Lower string gauge-less fet buzz?

antoha

Hey everyone, I just discovered something weird. I used to have 11ths on my mustang and i had some problems with fret buzz. But today I put on 10ths and...there was less fret buzz. I liked the sound with 11th more, but i am willing to give it up to loose fretbuzz. But why is it so? I thought heavier gauge strings should have less buzz?

AnotherTool

Could be a few different problems, bridge height would be the first one, raise the bridge.

High frets, or the nut being filed too deep would be the others.

Fran

Also the relation with the truss rod. Heavier gauge adds tension, maybe your neck was set up for light gauge. But having said that one step up or down in gauge should'nt bother the truss.

Mustang-Pete

Fran said: Also the relation with the truss rod. Heavier gauge adds tension, maybe your neck was set up for light gauge. But having said that one step up or down in gauge should'nt bother the truss.

Actually one step up or down can have an affect on the truss... Not greatly, but it does affect it.

Also it might be the tailpiece, as most mustangs are set up to have 10s on them I think. The floating tailpiece should be perpendicular to the body with 10s. But I could be wrong on that one.

antoha

so, can there be fret buzz because truss rod is loose? I checked the neck and it has a pretty good amount of relief i think(i usually eyeball it when the E string is pressed on the first and last fret, the gap was around the thickness of the B string). As for the brodge, i adjusted is, so it's within the manufacturer's recommendations.

AnotherTool

Well if the relief is good, the bridge is set appropriately, and the buzz got better when you went down a gauge, i'd say you need a new nut, but it's hard to say without looking.

I'm just going on what you've said.

antoha

hm, i see, thankyou. I guess i'll try to got a new one, but they prolly gonna charge me a lot for the installation. Btw, i just put 11s again and I was able to almost get rid of the fret buzz...the sad thing is that the action now is like on an acoustic 😆

antoha

Oh, btw, in the setup guide it says that it should be 3/64 of an inch on the treble E and 5/64's of an inch on the bass E side, but is that with the strings open, or i have to press them down on the first fret? Cause if it is fretted on the first fret, then I'm within the parameters (maybe kinda high on the treble side, but i dont care for the treble side)

Mustang-Pete

I usually just go with what feels good when it comes to action.

Another reason for buzz may be fret wear.

antoha

i dunno, i checked the frets and they looked ok, i have a chinese guitar that has a lot of fret wear and it does not really buzz, action is low too. It has jumbo frets though. Btw, i think i can hear the buzz on stang only when i'm playing it unplugged or playing it with the earphones. Myabe it means that its ok? And I have just checked the neck relief, its 0.02 inches, should be 0.015, are those 0.005 critical? I have done setups before, but there was only two guitars that i wasnt able to get rid of all of fret buzz: a jazz bass, and looks like the mustang haha.

AnotherTool

It's all a compromise, there's that word again.

The only way you'll get rid of all fret buzz, is by having an experienced luthier flat your frets and then set medium sort of action.

The action on my strat plus is very low, you only need to lightly press the string and it's fretted. I like to play this way, it makes me quicker overall on the neck, and when i got used to the pressure i needed to apply, it was easier on the fingers too.

The only downside to a setup like this is buzzing, but as long as the buzz isn't amplified, it's not a problem.

How many times do you sit there playing acoustic on your electric?

I never do.

antoha

yeah, i guess i'll keep it that way. And probably the problem is the vintage frets, I heard smaller frets tend to buzz a bit more than jumbo ones. But Its also my playing technique, if i dig into strings really hard, they buzz, but if i play gently, or even fingerpicking, they sound pretty clean. Thank you to everyone for advices. 😀

tragictravisty

the strings problably were too large for the saddles of the bridge or nut.

antoha

nah, i think the strings are ok. Btw, I had a kinda similar problem on my squier bass, and I just put a narrow strip of sandpaper into the neck pocket, just for the sake of experiment, and it helped I think. I wonder if i should do it for the mustang aswell?

AnotherTool

Shimming won't do a thing for lower fret buzz, that drops the action for the higher frets on the board.

antoha

Oh really? I thought it was supposed to do something with the angle of neck. Well, I guess i'll put my mustang into a closet for a week or so, until i forget how to cause the buzz on it. Btw, i just did the recording of it, I was picking pretty heard, and the guitar was plugged in directly into the mixer.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/15118945111ffb71/

AnotherTool

It does change the angle, but the only real change is the string height on the high frets.

If you have a bolt on where the neck pocket isn't angled (probably 99% of bolt ons), you can lower the bridge as far as you can, and the result is a super low action on the lower frets, and high action on the higher frets, shimming drops the action on the higher frets.