relief and you need to loosen the truss rod slightly. If you are not happy that you understand what is going on here, don't try this yourself.
If the buzzing is at the top end, the bridge needs to come up, and you may be able to tighten the truss rod a little to restore the low action.
One thing you could consider too, is your playing style. If you're really digging in and smacking away at the strings, that will definitely cause some unnecessary buzzing that you will hear acoustically, but not necessarily through an amp. I'm pretty heavy handed when i play and it causes the lowers strings to buzz the frets sometimes. Remember, what you're really doing when you fret a string is keeping a shorter oscillation point in the string. Which in turn, makes the string ring a higher note. If you're really jamming in the string, you're not getting a clean left/right oscillation, but adding in some up and down movement as well.
If the frets still buzz when the strings are played with a light to moderate/normal pick attack, and there is extremely little to no buzz, and the action feels good where it's at, i'd say to leave it alone. If you still get heavy buzzing, then follow the above advice.
By the way, i also own a G-400 SG. Really, really nice guitar for the money. Had to lower the action a fairly good amount when i got it home, and i want to change out the pickups, but other than not. Really nice axe.
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Ben - If only i were a rockstar...
One thing you could consider too, is your playing style. If you're really digging in and smacking away at the strings, that will definitely cause some unnecessary buzzing that you will hear acoustically, but not necessarily through an amp. I'm pretty heavy handed when i play and it causes the lowers strings to buzz the frets sometimes. Remember, what you're really doing when you fret a string is keeping a shorter oscillation point in the string. Which in turn, makes the string ring a higher note. If you're really jamming in the string, you're not getting a clean left/right oscillation, but adding in some up and down movement as well.
If the frets still buzz when the strings are played with a light to moderate/normal pick attack, and there is extremely little to no buzz, and the action feels good where it's at, i'd say to leave it alone. If you still get heavy buzzing, then follow the above advice.
By the way, i also own a G-400 SG. Really, really nice guitar for the money. Had to lower the action a fairly good amount when i got it home, and i want to change out the pickups, but other than not. Really nice axe.
I have the heavy hand as well. I play with 10s and I hardly ever get a ringing high E bend...
One thing you could consider too, is your playing style. If you're really digging in and smacking away at the strings, that will definitely cause some unnecessary buzzing that you will hear acoustically, but not necessarily through an amp. I'm pretty heavy handed when i play and it causes the lowers strings to buzz the frets sometimes. Remember, what you're really doing when you fret a string is keeping a shorter oscillation point in the string. Which in turn, makes the string ring a higher note. If you're really jamming in the string, you're not getting a clean left/right oscillation, but adding in some up and down movement as well.
If the frets still buzz when the strings are played with a light to moderate/normal pick attack, and there is extremely little to no buzz, and the action feels good where it's at, i'd say to leave it alone. If you still get heavy buzzing, then follow the above advice.
By the way, i also own a G-400 SG. Really, really nice guitar for the money. Had to lower the action a fairly good amount when i got it home, and i want to change out the pickups, but other than not. Really nice axe.
Any idea what it is?
Could you describe it a lil better?
One string or more?
From fret # to fret #?
We can help a lil better with a lil better specifics.
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