Need some Help please w/ DK2

[dozer356]

Hello all,
I am in need of some help with my DK2. I recently bought this guitar about 2 months ago. found it to be in great condition, it is in mint condition (no scratches nor dings) true mint condition. but after playing the guitar I found that the strings buzzed, so I tried lowering and raising the action, add and take out neck relief, with no end to this problem. I just got it back from a local music shop and a luthier had to mill the frets and recrown them, he set up the guitar and I feel that the action is still to high. I did some checking and measured the height of the strings and relief of the neck. The relief is set @ about .020 and the height at the bass string is @ around .075 to .080. I feel that the action should be lower according to Jackson's paper work the bass and treble side should be @ 1.5mm thats .0596 in inches. Also found that the neck on the treble side at the overhang on the body is about .60mm and at the bass side is is little less than .55mm. I need to know if this is a problem. There is no shims or anything under the neck and in the body cavity. I talked to luthier and he said it was the way it was produced, but I find this to be a little funny, I've never heard of a neck being higher on one side or another. If any of you can help me and maybe steer me in the right direction with some measurements or even a out of town luthier specializing in Jackson guitars would be greatly appreciated.

[Trem]

all i can say is after crowning it should be good, now that it's crowned try lowering the action a bit if it buzzes, you can easily check and find the buzzing and where it is yourself and then be able to try and rectify it.

In general floyded guitars will usually have a bit higher action in the higher registers. mine are about 2mm on the bass side, and i lower the treble side a touch closer to 1.5 probably around 1.7mm but good enough for me.

all guitars are slightly different and may have some limitations, but you should be able to get it near exactly how you want it thru some time and effort.

[dozer356]

I have tried to lower it to 2 mm but cant. it buzzes and I am running 10-46 gauge strings all I can get on the lower end is about 2.3 or 2.4 mm. You are right I should be able to get it lower but I cant seem to find the problem. It doesnt just buzz in one or to spots but all the way up the board. Thanks for your input, does anyone have a known luthier that specializes on the Jackson guitars??

[tonemonster]

Interesting thread. I have noticed a few other threads where owners of DK2's have had fret buzzing issues. just coincidence? or poor quality control on the neck finishing/fret work >????

[RacerX]

I'm no expert, but what about the nut? Maybe it's cut too deep?

[JACKSONFREAK]

Yeah It could be the nut shelf was cut too deep. Or the tech didnt do the work he said he did. After a level and a recrown there shouldnt be any issues with frets. So either he didnt do it, didnt do it right, Or the nut shelf is too low. Also it could be a fret coming up.
Gil

[dozer356]

I checked everything I know to check, I had a buddy of mine come by and me and him both checked the neck all the frets and they are all level, check the straightness of the neck and all is good. It doesn't buzz when strings are open, just when freted. Dont know about the locking nut or should I shim the nut and the neck, or what, this absolutely driving me mad. I thought that Jackson was one of the better guitar companies. I have a cheap Ibanez and it plays alot better than this DK2. Just dont know what else to do.

[Trem]

Bummer man.

It's hard to help over the internet, but anyway -
Do All of your strings buzz when fretted? and does Every note anywhere you play on the neck buzz?

In general you should be able to tell when you fret a note it's usually the next fret after that's either to high or the string is buzzing against it - the other thing possibly is that there Is to much forward bow and the strings are buzzing against frets higher up around the 22 -24th.

If it is indeed a problem with the neck bow or a fret, it should be fairly easy to tell.

Otherwise it's something else entirely, like the nut is too low or the saddles on the floyd are the things that are actually buzzing -

A one time i had some weird buzzing and found that the alen bar holder on the back of the headstock was loose - and was creating all kinds of buzz, took me a few to figure that one out.

Also check that your intonation is set, and that your strings are not oscillating funky, if they are warbling around, and not in a smooth circular motion - then that will create buzz as well.

Imo it's a set up problem, or something every simple - there's not much else that it can be.

Block the floyd temporarily, and take off the locking nuts, check that all of the tuners are tight, and the alen key holder (if you have one).

And start playing notes where they buzz, and determin if the buzz is indeed from the strings and frets themselves.

gl

[dozer356]

Bummer man.

It's hard to help over the internet, but anyway -
Do All of your strings buzz when fretted? and does Every note anywhere you play on the neck buzz?

In general you should be able to tell when you fret a note it's usually the next fret after that's either to high or the string is buzzing against it - the other thing possibly is that there Is to much forward bow and the strings are buzzing against frets higher up around the 22 -24th.

If it is indeed a problem with the neck bow or a fret, it should be fairly easy to tell.

Otherwise it's something else entirely, like the nut is too low or the saddles on the floyd are the things that are actually buzzing -

A one time i had some weird buzzing and found that the alen bar holder on the back of the headstock was loose - and was creating all kinds of buzz, took me a few to figure that one out.

Also check that your intonation is set, and that your strings are not oscillating funky, if they are warbling around, and not in a smooth circular motion - then that will create buzz as well.

Imo it's a set up problem, or something every simple - there's not much else that it can be.

Block the floyd temporarily, and take off the locking nuts, check that all of the tuners are tight, and the alen key holder (if you have one).

And start playing notes where they buzz, and determin if the buzz is indeed from the strings and frets themselves.

gl

Thanks For the info, Trem, I have studied this problem to no end and have found that there is no problem with the neck, I talk to Matt @ Matt's Music and he is interested in helping me, he said for me to send him the guitar and he will look at it, also called Fender/Jackson and talked to Steve and he also gave me a number to call one of their Techs. and I called him and he seems to think it is the trem or the nut. I was planning on putting a OFR on the guitar, so I looks as if Im going to have to do that if that is the problem, also going to change the nut as well, Thanks for all you help. You guys are great thanks again. I'll keep you posted and let you know what I find out. Thanks again.....