RobF -> RE: Persistent buzz/vibrations (Aug. 5 2020 20:36:35)
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Hi Stu, I put responses after some of your thoughts. quote:
I've been having some thoughts regarding string contact with frets. Firstly, how am l to be certain exactly which fret the strings are vibing against? I was fretting 4th and you suggested 3rd would be the one buzzing. Could it not also be maybe 1st or 2nd? If so, anything I can do to locate exactly which one it is? I would have thought fret 3 would have a decent contact if I'm depressing the string between 3 and 4? I thought you were fretting the A string at the fifth fret? In which case, the third fret is the likely suspect. If you were fretting between three and four then, yes, it’s the second fret that would be the probable culprit. But the main point is that the string is too close to a fret and is buzzing against one somewhere between the nut and the fretted area while vibrating in sympathy with the plucked note. quote:
Upwards of the fretted fret. Which other frets do (should) the strings come into contact with? I'm thinking maybe just the immediate upwards fret and one more perhaps? Or maybe only the two either side of the finger? You’re right, it is not necessarily going to be the fret adjacent to a fretted note which buzzes. Thinking of how a string vibrates, there is generally a peak in the area corresponding to the area where the string is plucked, and then one would expect it would also peak at the midpoint after it settles. So, it would make sense that it could also buzz against higher frets. That’s one of the reasons I mentioned to check the fret job on the tongue. quote:
I'm thinking there are 3 states that could exist. 1. String firmly resting on the fret = No buzz 2. String no where near the fret = No buzz 3. String in between 1 and 2 = BUZZ! Your solution was to create state number 2 by raising the nut string slot. I guess that made me think. Would a fix also be to create state number 1 ? If this is achieved by lowering the nut then it could lead to buzzing when the open string is plucked. If it is achieved by lowering a fret then it’s likely going to end up back at tail chasing time. I don’t think this is a viable solution, although there’s no harm in trying it by lowering the nut, as a learning experience. It might require making a new nut if it doesn’t work, however. Assuming the fret job is good, I wouldn’t recommend pursuing this idea by filing or replacing frets, that’s got disaster written all over it. Although, I guess I don’t really know, as I’ve actually never tried it, lol. quote:
Or..!! 😄 ....Could I achieve number 2. By raising the whole nut? Of course, and that is the sensible thing to do. Then, if it works, the individual slots of the nut can be fine tuned, or a new nut made, using the old one as a reference. quote:
Or are they silly ideas? I guess those solutions may throw up other issues...? No, they are definitely not silly ideas! That’s what it’s all about. I used to have a professor in college who would say “If you want to be an engineer, you got to start thinking like an engineer.” He had little respect for students who wanted pre-fabricated solutions, he wanted people to develop their problem solving abilities. Finally, here’s an idea for a handy little tool you can make out of an LED, some wire, a battery pack and an alligator clip. This only works on the wound strings of the guitar (or the unwound strings of a steel string guitar). The battery pack is going to need enough batteries wired in series to provide sufficient voltage to turn on the LED. It’s basically just a continuity tester, so it’s wired alligator clip-wire-battery pack-wire-LED, with one leg of the LED attached to the wire and the other free. The alligator clip is clipped to a wound string behind the nut and the free leg of the LED can then be touched to a fret while the string is plucked. If the string buzzes against the fret it will complete the circuit every time the string hits the fret and the LED will momentarily light up. Just an interesting little device for identifying where a buzz might be occurring. Simply capo and pluck, then walk the LED up the frets and see which ones light up - wherever it blinks, it’s buzzing.
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