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Posts: 1771
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
Chasing A Buzz
I've been getting a guitar ready for sale. Playing it a little. There has been a slight but annoying buzz when I pull off any fret on the 5th string to the open string. I adjusted the nut several times. Made a new nut. The buzz remained. I couldn't get rid of it. I toyed with the idea that it would be okay if someone played with a capo all the time or didn't pull off as hard as I do. Finally I checked the frets--which I had already leveled and re-crowned. Indeed, a straight edge (the body of my small combination square) placed over the first three frets rocked; the second fret was high, somehow. I fixed it. The buzz is gone. Oh well, not as bad as Ramirez III who chased a buzz around for a day and finally found that it was due to a loose nail on his workbench. This is what happens when you get old.
In my early days, I was told by professional flamenco guitarists (or at least one) that "you want some buzz." I think they meant that guitarists wanted the action so low that some buzz was acceptable, which could be controlled by the right hand. Or they felt it was part of the desired flamenco sound, I'm not sure. However, that was the kind of buzz obtained by plucking a string, not from pulling off.
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