Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a customer with an Epiphone LP that has a hidden buzz somewhere around the bridge.

A little over a month ago I did a total refret to the guitar after our local music shop botched the same job. My customer had the guitar back to them about 3 times and by the time the guitar came back to him for the last time the new frets had been filed down to where they needed to be replaced again! So I did the refret and now the guitar plays great. A week or two after the refret was down it developed a buzz somewhere in the bridge area. He was finally able to get the guitar back to me last week so I could take a look at it. The buzz is defiantly coming from the bridge area but I was unable to find it. I only had the guitar for a short amount of time because the customer needed it for a gig. He is going to bring it back to me this week so that I can take a more thorough look at it.

When I was listening to the buzz this past week it almost seemed like it could be coming from inside the bridge pickup? Have any of you repair guys run into this? If anyone has some good suggestions for where to look please let me know. I checked all the obvious things last week, but this week I am ready to start taking the guitar apart.

Thanks for you help

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Josh...some of the usual suspects might include the following:
...loose PUP ring screws
...loose ground wire attachesd to the bridge.
...loose saddles
...loose springs inside pup cavity
...String ball not properly seated
...etc.

I'm sure the real repair experts will have a more comprehensive list. Please let us know what you eventually find. Good luck!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Hard to say without hearing it of course - saddles, saddle screws, retainer wire, buzzing in the front of the saddle slot, in the back of the saddle slot, on the bridge behind the saddle slot, on the screw in front of the saddle, potentiometer nuts and washers, pickup mounting hardware, etc..... As I'm sure you know they all have they're own nuances that all get lumped under the word "Buzz".

Excuse me if these are points you've already been through, but is the buzz between a string and another object, either within or outside of the speaking length, or is it sympathetic and entirely separate from the strings. If it's not within the speaking length of the string, you should generally be able to touch suspect areas until you can make it stop (I know, you've probably already done this, but I'm saying it anyway). When you find it, store that sound in your mental library, and next time you'll be able to track it down much faster. Maybe it is inside the bridge pickup cavity - could be wire or screws or some little chunk of metal left stuck to the magnet inside by the music store.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

David,

I think what I am looking at hear is a sympathetic vibration of some kind. Most of the string when they are freted about half way up the neck will cause the vibration. And a couple of the strings will cause it when played open. I am familiar with the technique you describe of touching the suspect area and cause the vibration to stop. But this time nothing I touch is having any affect on the buzz.

I'll be taking the guitar apart next time I have it and hopefully I will find the probably.

JJ, I checked most of the things on that list but I will take a look at the one or two things I didn't when I see it next.

thanks

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Have you tried the strap buttons or tuner buttons?
I have seen both loosen and get noisy.
Good luck

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How long is that in luthyears?

Hey Brett,

Yes I did check those things, but that wasn't it

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Hi Josh,
Before you go mad trying to find it, try replacing the strings. Is it happening on a certain note/ string?
Every once in a while i get a string that seems to have loose wrappings, and i've spent a while trying to find the buzz. Its the kind of thing that I've seen drive people slightly mad, and they just wouldnt believe it could be a string.

After that I think i'd start dismantling the thing bit by bit until it stops if you've tried eveything else.

my first reaction was definately 'pick-up against pick-up ring!' but if you've tried that, fair enough.

If you've pushed down on everything to dampen it while its buzzing maybe take of the back plate and check nothing in there.
off the top of my head i'd also try;
re-file saddle slots,
all fixings,
shaking the guitar to listen for loose bits and bobs inside cavities,
clean up moulded parts so they sit together better...
good luck, I'm sure you'll find the pesky buzz. Let us know what it was when you get it!
cheers,
steve

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www.theguitarrepairworkshop.com