I have a couple of guitars where the B string (why the B string defeats me) will buzz when I dig in a bit - as I need to do to play a lead line over a couple of others playing chords.
Took them to my pet luthier and, to my surprise, he slacked the truss rod. That worked on one but the other (PRS SE A40e) still buzzes on the lower frets. The truss rod is at the limit of its adjustment - only just nipped up. Do I need a fret dress or a new nut? Is there another way to get it working like it used to.
Incidentally, this seemed to happen after the long, hot dry weather earlier this year. Cause and effect???
Comments
From me, a different angle. What strings are you using? There is a surprisingly large variation between B strings when you switch from one string brand to another, even when the theoretical gauge is the same. I assume that this is caused by one or more of (i) different alloys and treatments for the plain strings - they are all supposed to be identical but they ain't; (ii) different tensions on the remaining strings pulling the neck up or letting it drop down a tiny bit;p (iii) the phases of the moon, or possibly the colour of the packet. Whatever the reasons, on a given guitar, without touching the truss rod or changing the setup in any way, you can easily arrange for a slightly buzzy B string or a taught, little-bit-too-stiff one, or hit the sweet spot in the middle just by changing from a set of 12-53 phosphor bronze to a different set of 12-53 phosphor bronze.
And then there are the companies which, for no good reason known to god or scientist, insist on shipping an underweight .015 B string with a set of 12-54s. Grrr! Guaranteed buzzy B string. (Except, for reasons I am at a complete loss to explain, the Adamas Composite 12-53 set I have on my Messiah right now. .One of those stupid damn 015 B strings only it isn't stupid in this case because it doesn't buzz at all. The string set as a whole is very light for 12-53s, but they work brilliantly! If only Ovation was half as good at making guitars as they seem to be at making strings!)
Anyway, playing with your strings can cure many evils.
Sometimes this will increase string diameter, introducing a buzz that new strings will eliminate.
EDIT - after reading all (which I should have done first time!) not rust.
Without seeing, hard to say, but I suspect the nut. But on two guitars around same time? That's weird!
I assume your tech checked the nut?
On 5-string basses, of course. Which may explain why I don’t get on with them!
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