Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi guys
Well I listened and acted upon all your good advice but 'she still rattles!!'.
I've put it down to bad building. the low E A D rattle with the D being worse. The E and A goes away with a slightly higher action.
Also, I've noticed that the rattle goes away completely when fretted beyond the neck to body join!! The fretboard falls away slightly at this point as it should.
I've levelled the frets 3 times now so I really don't want to file them any lower. There's no fret rock or anything like that. Grrrrr.
Any ideas??
Here's some pics anyway

How much relief do you have in your neck?
If you slacken up on the truss rod does it still rattle?
You may not have enough relief or It may be the truss rod it self rattling???

It’s very difficult to diagnose where to problem is with out having the guitar in hand.

_________________
Rich S

"The inconvenience of poor quality will linger long after the thrill of a bargain has been forgotten"

Edenguitars,

You say the rattle goes away when you fret beyond the 14th fret - is the 14th the first fret on the D string where the rattle stops and is it clear on the 15th, 16th . . . to 21st? If so meausure the action on the D string at the 12th fret, 13th fret and 14th fret. Put a razor blade (or straight edge that covers 3 frets or so) centred on the 14th fret next to the D string - does it rock there?

What is the action at the 12th fret on each of the six strings?

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Thanks guys
The action is really quite low. Just under 2mm at 12th fret low E.
I've just used my fret rocker and 'yes' she is rocking on the 14th fret! I feel a bit dumb now. It wasn't rocking before I strung her up but I didn't check after the strings were on. Doh.
I'll try levelling that fret again tomorrow.
I'll let you know
Cheers - Mat

This is very good advice...it could be the truss rod rattling around. See if you can snug it up a little and see if the rattle goes away. But sounds like you may have found the issue with the 14th fret being high. That will definately do it!

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Mat,

Before you do any more fret levelling I'd check the height of that 14th fret off the fretboard. It may well be that you have a "dog-leg" at the 14th and that the drop-off from the 14th onwards gives you enough action height to stop the rattles when you fret from there onwards. The 14th fret may be the same height as frets 1-13. That's why I asked what the 12th fret actions on all of the six strings are. It could be that the solution is to cut a new saddle with the E A and D strings actions slightly higher than you have them now. What happens if you put a hardwood shim under the existing saddle - does the buzzing go away?

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Under 2mm for the low E is on the low side for an electric guitar, much less an acoustic.

Where are you located at? Local gatherings of members here are getting more common, and getting a first hand evaluation from a peer can be one of the best ways to evaluate. Often times problems like this can be evaluated in about 30 seconds by an experienced set of eyes, whereas trying to account for so many variables (some of which you may not have even thought of looking at) and communicate them on the forum can be near impossible.

There are a plethora of different variables in the setup and fret work that could be adding up to cause your problems. Is there anyone around you that you could take it to for a second look?

_________________
Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I would love to be able to gather with other luthiers but I live all the way back here in England! There aren't too many guitar builders round here and when you do ask someone a question you always get the feeling that they're gonna charge you for the answer. That's why I love this forum.

I've got a slightly higher saddle which will solve the rattle on the E and A but that pesky D string still does it. Strangely enough, I get the same rattle on the D string of the last guitar I built which is an 'OM' shape!!??!!

I'm going to have another look at the nut, maybe build it up some more with the bone dust and re-cut the slot. I did that the other day after some previous advice so I think i'll give it another look.

I really appreciate your replies guys, thanks a lot - Mat

Mat,

Where in England are you? I'm just outside High Wycombe - halfway between London and Oxford. If you are within striking distance I'd be happy to look it over - no charges

I bet that your saddles aren't profiled enough to match the strings and are too low in the centre/D string area.

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Dave,

You are a true gent. I'll email you through your website - which i've just found via your link.

Thanks buddy,

By the way, i'll get onto that saddle and change the radius making it higher in the middle.

BINGO!!

Mat,

Nice looking guitar by the way.

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Mat be careful that that Dave White guy - he comes across like a true gent and then a month later you receive an invoice from him in the post............ I hope that you know that I am kidding with you - Dave is an exceptionally cool guy!!