The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    I wanted an Ibanez GB10 and saw a used sunburst 2019 one on Reverb.com from a dealer in Japan that was new, but a priced lower than other new ones. Against my better judgement, I bought it. There was unplanned duty tax and ended up costing $3,064.00. It was in perfect, like new condition, guitar and case, but there was fret buzz on the 6th string. I figured it could be fixed, so I took it to an excellent shop, Lay's Guitar, in Akron, and asked them to do a fret job to fix the buzz. They fixed the 6th string pretty well (after I added some neck relief and raised the action), but it now buzzes on the 5th string from 4th fret thru 7th on 5th string. I have the tools and knowledge to do setups, so, I have the relief at 0.010 at 8th fret and the action at 6th is about 6/64. I took it back to the repair shop and the owner checked it out and said there was nothing to be done. He suggested adding a little more relief, which I did, but not luck. I don't think it's fixable. He didn't think it was much of a problem, but I'm more of a perfectionist. I have played for over 50 years and play mostly classical guitar, but got back into electrics in 2012. I'm thinking about selling this one and getting another one. I can hear the buzz a little through my amp, but it's not bad buzzing. Any opinions? Am I being too picky about fret buzz on a jazz guitar?
    Thanks for any input.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I would first raise the action slightly higher on the low E side. Keep it the same on the high E side. See how much you actually raise it and see if you like it. You can check there area of buzzing with a fret rocker. Alternatively you can start by unstringing the guitar. Take all relief out of the neck and lay an accurate straightedge over the frets and make sure you check where the 5th string lies. See how level the frets are and work from there. There is really no reason why the guitar can't be made to play properly.

    I had a GB10 and regrettably traded it earlier this year. Was one of the best playing guitars I've had.

  4. #3

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    Needs a fret dressing and leveling. A 2019 so not old guitar but frets not level. Probably not going to need much fret material removed. It is not complicated but requires a good repairman. Someone who does good fret work. Assuming it does not have a twisted neck or some other drastic issue, which I doubt.

  5. #4

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    Quick and easy, raise the action by raising the bridge. If the action isn't acceptable when the buzz is gone, find a better repair place and have another fret job done. More relief is not a good fix, IME. I like a straight neck, with the action set to whatever plays without buzzes.

  6. #5

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    Not fixable? BS! You need a better luthier to deal with! A good fret dressing ought to fix it, Worst case scenario is that the frets need to be removed and the fingerboard trued up. If they did a fret job, they didn't do it right.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by wolfranger
    I wanted an Ibanez GB10 and saw a used sunburst 2019 one on Reverb.com from a dealer in Japan that was new, but a priced lower than other new ones. Against my better judgement, I bought it. There was unplanned duty tax and ended up costing $3,064.00. It was in perfect, like new condition, guitar and case, but there was fret buzz on the 6th string. I figured it could be fixed, so I took it to an excellent shop, Lay's Guitar, in Akron, and asked them to do a fret job to fix the buzz. They fixed the 6th string pretty well (after I added some neck relief and raised the action), but it now buzzes on the 5th string from 4th fret thru 7th on 5th string. I have the tools and knowledge to do setups, so, I have the relief at 0.010 at 8th fret and the action at 6th is about 6/64. I took it back to the repair shop and the owner checked it out and said there was nothing to be done. He suggested adding a little more relief, which I did, but not luck. I don't think it's fixable. He didn't think it was much of a problem, but I'm more of a perfectionist. I have played for over 50 years and play mostly classical guitar, but got back into electrics in 2012. I'm thinking about selling this one and getting another one. I can hear the buzz a little through my amp, but it's not bad buzzing. Any opinions? Am I being too picky about fret buzz on a jazz guitar?
    Thanks for any input.
    Take it to Jay Pawar. Lays fretwork is horrible. If you play any of the guitars in their shop, they all sound like sitars. They totally botched a fretjob for me and did an extremely unprofessional job on a nut replacement. Then they tried to tell me nobody would hear the buzzing through the amp. It actually buzzed worse after the refret. It was literally unplayable. I couldn't believe they would hand a guitar to a customer in that condition.

  8. #7
    Wow! I thought they would be better than that. The place seemed like a rock guitar shop. I told the owner I played classical and he didn't seem to know much about them. I had them do a fret job and put a GraphTech nut on my new Gibson 175 with high frets and I was happy with it. I looked up Jay Pawar and came up with a shot called "Guitar Riot" in Cleveland. I live near Canton so that would be a long drive, but I may call them, or I may just sell it. I really wanted a natural finish GB10 anyway. Either way, I'm losing money. Thanks!

  9. #8

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    email me at jackzucker@gmail.com and i'll give you jay's contact info. Jay is the luthier who made the Turn of the century guitars which were pretty revolutionary when they first came out in the mid '90s.

    He does guitar repair at guitar riot or out of his shop in willoughby, again a pretty long drive for you.

    https://www.guitarshowcase.com/listi...ional/13117258