New SL2H Nebula Buzzing on 1st fret

[Mario8672]

As you know, I got a new SL2H Nebula, and it was playing totally perfect with no buzzing until today! I keep it in the case when I'm not playing it and it got really humid today (in my room as well). I went to play it and I noticed that (only on the high E string) when I play it open with moderate force, I get this sharp fret buzz sound. This also happens when I fret certain areas on the first fret.

It doesn't happen to any other strings or frets (but there IS SLIGHTLY more buzzing on the lower frets of the top strings). What's the problem?

I think the action is fine, could it be the truss rod?

Please help!

EDIT: This really seems like a truss rod problem, so my question is... when I have the guitar in a PLAYING position, do I turn the truss rod Forward (in front of me) or Backward (towards me)?

Thanks a lot!

[DHardmanJr]

The way you turn the truss rod depends on whether you want to add more relief or less. My guess from your description is that you need to add more relief. This means you would want to loosen the trus rod, so you would turn it away from you. Only turn about 1/4 of a turn at most at a time and let it settle in (some say as much as overnight but that's probably overkill).

The other possibility could be the nut is a hair too low. If this were the case you'd notice buzzing when playing open strings. Buzzing in the first few frets is usually a neck that doesn't have enough relief in my experience.

But before you go trying to change things, keep in mind that even the best setup guitar will occasionally buzz here in there and in my opinion that is not much to worry about.

If you are really interested in understanding how to setup your guitar check out Dan Erlewine's book "How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great!: The Electric Guitar Owner's Manual ".

Dave

[UFORocks]

Remember that wood can swell when it gets hot and humid. My advice, dont touch the truss rod at all, leave it. Do some more research on exactly how to sight/measure the neck to see if you really need to adjust the truss rod. A bad truss adjustment can throw the whole setup out of whack and will just cause you more headache in the end. Also keep in mind that the effects of truss adjustments are not necessarily instantaneous, so any change you make today to fix a small problem could cause you more problems later.

Oh, to get rid of the buzz: I would just put a shim under the nut where you're having the problem and wait out the humidity. When the humidity drops you should be able to take the shim out. All you need to do is loosen the strings, unscrew the nut, and put something in there to shim it up a bit, but not too much. This might not sound like much but a simple square or two of notebook paper folded in half may be all it needs to compensate.


-Steve

[emperor_black]

Just loosen (turn away from you) 1/4 of a turn like DHardman said. Nothing bad's gonna happen when loosening. Bad things happen only if you over-tight. I tightened/loosened my Dk2M's neck many times and its just fine. Just dont go overboard with anything like steve said. Also, make sure the guitar is perfectly in tune when attempting any truss rod changes.

[slash]

Question.... How do you turn it away from you. It would depend on what position you started the wrench at. Because if you did a full turn half of it would be away from you and the other half would be towards you even if you turned in either direction... would it not?

To loosen the truss rod turn it counter clockwise from the position as if you are looking down the neck from the headstock to the body.

[emperor_black]

When you're holding the neck of the guitar with the fretboard facing you and insert the wrench, you turn the wrench away from you to loosen.

A simpler way would have been to say 'counter-clockwise' which you did. so thanks!

[Axewielder]

I would first look at nut height and high frets for buzzing on open/1st fret before I came anywhere near that truss rod.

[Spivonious]

Question.... How do you turn it away from you. It would depend on what position you started the wrench at. Because if you did a full turn half of it would be away from you and the other half would be towards you even if you turned in either direction... would it not?

You and your logic!!

I agree with the others here. The truss rod is there to help you compensate for humidity changes. Just remember that a little adjustment can have a large effect on the neck relief. If it was fine before and is only buzzing when you really hit the strings hard, I'd say that an 1/8 turn (counter-clockwise when looking down the neck towards the bridge) should be plenty.

[Bengal]

Just grab the tool and give it a spin. Sight down the neck and see what it does.

The only way for anyone to get over the "fear" of truss rods is to do just that. Tweak them right and see what it does. Tweak it left and see what it does. No harm done at all. It's what it's designed to do.

You only get in trouble if you force it. So if you don't force it, you'll be just fine.

Shimming the nut will take much, much more time that giving the truss rod a tweak. And since it played fine before, it's not the nut height.

[slash]

You and your logic!!

Guilty as charged

[Phantom Hawk]

Well, if you only notice the slight buzzing when the humidity climbs, you can always buy a dehumidifier for your practice room to keep things at an even level. Thats what I did. I figure if I keep the room at a reasonably constant humidity and temperature, the less dicking around with adjustments I need to do.