Damn buzzing!

[DalyTek]

OK, I am usually pretty good at working on my own guitars, but this one is driving me crazy!
I got a setup done and had the frets leveled, crowned and polished a couple months ago. I have slowly had my action get all out of whack from the weather changes.
So today I went to set up my guitar and I have a fret buzz that is just annoying the hell out of me.
I have my neck almost perfectly straight, with just a hint of forward bow. (Just enough that I can slip a .010 guitar string between the fret wire and string at the 7th-8th fret when holding down 1st and last fret.)
I have checked all my frets with my fret rocker and do not see any uneven frets. The neck does not seem to be warped or twisted at all.
The buzz is on the low E mostly, but is there a little on the A as well. It is all the way up the neck, from the open string to the last fret.
My action is not very low either. I'm not sure how to accurately describe where the action is set, but it's not super low.
The only way for me to get rid of the buzz is to raise the action to ridiculously high levels either by raising the bridge or putting lots of forward bow in the neck.

What am I missing? Need to get my baby back up and playing like she should be!
This is an SG with TOM bridge and stop bar, just in case that helps.
Thanks for any help guys!

[Axewielder]

It could be "rising tongue" where the end of the board is gradually kicking up. A fret rocker may not detect it, but you would see it when sighting down the edge of the board. It is more common on bolties, but does happen on set neck or neck thru guitars as well.

[DalyTek]

That's a good thought, Axewielder. That was actually the culprit when I got the frets leveled.
The tech care of that, and I can see that it's not there anymore.

[moku]

the string may sound like it buzzes from open fret to the last fret, but it may be only buzzing from 1 or 2 frets. so you'll have to first determine which fret(s) is causing the buzz. do you know how to check? maybe the 1st fret is causing it.

maybe the tech has not taken care of the original problem?

[Scooter]

How is the nut? Slot could've grooved a little deeper.

[xenophobe]

OK, I am usually pretty good at working on my own guitars, but this one is driving me crazy!
I got a setup done and had the frets leveled, crowned and polished a couple months ago. I have slowly had my action get all out of whack from the weather changes.
So today I went to set up my guitar and I have a fret buzz that is just annoying the hell out of me.
I have my neck almost perfectly straight, with just a hint of forward bow. (Just enough that I can slip a .010 guitar string between the fret wire and string at the 7th-8th fret when holding down 1st and last fret.)
I have checked all my frets with my fret rocker and do not see any uneven frets. The neck does not seem to be warped or twisted at all.
The buzz is on the low E mostly, but is there a little on the A as well. It is all the way up the neck, from the open string to the last fret.
My action is not very low either. I'm not sure how to accurately describe where the action is set, but it's not super low.
The only way for me to get rid of the buzz is to raise the action to ridiculously high levels either by raising the bridge or putting lots of forward bow in the neck.

What am I missing? Need to get my baby back up and playing like she should be!
This is an SG with TOM bridge and stop bar, just in case that helps.
Thanks for any help guys!

I love my necks set up flat as possible as well, but that's really flat. Try giving it just a touch more relief... maybe 1/16-1/8 of a turn and then see if you can lower it a little. Most necks will start showing issues if you have your neck that flat and have, say, <2.5mm @ 22/24th. You might have to live with a bit of forward bow. It bugs me too.

One of my Fenders was just leveled and crowned for fine tuning by my luthier. I knew right off the bat that there was a minor issue that I wouldn't be able to correct by setting it up myself. He had troubles with it but managed to get the fretboard really close to flat as I like it, and the action amazingly low, but no matter the action height, there's consistent buzz on the Low E and a little on the A, but you can't really hear it amplified. It was the reason why I brought it in, but it wasn't consistent before. Then again, he didn't have much fret left to work with. Even though I'm still not happy with the guitar, my guy does amazing work. Sometimes it's just the guitar...

[DalyTek]

the string may sound like it buzzes from open fret to the last fret, but it may be only buzzing from 1 or 2 frets. so you'll have to first determine which fret(s) is causing the buzz. do you know how to check? maybe the 1st fret is causing it.

maybe the tech has not taken care of the original problem?

I'm not sure what you mean? The buzz happens when the low E is played open, and it is there no matter which fret I press. Let me know what to check, and I will check it.

How is the nut? Slot could've grooved a little deeper.

This was one of the things I wondered about. The previous owner used some heavy-ass strings on it, and I use standard Elixir Light (.010-.046) strings. But if it were the nut slot, wouldn't the string buzz open, but be fine when fretting?

I love my necks set up flat as possible as well, but that's really flat. Try giving it just a touch more relief... maybe 1/16-1/8 of a turn and then see if you can lower it a little. Most necks will start showing issues if you have your neck that flat and have, say, <2.5mm @ 22/24th. You might have to live with a bit of forward bow. It bugs me too.

One of my Fenders was just leveled and crowned for fine tuning by my luthier. I knew right off the bat that there was a minor issue that I wouldn't be able to correct by setting it up myself. He had troubles with it but managed to get the fretboard really close to flat as I like it, and the action amazingly low, but no matter the action height, there's consistent buzz on the Low E and a little on the A, but you can't really hear it amplified. It was the reason why I brought it in, but it wasn't consistent before. Then again, he didn't have much fret left to work with. Even though I'm still not happy with the guitar, my guy does amazing work. Sometimes it's just the guitar...

This is exactly what I did last night. I put a little more relief in the neck and lowered the bridge a little. It's buzzing still, but is a bit better, and I am at 3mm above the frets at the 22nd. That's about where I like my action. Not super low, but not a mile high either. Any higher and it's uncomfortable to play for me, but I need to raise it more to stop the buzz.

[straycat]

Barr it at the 3rd fret and see how much clearance you have at the first fret all the strings should have a little room between the string and the fret.
If your E and A are touching the first fret there is your problem.Fill and re cut the two nut slots.
If he had a larger string gauge on it than is on it now the slots are too low or too wide and the strings have too much room and are moving from side to side in the slot.
Just a thought.

[xenophobe]

This is exactly what I did last night. I put a little more relief in the neck and lowered the bridge a little. It's buzzing still, but is a bit better, and I am at 3mm above the frets at the 22nd. That's about where I like my action. Not super low, but not a mile high either. Any higher and it's uncomfortable to play for me, but I need to raise it more to stop the buzz.

Yeah, see I hate that. When there is a bit of bow in my neck, I just don't like the feel. I was(am) having similar issues with my BC Rich Stealth 7 string... so I went to a lighter gauge string, from 10-whatever to 9-54, I completely reset the truss to how I got it which was with no tension and the board is flat as can be, now I'm doing alright on the first 6 strings, a little buzz on the low E but it's consistent across the neck. The Low B is bugging me more now. I'm taking it to my luthier to ask him if he can help or if I'm just being overly nitpicky, which is altogether possible. I think either the low B frets need a little material removed or a .06 shim under the low B saddle might help as that would bring the bottom of the string to about the same height as the E string...

I hate necks with bow and I hate it when the action is so high that the strings like to 'bounce back' at you.

[Scooter]

I thought about that after posting my question, but I'm with straycat on this one. Let us know what the solution is.

[RCM78]

I would bring it back to your tech. 3mm above the frets should not buzz even with marginal fretwork... I set mine at 2-2.5 and live with slight buzz on the low E...

[JACKSONFREAK]

It could be a loose fret rattling from the vibration of the neck and fingerboard woods. Or the last fret is too high making everything buzz. A burr on the saddles, or the string slots in the saddles are too big making the string rattle in the saddle like a but slot that's too big. If its the nut slot the buzz would stop after the string is fretted.
Gil

[DalyTek]

Barr it at the 3rd fret and see how much clearance you have at the first fret all the strings should have a little room between the string and the fret.
If your E and A are touching the first fret there is your problem.Fill and re cut the two nut slots.
If he had a larger string gauge on it than is on it now the slots are too low or too wide and the strings have too much room and are moving from side to side in the slot.
Just a thought.

I checked and it is close to 1st fret when I bar it at the 3rd, but not touching. Plus, JACKSONFREAK confirmed my thought on it...if it were the nut slot being too low, the buzz would go away once the string is fretted.

It could be a loose fret rattling from the vibration of the neck and fingerboard woods. Or the last fret is too high making everything buzz. A burr on the saddles, or the string slots in the saddles are too big making the string rattle in the saddle like a but slot that's too big. If its the nut slot the buzz would stop after the string is fretted.

All the frets seem to be seated well and not loose. How do I check the saddles for burrs or improper grooves? The sound seems to be coming from the string vibrating on the fret wires a fret or two past wherever I am fretting. At least that's what my my ears are telling me.

[j2379]

Xeno, usually BCR necks are usually very good at being set up almost dead flat w no buzz. at least the 6stringers. part of relief and getting necks set up w no or little buzz is where the bow is not just how much. you can help a neck bow in the correct position but nothing drastic.

[xenophobe]

Xeno, usually BCR necks are usually very good at being set up almost dead flat w no buzz. at least the 6stringers. part of relief and getting necks set up w no or little buzz is where the bow is not just how much. you can help a neck bow in the correct position but nothing drastic.

You sir, are correct. I was having issue with where the bow in the neck was with the higher gauge strings with some tension on the truss. That's why I decided to try a lighter gauge set. I need to play around with it for another week or so before deciding to get a fine-tune or not. I'm leaning towards the not, right now.

I like the lighter gauge 7 set. I don't need fat bass strings on a guitar. That's what a bassist is for. lol