Limited Area Buzz/Fret Rattle

[+JohnnyBoy-]

I've got a quick setup question:

I'm getting some fret buzz/rattle on the long decay of notes on my Corvette, but only on the D & G strings, between the 3rd and 6th frets.

Does this sound more like a trussrod issue, or a string action issue. I haven't checked the relief, and recently lowered my pickups.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Callum]

i'd try raising the nut a little on the d and g side. If not that area of the neck is more a truss adjustment area iirc.

 

[Eberbachl]

Can you measure the action to determine the height of the D and G strings in relation to the others?

 

[+JohnnyBoy-]

The notes "fret out" toward the end of the decay, which I find odd in terms of neck relief. It could also be (gulp) bad technique on my part as well. I will check the action, as well as give the whole neck a listen for any other buzzes, rattles, etc. Anything else I should check out or look for?

 

[Florin]

It seems like your neck is a little too straight. 1/8< 1,4 turn CCW should fix it

 

[+JohnnyBoy-]

It seems like your neck is a little too straight. 1/8< 1,4 turn CCW should fix it

Thanks, Florin! I'm going to make the adjustment this morning and tune up/practice at lunch.

 

[Eberbachl]

It seems like your neck is a little too straight. 1/8< 1,4 turn CCW should fix it

Very true - quite probable.

I would also check the bridge saddle height to ensure that the action of the D and G strings is adjusted appropriately if the problem is only on those strings. I like to have my strings following the fingerboard radius, with the E string perhaps having a smidge higher action if necessary.

 

[+JohnnyBoy-]

Thanks for all the help, everyone. After a few days of playing, measuring, adjusting, waiting, cursing, and repeating, I think I've found the culprit.

Operator Error

My technique is bad from top to bottom. I was used to being in a hard rock setting where image and posturing were primary, and my playing was in the middle of the mix where small errors get covered up by big guitars and howling prima donnas (not that I'm stereotyping).

Now that I'm back to playing, I'm trying to learn my instrument, its voice, and how to play, versus banging away on root notes and trying to look cool.

I still put the 1/8 turn of relief into the neck, and it seemed to buzz less, and without a ham-fisted right hand technique, there is none to speak of. The action is great, the intonation is spot on, and a drastic shortening of the strap puts my hands in more natural playing positions, which benefits both playing and hand health.

 

[golem]

........ setting where image and posturing were
primary, and my playing was in the middle of the mix where small
errors get covered up by big guitars and howling prima donnas (not that
I'm stereotyping). .......

....... a drastic shortening of the strap puts my hands in more natural
playing positions, which benefits both playing and hand health.

`

Welcome back, to the land of the living

And of course you weren't stereotyping. You were simply
making a perfectly objective, purely empirical observation !!

`