The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Hi all,

    I've been lent and Epiphone Dot from the early 2000s. it seems a nice quality guitar. The set up when I got it was miles out so I've done a fair bit to it, including setting the truss rod, adjusting the action and tuning the intonation. I'm using 11-50 D'Addario Chromes.

    I've got in playing nicely now with an action around 1.5mm. The only issue is some buzz on the D at the 13th and the G at the 14th. There is no buzz above or below those frets. So I'm thinking this is a high/low fret issue rather than something I can address through further setting up. I realise that a diagnosis is tricky without seeing and playing it, but do you think I'm on the right lines?

    Thanks,

    Andy

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  3. #2

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    I had a similar problem on my L6-S. I took it to a luthier, who immediately saw the problem was not the frets but the strings sympathising (is that the right word?) with the bridge pickup. He adjusted the pickup and charged me a mere $NZ40.

  4. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Litterick
    I had a similar problem on my L6-S. I took it to a luthier, who immediately saw the problem was not the frets but the strings sympathising (is that the right word?) with the bridge pickup. He adjusted the pickup and charged me a mere $NZ40.
    That's interesting. How do you mean, sympathising?

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gladders
    Hi all,

    I've been lent and Epiphone Dot from the early 2000s. it seems a nice quality guitar. The set up when I got it was miles out so I've done a fair bit to it, including setting the truss rod, adjusting the action and tuning the intonation. I'm using 11-50 D'Addario Chromes.

    I've got in playing nicely now with an action around 1.5mm. The only issue is some buzz on the D at the 13th and the G at the 14th. There is no buzz above or below those frets. So I'm thinking this is a high/low fret issue rather than something I can address through further setting up. I realise that a diagnosis is tricky without seeing and playing it, but do you think I'm on the right lines?

    Thanks,

    Andy

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gladders
    That's interesting. How do you mean, sympathising?
    Sympathetic resonance is the vibration of the string causing a metal object on the guitar to vibrate. Usually happens at a given frequency. It can fool you sometimes into thinking it's fret buzz. Things that commonly vibrate, are pickup rings, pickups, washers etc. It can be almost anything. If it is fret buzz your thinking is correct. Not much can be done aside from correcting the fret problem or raising the action which is never a great idea for me at least.

  7. #6

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    I've also had an amp buzz that sounded like fret buzz, also objects in the room vibrating sympathetically. It's usually something on the guitar, though. Any loose nut or screw anywhere (head, pickups, bridge, knobs etc) can cause it. There are multiple threads on the forum discussing the issues.

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gladders
    Hi all,

    I've been lent and Epiphone Dot from the early 2000s. it seems a nice quality guitar. The set up when I got it was miles out so I've done a fair bit to it, including setting the truss rod, adjusting the action and tuning the intonation. I'm using 11-50 D'Addario Chromes.

    I've got in playing nicely now with an action around 1.5mm. The only issue is some buzz on the D at the 13th and the G at the 14th. There is no buzz above or below those frets. So I'm thinking this is a high/low fret issue rather than something I can address through further setting up. I realise that a diagnosis is tricky without seeing and playing it, but do you think I'm on the right lines?

    Thanks,

    Andy
    A high fret seems likely from your description (high frets near the neck/body joint are common). It's easy enough to confirm this. Google "find high frets" (or similar phrases). There are a bunch of videos out there that show you how (much easier and clearer than me trying to explain it). You can do it with a credit card or similar piece of stiff, straight-edged plastic (though it's easier with a real "fret rocker").

    If it's just a couple of high frets it's easy to fix. There are various kits with tools for this. I have this one:



    It includes metal dowels for finding high frets, is cheap, and works well. I've fixed a couple of my guitars with it. The big catch with this, though, is that sometimes it's really more than just a couple of frets - you sand one down, and then the next one turns out to be high, and the next, and the next, etc. If it's more than maybe 3 or 4 you're better off leveling and re-crowning all the frets. But it's worth a shot.
    Last edited by John A.; 04-21-2021 at 12:02 PM.

  9. #8

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    Another possibility is that instead of a high fret, it's a low fret. If one is lower than the others, it can cause a buzz on the next higher fret, which gives the same buzz that the next fret being high would give. It's not as likely, but it's possible. The ideal situation is that it's just something loose on the guitar, since that's the easiest to fix. The worst case is a low fret, because that's the most problematic to fix. High frets can be lowered easily enough.

  10. #9

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    Thanks everyone. I've tapped a couple of frets back in and filed a couple down. It seems to be doing the trick.

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