Fret buzz brain pick

horsehead

OK, so I setup guitars on a regular basis and normally have no problems at all, but this is the first time I've come across this problem. Usually buzz occurs and I need to adjust the neck or the bridge, well on this les paul, every time I get the height set nicely, it buzzes....I adjust the neck...it buzzes. Seems to be on the first fret only. I'm wondering if its the nut that needs to be replaced.

Also, what's the name of the bridge lifter...I can't find one on stew mac or anything 

Maynehead

High second fret? You can test with a credit card if you don't have a fret rocker.

I assume you've adjusted the truss rod to give enough neck relief already? A neck that is too straight will cause fret buzz.

A high nut may also cause you to lower the bridge more than the optimal amount to achieve the desired action, but that usually results in buzzing on the higher frets.

melvynhiscock

If it stops when you fret at the first fret it is nut.

FelineGuitars

Check it' not a kink in the string first. Put a new string on before having to do anything drastic. A kink can cause the worst kind of buzz and drive you mad looking for it. If the open string rings cleanly but the first fret buzzes then it's not the nut. It may be the neck is too straight , but checking relief and tweaking the rod will fix that Could be that the second fret is high relative to the first - sometimes a neck does bow back a little at the headstock end and leave the first fret low. I've even had to resort to fitting a taller first fret and levelling it in to fix in the past.

horsehead

Going to purchase some new strings tonight and check it Jonathan. It's the open string buzzing and the fretted first fret is fine. I've the setbthr relief to my usual amount of 0.012 at the 7th fret which previously has been spot on! Adjusted the bridge, but it seems to make no difference at all

BloodEagle

Nut slots cut too low most likely

Maynehead

Ah, your wording in the first post confused me. So it only buzzes when open, and you reckon it's buzzing off the first fret?

In that case the most obvious culprit is a nut slot that is cut too deep. Is it just one string that buzzes or is it multiple strings? If it's just one then set up the guitar how you would normally, then check the first fret action. On the low E it should be around 0.020 - 0.025" (to be conservative), and on the high E around 0.012-0.018".

Incidentally I just had a very similar problem with one of my guitars... I set it up perfectly, checked nut height, bridge height, neck relief, all fine, but it still buzzed in the open position on all of the lower strings. Turned out to be the really crappy Dunlop strings I was using. Put D'Addarios on and problem was instantly fixed.