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What causes fret buzz? – BBZGuitars has the answers

Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 by Steve Busby.

A lot of people come into our High Wycombe showroom asking what causes fret buzz and how to deal with it, particularly with electric guitars.

Fret buzz occurs when the strings vibrate in an elliptical path and rattle on frets further up the fretboard. In the worst cases, this chokes out the intended note completely.

If this happens on an electric guitar when you’re playing the guitar acoustically but you can’t hear it through the amplifier, this is perfectly normal. However, if you can hear fret buzz through the amp, attention to the set up is probably required.

If you’re getting fret buzz on an acoustic guitar, this definitely needs attention.

The main causes of fret buzz that I’ve found on new electric guitars are as follows:

• Players’ Technique. Fret buzz can be caused, in some cases, by the playing technique of the guitarist! Fretting too far down the intended fret can cause buzzing, as can a failure to depress the string sufficiently. Had to be said.
• If the guitar’s neck is too straight or has a back bow, i.e. the truss rod is too tight, you can quite often get fret buzz. This is probably best left to a professional to check and adjust, but is a relatively quick job and in nine out of ten cases eliminates the problem.
• The action (string height) is set too low. Easily solved with an electric guitar. With an acoustic, the saddle will need to be shimmed to slightly raise it. Otherwise a new saddle can be fitted.
• The top nut is badly cut (too deeply filed), causing strings to buzz when played open, however there is no buzz when the strings are played further up the neck or when a capo is used. Again, professional help recommended.
• The odd high fret may cause fret buzz in unusual places on the guitar fretboard. This is overcome by fret dressing, levelling and contouring. This too is best done by a professional as ‘going at it’ with a file could cause hundreds of pounds worth of damage.
• Warped neck. This will probably require major surgery so let’s hope that’s not you!
• If the bridge is a Floyd Rose system and the springs and strings (at tension) are badly out of balance, fret buzz is fairly common and you’ll probably need professional help again.
• Sometimes taking the guitar new from the shop’s atmosphere to your home will slightly affect the neck’s set up. Tolerances for perfect set up are very slight in some cases.
• In some cases fret buzz is a factor of a combination of some of the above!

It could be said that if an electric guitar doesn’t have a degree of fret buzz when it’s played acoustically, it probably isn’t set up as well as it could be, but that’s just my opinion.

I think it’s important to really stress the point that most electric guitars will buzz when played acoustically and the shorter the scale length (Gibson 24 ¾” Scale versus Fender 25 ½” Scale), the more prevalent it is, particularly if the guitar is set up correctly with a low/ medium action. This is especially the case with higher gauge strings, as most guitars are set up for .009-.042 or .010 - .046 gauge strings. The reason the difference in scale length (distance from the nut to the bridge) is a factor is because the shorter the scale length the slacker the tension needed to get the string to pitch. If you de-tune to drop D or even drop C, you will definitely be experiencing fret buzz, but then again you’re probably going to have the gain on your amplifier up so the buzz will lost in overdrive anyway!

So why would you get fret buzz when you haven’t had it before?

This is difficult to answer definitively, but here are a few possible causes:

• Heavier gauge strings may have been fitted to the guitar when the truss rod was set up and lighter ones have now been fitted.
• All the strings have been taken off the guitar at the same time and the truss rod has flexed, making it necessary to set up the truss rod. The neck should always be given an overnight acclimatisation, with strings at pitch, before this is done.
• The nut has worn down and needs replacing.
• The strings have eaten into the saddle(s).
• The guitar has been exposed to heat (or cold), beyond its tolerances; leaning it against a radiator, leaving it in the back of a car overnight in sub zero temperatures or in direct sunlight are all causes of MAJOR problems.
• Someone has made adjustments, in error!!

If you suspect you have a problem that’s not caused by technique, the solution is to take your guitar to a repair shop where it can be diagnosed and fixed. Fixing the issues, as I indicated earlier, can take varying amounts of time, but a full set up will usually come in at between £40 - £60 (that’s what we’d charge at BBZGuitars in High Wycombe), depending on parts required and time.