What is your opinion?

[Musgo Real]

Hi there fellow members,

what is your opinion when you are looking at this image?
String action at 12th fret: E6 = 2,5 mm / 0,098 and E1 = 2 mm / 0,0787.

[Gitterbug]

Looks way too tilted.

[Musgo Real]

Looks way too tilted.

Cannot go lower with the bridge without having buzzes at the lower frets.

[BiscoDrew]

Can you post a picture with a sightline down the neck?

[Tal_175]

Time for fret leveling.
It could be one offending fret on the bass side. When you lower the bass side, does the buzz happen all along the fretboard?

[Stringswinger]

If it plays well, all is good.

[Musgo Real]

Can you post a picture with a sightline down the neck?

Yes Sir.

[Alter]

If the guitar has been subjected to recent temperature or humidity changes, maybe the top moved a bit? I've seen that happen with archtops and one month later they play perfectly again..

[Mark M.]

I don’t see any relief on that neck. Perhaps adding some would help.

[Musgo Real]

Time for fret leveling.
It could be one offending fret on the bass side. When you lower the bass side, does the buzz happen all along the fretboard?

No, but downwards till the end starting at the 12th fret. That´s what happening when I go down to 2 mm / 0,0787.

The guitar has had a neck reset by a luthier.

[Musgo Real]

If the guitar has been subjected to recent temperature or humidity changes, maybe the top moved a bit? I've seen that happen with archtops and one month later they play perfectly again..

The top looks perfect. Guitar has had a neck reset by a luthier.

[Tal_175]

No, but downwards till the end starting at the 12th fret. That´s what happening when I go down to 2 mm / 0,0787.

The guitar has had a neck reset by a luthier.

Just to clarify, do you mean buzzing happens when you play above the 12th fret or do you mean frets above 12 buzz when you are playing lower on the neck?

[Musgo Real]

I don’t see any relief on that neck. Perhaps adding some would help.

There is a light neck relief towards the string side from 1st to fourth fret. No buzzes on the upper frets.

[Musgo Real]

Just to clarify, do you mean buzzing happens when you play above the 12th fret or do you mean frets above 12 buzz when you are playing lower on the neck?

When I play lower than the 12 fret.

[chasranney]

Prior to the neck reset fhe guitar needed a low bridge. After the reset you need a taller bridge.

[Tal_175]

When I play lower than the 12 fret.

If playing lower on the neck causes buzz on high frets, increasing neck relief would help. Relief bows out the nut side of the neck effectively increasing the action on high frets.
But it's still strange that it's only the bass side. If increasing relief doesn't help you reduce the height of the bass side, fret leveling might be the solution.

One question is, with the bass side high, does the wood bridge intonate well?

[deacon Mark]

A lot of guess work take it to a competent repair person.

[Musgo Real]

If playing lower on the neck causes buzz on high frets, increasing neck relief would help. Relief bows out the nut side of the neck effectively increasing the action on high frets.
But it's still strange that it's only the bass side. If increasing relief doesn't help you reduce the height of the bass side, fret leveling might be the solution.

One question is, with the bass side high, does the wood bridge intonate well?

I have had the buzzes on the lower frets through all six strings. Now with this setting not. I had to bring the guitar to a luthier because of this:


As you can see the neck lost some contact to the body because of string tension. Luthier told me after the neck reset that the guitar, a Hofner 455/S has a steep angle which was set wrong by the company, so he had to use a new but higher bridge because the original one, made by Hofner, was too low now, even in its highest position. Unfortunatly he glued the neck to the body with the same steep angle and not in a new angle which fits the original bridge.

[Musgo Real]

A lot of guess work take it to a competent repair person.

I thought I did so...

[Gitterbug]

If the E1 gap at 12th fret is 2 mm and E6 2.5 mm, the difference at bridge should 2x0.5 mm = 1 mm. The photo shows a different story, meaning something's really wrong. The neck down from nut photo is not clear enough to reveal anything. A roller coaster neck with a twist and a hump at 12th? How qualified is your luthier anyway?

[Tal_175]

I have had the buzzes on the lower frets through all six strings. Now with this setting not. I had to bring the guitar to a luthier because of this:

As you can see the neck lost some contact to the body because of string tension. Luthier told me after the neck reset that the guitar, a Hofner 455/S has a steep angle, so he had to use a new but higher bridge because the original one, made by Hofner, was too low now, even in its highest position. Unfortunatly he glued the neck to the body with the same steep angle and not in a new angle which fits the original bridge.

High bridge on an archtop is better than low bridge

It's possible that after the neck reset, the neck is tilted a bit sideways causing the bass side to be higher. Like it's as if you rotated the neck on it's horizontal axis. I don't see how this could have a negative impact on the playability (considering it's only a sight sideways tilt).

If this is true, then the action would be even across the fretboard and the wood bridge will intonate well, despite the bass side of the bridge being higher. It looks like this is the case.

[Musgo Real]

If the E1 gap at 12th fret is 2 mm and E6 2.5 mm, the difference at bridge should 2x0.5 mm = 1 mm. The photo shows a different story, meaning something's really wrong. The neck down from nut photo is not clear enough to reveal anything. A roller coaster neck with a twist and a hump at 12th? How qualified is your luthier anyway?

These are the true settings I have and as you can see that is the result on the bridge.

[Musgo Real]

High bridge on an archtop is better than low bridge

It's possible that after the neck reset, the neck is tilted a bit sideways causing the bass side to be higher. Like it's as if you rotated the neck on it's horizontal axis. I don't see how this could have a negative impact on the playability (considering it's only a sight sideways tilt).

If this is true, then the action would be even across the fretboard and the wood bridge will intonate well, despite the bass side of the bridge being higher. It looks like this is the case.

1) It doesn´t look like that the neck tilted after the neck reset sideways.



Last image: These are the lowest positions on the bridge that I can play buzz free on the lower frets. String action, please see my first post at the beginning of this topic.

[Tal_175]

1) It doesn´t look like that the neck tilted after the neck reset sideways.

If the neck is tilted, that would be very hard to see in a photo. But with the bass side of the saddle very high, if the action is even on treble and bass sides of the fretboard, I don't know what other explanation is physically possible.

I mean one other explanation is if the fret wires are higher on the bass side then on the treble side after a bad fret leveling job. But I doubt it.

[Musgo Real]

If the neck is tilted, that would be very hard to see in a photo. But with the bass side of the saddle very high, if the action is even on treble and bass sides of the fretboard, I don't know what other explanation is physically possible.

I mean one other explanation is if the fret wires are higher on the bass side then on the treble side after a bad fret leveling job. But I doubt it.

Well I can move the E1 side of the bridge also that high like the E6 side, but getting a string action for E1 higher than 2 mm / 0,0787, as it is at the moment. But cannot go lower with the side for the bass strings.