"Sitaring" on G string only- Advice?

**alpop** · 03-02-2025, 01:11 PM

Hopefully someone can save me a trip to my excellent but busy and pricey tech.

Here's a video of what is happening on the g string only:

My setup skills are limited to adjusting neck relief, action, and intonation. I don't mess with the nut.

Any ideas as to what I might try to fix this, or should I just take it in and go for a full setup?

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 03-02-2025, 01:39 PM

It sounds like it’s hitting a fret. But you left out a lot of necessary info. Is this a new guitar or old? Frets full height or leveled / crowned / polished a few times? What kind of bridge & TP does it have? Did the buzz start suddenly? If so, did you do anything to the guitar right before it started? Does the open string sound normal? If so, at what fret does this start? Does it happen all the way to the highest fret? Is that G wound? If so, is the wrap intact and tight from tuner to tailpiece?

Inspect everything carefully from peg head to end pin. Is relief normal for you and unchanged from before this started? Is the nut intact - crack free and seated well? Is the bridge intact, in the right place and stable with no damage to the saddle at that string? Are all the frets smooth, well crowned and fully seated against the fingerboard? Pickup far enough away from the string when fretted? Top not sagging? Etc.

If you find no obvious problem, raise the bridge bit by bit to see if that stops it. If so, the string is probably buzzing against a fret and you have to find it. If not, check all the frets using a straightedge to look for a high one under the G.

That’s a start. What’s the guitar?

**alpop** · 03-02-2025, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit

It sounds like it’s hitting a fret. But you left out a lot of necessary info. Is this a new guitar or old? Frets full height or leveled / crowned / polished a few times? What kind of bridge & TP does it have? Did the buzz start suddenly? If so, did you do anything to the guitar right before it started? Does the open string sound normal? If so, at what fret does this start? Does it happen all the way to the highest fret? Is that G wound? If so, is the wrap intact and tight from tuner to tailpiece?

Inspect everything carefully from peg head to end pin. Is relief normal for you and unchanged from before this started? Is the nut intact - crack free and seated well? Is the bridge intact, in the right place and stable with no damage to the saddle at that string? Are all the frets smooth, well crowned and fully seated against the fingerboard? Pickup far enough away from the string when fretted? Top not sagging? Etc.

If you find no obvious problem, raise the bridge bit by bit to see if that stops it. If so, the string is probably buzzing against a fret and you have to find it. If not, check all the frets using a straightedge to look for a high one under the G.

That’s a start. What’s the guitar?

Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful response.

The guitar is a new Ibanez PM3C purchased online from our Canadian big box retailer and came with a complimentary setup from them which I made use of.

The relief is exactly right and from a visual inspection all seems well. The sitar effect stops when I fret the 15th fret but when checked with a straight edge, (credit card lol) I don't get any rocking compared to the frets before and after.

The strings are new Chromes with a wound g. Could it be a faulty string?

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 03-02-2025, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by alpop

The sitar effect stops when I fret the 15th fret

Nice guitar!! Since it's new, you might do well to contact the seller and email your video. I'd be surprised if they didn't offer to either help you or pay for you to take it to a luthier or tech close to you. They could blame it on shipping damage and make you take it up with the shipper, but it's worth a try.

You didn't mention raising the bridge. Try this to see if stops the buzzing. It's simple, reversible, and diagnostic. I'm sure I don't have to remind you to loosen the strings first. Also check the bridge for loose parts (e.g. a saddle retaining spring, if it has them). Make sure the pickup mounting screws are not loose. That really sounds like fret buzz to me, but it could be a weird sympathetic resonance in any hard part that's loose.

Assuming the open string sounds fine, at what fret does it start? It could certainly be a bad string. But in my experience, a bad core or loose winding wouldn't only affect the sound at certain frets (although if there's a focal weakness, break, or other damage causing the odd sound, it might stop when you fret between it and the bridge). Does that string stay in tune, or do you have to bring it up to pitch more and/or more often than normal? Is its intonation fine? Is the ball end fully seated in the tailpiece? Try raising its pitch a few tones to see if the buzzing changes character. If the string is bad, tightening it a bit beyond standard tune might even make it break if there's a flaw in it. I wrap a towel around the guitar and put a cloth under the strings before doing this to prevent damage to me or the finish. I've had this a few times in 60 years, including both core and wrap flaws. They've all been near the bridge or the tuners - I've never had a faulty string break in the middle.

The easiest thing to do if the guitar checks out OK is to try a different string. It's also possible that the tech at the dealer widened and/or deepened the nut slot as part of the setup, leaving the G slot too wide and/or too deep.

**alpop** · 03-02-2025, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit

Nice guitar!! Since it's new, you might do well to contact the seller and email your video. I'd be surprised if they didn't offer to either help you or pay for you to take it to a luthier or tech close to you. They could blame it on shipping damage and make you take it up with the shipper, but it's worth a try.

You didn't mention raising the bridge. Try this to see if stops the buzzing. It's simple, reversible, and diagnostic. I'm sure I don't have to remind you to loosen the strings first. Also check the bridge for loose parts (e.g. a saddle retaining spring, if it has them). Make sure the pickup mounting screws are not loose. That really sounds like fret buzz to me, but it could be a weird sympathetic resonance in any hard part that's loose.

Assuming the open string sounds fine, at what fret does it start? It could certainly be a bad string. But in my experience, a bad core or loose winding wouldn't only affect the sound at certain frets (although if there's a focal weakness, break, or other damage causing the odd sound, it might stop when you fret between it and the bridge). Does that string stay in tune, or do you have to bring it up to pitch more and/or more often than normal? Is its intonation fine? Is the ball end fully seated in the tailpiece? Try raising its pitch a few tones to see if the buzzing changes character. If the string is bad, tightening it a bit beyond standard tune might even make it break if there's a flaw in it. I wrap a towel around the guitar and put a cloth under the strings before doing this to prevent damage to me or the finish. I've had this a few times in 60 years, including both core and wrap flaws. They've all been near the bridge or the tuners - I've never had a faulty string break in the middle.

The easiest thing to do if the guitar checks out OK is to try a different string. It's also possible that the tech at the dealer widened and/or deepened the nut slot as part of the setup, leaving the G slot too wide and/or too deep.

Thanks again for taking the time to help a fellow player. You encouraged me to get in there and poke around.

I loosened the strings, raised the bridge a bit, lightly filed a tiny burr in the g string saddle, very lightly filed the nut slot, lubed them both and that seems to have done the trick!

**Cunamara** · 03-02-2025, 04:56 PM

Burr on the G string saddle might well have been the cause.

**alpop** · 03-02-2025, 05:35 PM

Originally Posted by Cunamara

Burr on the G string saddle might well have been the cause.

I suspect this to be true. There didn't seem to be any high frets which was why I was perplexed. Not that it takes much to put me in that state.

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 03-02-2025, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by Al Haig

If it's the saddle, you have to make a couple passes with a file to smooth it out, and still make the slot break slightly downward and straight, even though the slot is narrow. If you don't have enough height to file it a bit, you have to replace the saddle.

If the burr was the problem (which appears to be the case), I hope you didn't file the saddle slot any deeper than it was (assuming the dealer actually did a formal setup and checked the slots at both ends for proper depth). It's quite possible that the burr was created by whoever did the setup, since Ibanez uses those bridges by the thousands and they're well finished on every new Ibanez I've ever seen with one. You'll also want to put the bridge back at its as-delivered height if the action was where you like it. So if you deepened the slot at all, your G will be lower than the other strings. I don't think those saddles are adjustable for height, so if you did make the slot too deep you'll have to replace the saddle (or shim it, which is fine temporarily but not a long term solution). If you need a saddle, I hope your dealer or one of the online Ibanez specialists can get it for you. I currently have 2 Ibanez that I bought new and have had 4 or 5 others over the years. I've never gotten a response from Ibanez / Hoshino to any of my inquiries about parts.

The problem with any filing on a metal contact part is that it has to be polished well. Roughness where a string passes over metal is a common cause of string breakage. The string-through bridge / TP that came on my Raines Tele 7 was a cheap, crude chunk with rough edges everywhere. I broke an E1 at the first 3 gigs I played with it, and they all broke where they bent over the top of the baseplate coming out of the body. So I took it apart and found that the top edges of the string holes in the plate were roughly finished. I put on a Hipshot, and I haven't broken a string since. It's the little stuff that makes a great setup.

I hope you solved your problem. Now finish the job

**alpop** · 03-02-2025, 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit

If the burr was the problem (which appears to be the case), I hope you didn't file the saddle slot any deeper than it was (assuming the dealer actually did a formal setup and checked the slots at both ends for proper depth). It's quite possible that the burr was created by whoever did the setup, since Ibanez uses those bridges by the thousands and they're well finished on every new Ibanez I've ever seen with one. You'll also want to put the bridge back at its as-delivered height if the action was where you like it. So if you deepened the slot at all, your G will be lower than the other strings. I don't think those saddles are adjustable for height, so if you did make the slot too deep you'll have to replace the saddle (or shim it, which is fine temporarily but not a long term solution). If you need a saddle, I hope your dealer or one of the online Ibanez specialists can get it for you. I currently have 2 Ibanez that I bought new and have had 4 or 5 others over the years. I've never gotten a response from Ibanez / Hoshino to any of my inquiries about parts.

The problem with any filing on a metal contact part is that it has to be polished well. Roughness where a string passes over metal is a common cause of string breakage. The string-through bridge / TP that came on my Raines Tele 7 was a cheap, crude chunk with rough edges everywhere. I broke an E1 at the first 3 gigs I played with it, and they all broke where they bent over the top of the baseplate coming out of the body. So I took it apart and found that the top edges of the string holes in the plate were roughly finished. I put on a Hipshot, and I haven't broken a string since. It's the little stuff that makes a great setup.

I hope you solved your problem. Now finish the job

Thanks!