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I have a guitar that a friend brought me here that buzzes on the high E.
Looking down the neck the frets look OK but clearly the there is a dip, not a
hump, at the body neck junction.   (000 12fret guitar)
This seems to be the problem, but....
This guitar has a low action high saddle already. If I set the neck back I am
going to need a much taller saddle which may not be possible. The bridge is
standard and I don't want to remove the bridge and build a taller bridge.
Any suggestions. I clearly want to set the neck back to get a straight neck/
body junction.
Thanks in advance
Andy

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Have you isolated which fret it is first buzzing on? Is it buzzing in the open position? If so what fret does it stop buzzing at?

Is the string height at the nut too low?

The string height at the nut is fine.
It seems to buzz from about 10 up almost to the 18-19th fret

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

If you have the room, I would remove the frets from 8 or 9 up, dress the board, then refret. You could flatten out the dip, and lower the ation at the saddle at the same time - not always is a neck set required.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Say, since we're on it...anyone ever done a partial re-fret say from 3-9 to add back bow (using compression fretting)...it seems as though it'd be unpredictable as to the result but I think I've heard of smarter guys than I doing it...(maybe THAT'S the key...being smarter than I)...

_________________
http://www.presnallguitars.com

Why pull frets,
First off what is the relief of the neck. If you capo the 12th fre and the 1st you want about .008 clearance of the top of the 7th fret to the srting. If the neck is flat to .007 you may just have a high fret. Mark the frets with magic marker and go over them with a straight edge. Get the frets to the proper plane recrown and you should be okay.
   Yes I have fretted sections though I don't like to do it.
   john hall
blues creek guitars

John,

Fret the 1st and 12th or the body join (14th)...?

_________________
http://www.presnallguitars.com

[QUOTE=TonyKarol] You could flatten out the dip, and lower the ation at the saddle at the same time[/QUOTE]
He says the action is already low.

[QUOTE=L. Presnall] John,

Fret the 1st and 12th or the body join (14th)...?[/QUOTE]
It's a 12-fret 000.

This is a confusing problem (I feel your pain!). Definitely check the relief, as has been suggested, but it sounds like that's not going to solve your dilema, especially if there's too much now. Reducing the relief, in that case, would only lower your already low action. However, if there's no relief, or a backbow, adding some relief may help. It seems like you may have the very unusual situation of a neck with too much angle--the angle usually pulls up as a guitar ages. That makes me wonder if someone has already reset the neck, and just did a bad job. If so, you're probably going to have to do a reset to reduce the angle and bring the saddle down to a correct height.

Carlton
The problem is the opposite.
If I reset the angle to get a straight neck with the body, that would be too
steep, and I would need a taller saddle.
The angle of the body is to big!!!
So if the neck is perfectly alligned with the body, the projection is too high
over the bridge.
Make sense

_________________
Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Sounds like the angle got messed up though this isn't that hard a fix. You can make a new bridge and make it thicker if you need to.
In the early days we all make this mistake once so plan ahead and rememeber that you learn more from a failure than a success.
   The neck angle is critial , the block needs to be square to the top to start.. What is the measurement of the saddle position to the top off a straight edge?

   On the relife note I capo the 12th fret most of the time . then with the 1st and 12th capoed I want about a .008 to .012 clearance at the 7th fret.
   Flat is okay to if you have good action height at the 12th fret.
john hall

it would seem to me that the earlier suggestion to isolate the cause of the buzz should be your first step. check out all the usual suspects, i.e., loose tuners, braces, truss rod, etc.,

if it is a fret which is buzzing, isolate which fret. this can be done using a multimeter.

is it a tall fret, a loose fret, or the result of neck bow?

then straighten the neck with the truss rod if possible and and dress it.

but until you have done these things you are just groping in the dark.crazymanmichael38893.4828356481

Michael
I've never heard of using a multimeter to isolate a fret. Can you elaborate?   I suspect that it would have to be an analog type?
Nelson

[QUOTE=npalen] Michael
I've never heard of using a multimeter to isolate a fret. Can you
elaborate?   I suspect that it would have to be an analog type?
Nelson
[/QUOTE]

Havent heard of this one before but I imagine you put one probe on the
string and the touch each fret with the other probe untill you get circuit
continuity (resistivity low or reading infinity) which indicates that fret is in
contact with string.

Alot of multimeters (analog and digital) have a continuity tester..usually a
buzzer that indicates continuity.

Martin--I was assuming that the test would be done while the string is in motion and producing intermittent contact with the offending fret. This would make it a little more difficult to get a continuity reading as the actual contact is very brief.
Nelson

the assumptions were correct; use the resistance function(ohms), and a digital can be used but an analog is much better.

the method is straight forward:

1) identify the sting which is buzzing,
2) clip one probe to the sting between the saddle and the pin,
3) pick string whilst touching other probe to the suspect frets,
4) needle jumps when the probe is on the buzzing fret(s).

i think i first read about the method in hideo kamimoto's book back in the '70's or early '80's.crazymanmichael38894.472025463

Thanks for the clarification, Michael.
Nelson

[QUOTE=azimmer1]
If I reset the angle to get a straight neck with the body, that would be too
steep, and I would need a taller saddle.
The angle of the body is to big!!![/QUOTE]
That's the way I understood it. It sounds like the neck was re-set (or originally set) at too much of a back angle. It's that, or the top has seriously caved in. I don't see how anything else is possible for a condition of low-action-high-saddle. Now, I'm certainly no expert, but it seems like you'll have to pull the neck, straighten the fingerboard, and re-do the heel to raise the angle. That way you can lower the saddle. CarltonM38894.852025463