B string problem

[mike-o]

For some reason, the B string on my guitar won't work with chords. If I strum a chord, the B string will throw it off and give that dissonant out-of-tune sound. If I mute the B string, the chord sounds fine. Even if I play a note on the G string and a note on the B string together (which usually sounds good) it sounds nasty. Happens all over the fretboard. What could be the problem? It's all tuned and intonated perfectly.

Could it have something to do with radius / action? It's a Warmoth neck, compound radius of 10" - 16". OFR, 10" radius.

[Trem]

your sure it's intonated perfectly?
Does it oscillate and inaverdantly hit a wierd harmonic or higher fret.
How are your frets along the b string, are they worn from play (pitted) not crowned any more, flattened.

[toejam]

It may be your Floyd. Adjust the fine tuner a little bit and see if that makes it go away.

[Jayster]

also check your nut

[Newc]

Well, he did say it's tuned and intonated perfectly, so the tuning wouldn't be the problem, nor the intonation.

That said, either your tuning or intonation is out

[MetalMedal II]

It may be your Floyd. Adjust the fine tuner a little bit and see if that makes it go away.

Building on this, is the B fine tuner all the way up or down, compared to to the other five? If so, undo the locking clamp, and retune so the fine tuner is nearer the middle and see if that helps.

[zeegler]

Is it flat or sharp?

Play a chord, and tune that one string so that it's in tune with the chord.

If you have to tune down to get it in tune, you may have a problem with your nut (assuming you are correct about the intonation being correct.) You don't mention what type of bridge or nut you have, but if the nut slot crown for the b string is set back in the slot, then you will be tuning with slightly more tension on that string than normally necessary, and then when fretted, it will ring sharp. Poorly slotted nuts are common causes of this type of thing. The crown of the slot should be right at the very front edge of the slot. the slot should slope back away from the fretboard. If you have a Floyd nut, this type of thing can happen too, but it's much harder to fix. With a bone or plastic nut, you might have enough string height, to recut the slots properly. Once the nut slots are fixed, you will need to re-intonate.

Hmmm, I reread your post, and you did say it was a Floyd, so I assume a Floyd nut. I've come across them with the same problem.

You need to figure out whether it is flat or sharp.

[Newc]

And are we talking 7th string Low B or 2nd string B?