The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I am awaiting delivery of TI 11s and have a question about setting up my guitar myself. I have a Fender performer tele and I recently had it set up by a tech. I told him to string it with 9s since I have a thumb injury on my fretting hand. I have since changed to Daddario 10s since my hand could handle it. I adjusted the truss rod and action to my liking. Feel wise, it is as low as it can get, with buzzing on the 12th fret if plucked with medium strength.Sound wise, it sounds great when I plug it in my computer and use Guitar rig or Tonex through headphones. If I plug it in an amp and play at bedroom volume however, the slight buzzing mixed in with the amp sound can be annoying.

    So my question is, would you go for feel at the expense of tone when playing through an amp? How do I get the perfect balance of enjoying the feel while not hearing enough buzz that ruins the tone?

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  3. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by slidemasterx
    I am awaiting delivery of TI 11s and have a question about setting up my guitar myself. I have a Fender performer tele and I recently had it set up by a tech. I told him to string it with 9s since I have a thumb injury on my fretting hand. I have since changed to Daddario 10s since my hand could handle it. I adjusted the truss rod and action to my liking. Feel wise, it is as low as it can get, with buzzing on the 12th fret if plucked with medium strength.Sound wise, it sounds great when I plug it in my computer and use Guitar rig or Tonex through headphones. If I plug it in an amp and play at bedroom volume however, the slight buzzing mixed in with the amp sound can be annoying.

    So my question is, would you go for feel at the expense of tone when playing through an amp? How do I get the perfect balance of enjoying the feel while not hearing enough buzz that ruins the tone?
    I would eliminate the buzz and cope with the action.

  4. #3

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    A good set up should get you a clear sound across the board with no buzzing, based on your right hand attack. It may require bridge adjustments, truss adjustments, fret work. If your guitar is buzz free and only buzzes above 12th fret you may need some fret leveling. You don't say where the buzzing is exactly. Having low action usually requires truss adjustments for different gauge strings.

  5. #4

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    Is every string buzzing at the 12th fret, or just one? Is it other frets above, or below, the 12th, or just the one fret? It could be a high or low fret, or it could be something else, maybe a low saddle. It could be the amp, it could be something else in the room, or something different entirely. It's impossible to diagnose without a lot more information.

  6. #5

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    I like setting up my own guitars and you shouldn't be intimated if you want to dial things in yourself. While I'm no expert, the tele seems like a great guitar to cut your teeth on. The variables that you'll adjust depending on the string gauge and playing style are:

    1) truss rod - adding or removing neck relief. Just a quarter or half turn can make all the difference and all you need is an allen wrench or nut driver. You can sight down the neck from the body to see the curve and also feel the difference when you add/remove a small amount of relief/bow to the neck.

    2) the pairs of screws for each string saddle will raise or lower one string at a time, this can help if all but one or two of the strings plays without buzzing or fretting out. Like the truss rod it's safe to tweak and anything you do can be undone with a turn of a skinny allen wrench

    3) the screws at the back of the bridge move the end position of each string to help you set intonation to your chosen string gauge. The only tricky part here is it can help to find a long screwdriver or one with a narrow handle so the body of the guitar doesn't get in the way. Intonation for each string when played at the 12th fret should be in tune along with the open string

    Some guitars require fret work, but you can for sure find a sweet spot with just those three adjustments and you'll get used where you find things most comfortable for your playing style.

    Good luck.

  7. #6

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    Some great advice in above posts!

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgosnell
    Is every string buzzing at the 12th fret, or just one? Is it other frets above, or below, the 12th, or just the one fret? It could be a high or low fret, or it could be something else, maybe a low saddle. It could be the amp, it could be something else in the room, or something different entirely. It's impossible to diagnose without a lot more information.
    + 1 as far as diagnosing the cause of the buzz goes. But honestly it seems to me that you must be playing the amp very quietly if you're hearing a fret noise above the amplified sound. I think the real answer is to play louder.

  9. #8

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    Fender has instructions for setup on their website.

    I found them very helpful.

    Tele:

    https://fendercustomersupport.micros...ticle/KA-01939

  10. #9

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    You have 4 options:

    1. Leave it with low action and set up the way you have and have it buzz.
    2. Try to tweak the set up so you can still have it reasonably low but eliminate the buzz.
    3. Crank the action up higher to eliminate the buzz.
    4. Get fret work.

    I always want my frets to play perfectly at the set up I like. Buzzing kind of kills it for me. Since you're new to setting up guitars, it might be possible to adjust the set up to get it to not buzz while keeping the action low, but not necessarily. It could be uneven frets. Most guitars that haven't had a level will buzz with low action.

  11. #10

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    I've known a few younger players who are fanatical about extreme low actions on their solid body guitars. 1mm at the 24th fret.

    It's difficult to comprehend, but extreme low action (1mm at the last fret) can hide the buzzing. (Played through an amp.)

    Here is a link to a Tech's setup info for an Ibanez solid body guitar:
    IBANEZ RULES!! tech - setup
    "The nut is set extremely low [a little too low for me] but with a dead straight neck and 1mm action even at the last fret treble and bass side. Perfectly straight neck and extremely low action will give you playability that's unparalleled for some people, a very low resistance to fretting, but there are sacrifices. The lower the action the more the strings are being choked by the frets. It has a way of disguising fret buzz by smoothing it out. On a medium action you'll hear the buzz quite well as the string is usually just pinging off of one or possibly two frets. On very low the string is pinging off of so many frets it's not as apparent as "buzz", Typically in a setup this would be a perfectly straight neck to .1 of neck relief, and action height at the last fret of 1-1.2mm. Not good for playing big bends without impeccable fretwork."

  12. #11

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    Another thing, heavier gauge strings can have a lower action without buzzing than a lighter gauge, due to lighter gauge strings oscillating more than a heavier gauge.

    But, a heavier gauge string will have more tension than a lighter gauge, so need more effort to fret.

  13. #12

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    Any amount of string buzz/rattle (assuming your left hand is fingering well and not the source) means the picked string's attempt to establish its sounding length and placement of that length's harmonic nodes is being disturbed from contacting higher frets. A "small" amount of buzz/rattle that is only noticed during the attack of the string's ASDR profile (attack, sustain, decay, release) has already effected the remainder of the string's profile. As you found testing, playing through an amplifier is the best way to detected all this.

    My strings are a little higher than 3mm at the last fret, absolutely no detrimental artifacts. But I'm nuts about never having any buzz/rattle under all playing circumstances.

    If you have a limit to how high you can go and still not escape some buzz/rattle, some of the audible perception if it may be reduced by using less than full up on most guitar's volume and tone controls; that is, reduce the level and high frequency at the guitar (the source) rather than the amp.

    The thing of hard playing vs light playing is tricky because it is general characterized as "level of effort" rather than correctly as "transfer of energy". Try turning up the amp and focus on playing lightly, picking the strings so as to minimize the contact time between the pick and the string (seek to learn how to instantly transfer the maximum energy to the string with the least picking effort). This will give the strings their best chance of sounding clear and give your picking some dynamic room beneath a residual buzz/rattle threshold.