New SL2H and a couple problems

[Mayhawk]

Posted this over in tech area, but thought there may be some good input here as well.

Hi, haven't been here since 2007.

Anyway, I have gotten my second Jackson, an SL2H in cherry sunburst. Gorgeous and will post pics later. I try to stay away from Ebay, but I couldn't resist this deal............NOS and very low priced.

Anyway, two questions.......

1. What sizes are the two allen wrenches that attach behind the headstock for adjustments? The guitar was said to come 'complete' and it did come with the case and an unopened pack of goodies, but someone obviously removed the allen wrenches from the headstock at some point. Fortunately the guitar came tuned and the fine knobs on the Rose suffice for now, but at some point I will need to change strings.......

And I'd rather not buy a whole set of Allen wrenches when I only need two.

2. What can be done for the fret buzz on the first 3-4 frets, top 3 strings??? Now, believe me, I have checked the manual and the action at the 12th fret is spot on (as per the manual.) And the neck is staight, the guitar is in tune. Seems to me I had this issue with my first Jackson.........

Is this a QC issue with improper fret dressing? (this is a Fender Jackson...) Sound as if the lower frets need leveling?

Do I simply need to raise the action at the bridge higher (than the manual says)? I did do this with my other Jackson.

Is the nut cut too low?

Anyone else have this problem?

__________________________________________________ _____________

Thanks, guys!

[jacksonaxes]

As far as your fret buzz, it seems like you either need a little relief in the neck or possibly a shim under the nut.All guitars are a little different, you can't always go by the manual, but it's a good starting point.

[Radiohead]

Unless it is buzzing at the 3-4 frets when you are playing the open strings raising the nut will not do anything. Think about it. The height of the nut is only relevant when playing open strings. You will need to adjust the neck to provide a little relief.

[Foulacy]

neck needs relief. trying to play with a completely straight neck isn't doing your strings any favors.

[Mayhawk]

Unless it is buzzing at the 3-4 frets when you are playing the open strings raising the nut will not do anything. Think about it. The height of the nut is only relevant when playing open strings. You will need to adjust the neck to provide a little relief.

Er........duh........me no think. Thanks!

I hate to put a little bow in the neck though, but may have to. Anyone here have to deal with this?

Anyone check their allen wrenches for sizes?

[DonP]

The neck needs relief. Period.
A perfectly straight neck only works if you don't play the guitar.
When the strings are moving from side to side, they need room to move.
A perfectly straight neck isn't going to give them room.
Loosen the truss rod 1/8 turn and let the strings have some room.
Get Dan Erlewine's book on how to set up your guitar.

[Tommie]

The neck needs relief. Period.
A perfectly straight neck only works if you don't play the guitar.
When the strings are moving from side to side, they need room to move.
A perfectly straight neck isn't going to give them room.
Loosen the truss rod 1/8 turn and let the strings have some room.
Get Dan Erlewine's book on how to set up your guitar.

That's right, every neck should have a slight concave bow, and it's not just to let the strings vibrate.

Think about it. When you fret a note on a perfectly straight neck, because the bridge saddle sits higher than the point you'd get if you drew a perfectly straight line kissing the top of every fret and extended it all the way to the bridge, you create a very long right angled triangle, with the string being the hypoteneuse. The shortest side of the triangle is the distance between the bridge saddle and the point where the theoretical straight line kissing the frets and extending to the bridge would end up. If you fret low on the neck the angle the string takes off the fret is shallower than if you fret higher up. That take-off angle dictates how likely the string is to buzz on the next fret up. Therefore as you fret higher and higher up the neck you get two things:

- the gape between the string and the next fret gets greater
- the vibrating string length gets less and the elliptical vibrating pattern gets smaller, so the string needs less clearance to vibrate.

You can then put this to your advantage. If you allow relief into the neck, you are effectively allowing the fretboard to rise up and close down the gaps between string and next fret, matching the gap to the space the string needs to vibrate cleanly at each point.

The end result is a comfortable action all the way up and down the neck, with no more fret buzz in any one area than any other. If the neck is too straight, either the lower frets will buzz, the higher positions will feel difficult to play, or even both. Too much bow and whilst the lower frets will be fine, you'll get a lot of buzz up the top of the neck.

I dunno how many times I've had people saying they want the neck straight, but they also want a low action and even playability up and down the neck, and you simply can't have that with a dead straight neck.

[Grandturk]

As far as I'm concerned, every guitarist should have a complete set of allen wrenches in both metric and US sizes. Check stewmac for their ball ended sets.

[Mayhawk]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I did readjust the neck; started with a quarter turn, then 1/8 more. This more or less got rid of the fret buzz when fretting the lower three strings in the first 3-4 frets. My neck before was pretty much straight. Looks about 'normal' now.

With regard to the wrenches, I was looking for a pair of wrenches to load behind the headstock. I did go ahead and get a full set, well, a small full set from Lowes last pm. Only cost $3.98. Turns out to be 3 and 4 mm wrenches. These can be kept in the case, but handles too long to fit behind headstock.

So far so good........great guitar. Bit lacking on the tone pot though.......not much of a taper to speak of. As an old time strat/tele guy, I am used to working the tone pots. I may change out the pot, or get new cap and pot. Anyone deal with this?

[DonP]

No issues with the tone pot other than I want a push/pull to split the JB. Mine is a 250K, which I believe is OEM. I'm getting the same, just with the switch.