Lowden advice

[Merlemantel]

Originally Posted by TBman

Songs? How about the good old F chord barre played hard at every fret (or a one finger full barre)? You drop the guitar off and say "I'm getting some buzzing and another had tech made things worse." A good tech will find it and fix it.

4 pages about a buzzing string? Really? I don't mean to sound harsh or offend, but come on.

I'm not the one making the posts. People have feelings about buzzing strings and techs, it seems.

[hamburg325]

Originally Posted by Merlemantel

I'm not the one making the posts. People have feelings about buzzing strings and techs, it seems.

String buzzing can be a very vexing problem and sometimes not easy to diagnose or fix, despite what some posters claim.

Curiously, I've experienced this problem more often in high-end guitars, like a Ryan Cathedral I owned as well as a top tier Lowden. But never in a Martin or Gibson. I guess thoroughbreds are just more susceptible to these things.

[Merlemantel]

Originally Posted by hamburg325

String buzzing can be a very vexing problem and sometimes not easy to diagnose or fix, despite what some posters claim.

Curiously, I've experienced this problem more often in high-end guitars, like a Ryan Cathedral I owned as well as a top tier Lowden. But never in a Martin or Gibson. I guess thoroughbreds are just more susceptible to these things.

I think you are right. High end guitars are more resonant, and I think that increases the good sounds and the bad ones. The tops are more active, and they vibrate more freely, the instruments are more lightly braced. All that increases the risks of buzzing. And, you are right, finding the origin of a buzz is not straightforward sometimes.

[nikpearson]

Tracing the source of buzzes can be harder than people think. Once set has been checked, fret height and condition, nut slots and saddle contact are my next steps.

Surprisingly, use relatively inexpensive tuners on their nylon string models. I’d be tempted to swap these out for a replacement set.

If you are the original owner then they’ll almost certainly send you a replacement set out for free. Not the original owner, then the tuners are roughly £75 at StewMac.

Nylon string instruments require different setup parameters than steel string. I’d be tempted to find a classical builder or specialist to take a look.

[Wolfram]

Check for back-buzz - I had this issue on a guitar a few years ago, and it was a real pain to diagnose. And it can definitely be worse with excessive relief.

So, try playing your troublesome notes on your D string, but rest another finger lightly on the string behind where you fret (i.e. between the fret and the nut) to damp the string. If the buzz is gone, then you've found your issue.

Even though it's not really involved with the sound of the note, both halves of the string (from fret to bridge, and from fret to nut) will vibrate when the string is plucked. Sometimes the portion from fret to nut can buzz on another fret. If this is the issue, you or your tech will need to investigate what is causing it - it can be a fret height issue, too much relief, incorrect nut slot height etc.

Good luck!

Cheers,
David

[Merlemantel]

Originally Posted by Wolfram

Check for back-buzz - I had this issue on a guitar a few years ago, and it was a real pain to diagnose. And it can definitely be worse with excessive relief.

So, try playing your troublesome notes on your D string, but rest another finger lightly on the string behind where you fret (i.e. between the fret and the nut) to damp the string. If the buzz is gone, then you've found your issue.

Even though it's not really involved with the sound of the note, both halves of the string (from fret to bridge, and from fret to nut) will vibrate when the string is plucked. Sometimes the portion from fret to nut can buzz on another fret. If this is the issue, you or your tech will need to investigate what is causing it - it can be a fret height issue, too much relief, incorrect nut slot height etc.

Good luck!



Cheers,
David

Really interesting and potentially very helpful. Thank you.