100% of my guitars have the same problem. WTF

[Ed Zachary]

I have six guitars from various manufacturers, with different style bridges, tailpieces, tuners, nuts etc. and it doesn't matter how straight the neck is or if it has relief or if the treble end of the bridge is stupid high off the body. All of them do the exact same thing even after being worked on by techs, the high E string "wobbles" and/or frets out. It is very noticeable with open D chords (on all of the guitars) so that is what most of the clip is. The B string gives me some issues on my PS-900, too.

 

Can someone listen to this and tell me why five electrics and an acoustic would have the exact same problem and what can be done about it? This has been driving me crazy for most of the year and draining cash from my wallet trying to get it fixed. I am absolutely stumped by this.

 

Clip explanation, I played an open D chord but only on the first two strings so you can hear the clash between the E and B. Then I might play the E open and run up and down a few frets. There is a short rest then a countdown between each guitar. For some reason the acoustic recorded a lot quieter than the others, it didn't seem like it when I was recording. The guitars are in tune, so it isn't that.

 

Guitars in order of appearance: Gibson Les Paul Custom, Agile PS-900, Fender American Standard Stratocaster, Agile AD-2500, Ibanez EX-360, Douglas acoustic electric something or other. The Strat really sounds like crap and I've had two different techs work on it.

 

http://www.fileswap.com/dl/uB8sBh7DdV/posx6.wav.html

[PunkKitty]

Have you tried different techs?

[GilmourD]

 

Have you tried different techs?

 

Yeah, sounds like you may have a {censored}ty tech.

[Ed Zachary]

Just the two so far, I'm leery of paying any more techs since the ones I've been to can't even fix the problem. I know it isn't fair to judge everyone in the area based on two but a 100% failure rate isn't very confidence building. Plus I have no idea who to go to around here.

[Blakkwater]

nut slots cut too low? hard to say without looking at/examining the guitar(s)

[Angry Tele]

i only really hear it on the first 3. the the third is the worst, you are getting a sitar effect. I dont hear it on the fourth or 5th.

[Ed Zachary]

And the second one has been to a tech, as well as the Strat and the Ibanez.

 

I agree with Blakkwater that it is hard to say without seeing the guitars and I also thought the nut slots may be too deep but that is weird to have it on 6 guitars. At least nuts arent very expensive if I decide to swap 'em out.

[Angry Tele]

try some nut sauce

[Ed Zachary]

I have gun oil, maybe try that?

[jimash]

String gauge ? Brand of strings ?

[Kuz929]

Location: The Beach!

 

/thread

 

that sticky, humid, salty air is hell for guitars. You should keep them all in a room with controlled humidity. I be they're all just warped from the climate.

[Ed Zachary]

Ernie Ball Super Slinky, 009-042 on electrics, Ernie Ball Earthwood Light 11-52 on acoustic. I've used Super Slinkys since the Seventies with no problems.

 

Yes, I live directly across the street from the ocean, about a 1 minute walk from my front door to the sand. But shouldn't working the truss rod fix the issue? There are tons of bands around here, I can't imagine everybody having warped necks on all of their guitars.

[PunkKitty]

Location: The Beach! /thread that sticky, humid, salty air is hell for guitars. You should keep them all in a room with controlled humidity. I be they're all just warped from the climate.

Good point.

[jimash]

 

Ernie Ball Super Slinky, 009-042 on electrics, Ernie Ball Earthwood Light 11-52 on acoustic. I've used Super Slinkys since the Seventies with no problems. Yes, I live directly across the street from the ocean, about a 1 minute walk from my front door to the sand. But shouldn't working the truss rod fix the issue? There are tons of bands around here, I can't imagine everybody having warped necks on all of their guitars.

 

 

When you got them back from techs

is it possible they had 010's ?

Maybe you should try a set and see if that helps. Then you'd know to do some saddle length adjustment. Get the octaves good and then test the string on fretted notes ( chromatic tuners are a godsend)

Like you want the B to make a good D and the E to make a good F# or G so you take a look at those while you are adjusting and looking at the tuner.

[Ed Zachary]

Thanks for suggestions, gotta catch some Zs but will check back tomorrow. I hope everybody had a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

[bildo]

Lower your pickups. I take it the wobbles is a beating to the note like it is out of tune? Get the pole pieces at least this far away or a little more from the string while you are fretting on the last fret. E = 1/8" and e=3/32" away. Check it and then slowly dial them back up till you hear the beating and back off a tad.

[tedmich]

Plek the best one

http://www.plek.com/en_US/kontakt/get-pleked/usa/

[gp2112]

What do you mean the E string "frets out"? When you fret it is it going over the side of the neck or is it just the buzz you hear? I had both problems on my acoustic. They both started when I went to lighter gauge strings. I had to adjust the truss rod and it seems to have stopped the issues.

 

I am sure both techs tried this but just in case....?

[jpnyc]

I get the impression that a lot of techs set the action as low as it can possibly go with a little bit of buzz because lots of people just want the low action they read about online. Try just telling them to not go so low.

[PlinytheWelder]

I lived on the beach for 14 years and the humidity changes can be hell

for the neck. Using AC all the time can help.

 

I like very little relief on my necks... Pretty

much straight and I managed to have low action if I wanted.

 

Fret the low E at say the 2nd and 20th fret and use it as a straight edge and see

how much dish the neck has. Too much can make you fret out on the higher frets.

 

The radius on the bridge or the nut can be off ,too. Plus the nut can be cut with

the outer strings too close to the edge. ALL things to look out for...

[jtr654]

Where do you play most of the time 1st 5 frets?It also could be your picking technique? Like you said how could 5 different guitars have the same problem. Without seeing your guitars maybe the nut for the high e string is cut to close to the edge of the fingerboard?

[Cobalt Blue]

I think it's an amp problem.

[omni]

 

Plek the best one http://www.plek.com/en_US/kontakt/get-pleked/usa/

 

 

How much to have that done?

[Floyd Rosenbomb]

I'm not really clear on what problem is.

 

Is the E string buzzing even when you are not fretting a note?

If so, either the truss rod is too tight/neck is in back bow, or the nut slot is cut too low.

 

If it is buzzing even when you are fretting a note, frets 1 thru 5, then it is likely that the truss rod is too tight and the neck is in back bow. This would explain why it is on all of your guitars...if you set them all up with a little too much torque on the truss nut.

 

An easy way to check if your necks are in back bow is to turn the thick e string into a straight edge. You do this by pressing that string onto the metal of the very first fret and the very last fret. Then you look at the middle, around frets 10 thru 12. There should be tinny little gap there, around a 16th of and inch. You can even adjust it to be less then that for personal preference, but anything more then about a papers width and the neck is moving past flat and into back bow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stomias]

high fret?