Low E String Buzz ??? help please

TAYLOR310CE · #1 January 27th, 2006

Not the good kinda of buzz either ... its on the low E string when I place my finger into the second or third fret it buzzes at around the 9-12 fret . Now I recnetly went from med gauge strings to lighter guage but I cant pin point exactly when it started or whats causing it . All want to know is what i need to look for to make it stop... please =) its very annoying. I back off on my truss rod about a half a turn to raise the action . It helped but when I use a heavier gauge pick and strum normally I can still hear it. ANy suggetions , thoughts , anything ...

~James

nagukush · #2 January 27th, 2006

Hi

Dont get irritated with your guitar, it serves us everytime we need it

There are seniors here, who'll help you out completely !!! I wish i could help you, but a beginner myself and i dont wanna give wrong advice...

TAYLOR310CE · #3 January 27th, 2006

Yeah Im just waiting for ones that are technically inclined to answer... so how long you been playing ? How far along are you ? oh , and thanks for the reply =)

LMAO How far along are you ? I was re reading what I typed before posing and this caught my eye...Ok that question sounds like your pregnant ..lol

nagukush · #4 January 27th, 2006

LOL

I'm from India and i've been just like struggling with my guitar on my own. Will you believe, i think i may be the only person in my town who plays a guitar !!! I usually play with the flatpick and its always been a dream to master finger-picking, and hence i'm here making friends and learning what i like !!!

And you buddy ????

Regds

Kush

TAYLOR310CE · #5 January 27th, 2006

I have been playing for a lil over a year now .. started out with the flat pick myself. Recently have been finger picking songs. I love James Taylor's fingerpicking. But, look at the bright side when you do get good. No one in your town will be able to compete with your guitar abilities. Just make sure to charge higher prices for your talent to play ..lol

nagukush · #6 January 27th, 2006

Hey thats positive thinking at its best !!!

I hope i can be at that level in future

. You know one thing, I really want to master finger-picking and teach the guys over here. I just love spending time with my guitar, they are the only friends i had till now, untill i got to this forum and now i have good friends like ya, who'd always try their best to help each other out.

By the way, i have a doubt, kindly try if u could help me out :

If i learn fingerpicking on a steel string acoustic, will it be easier for me to play it on a classical-nylon-strung guitar too??? i really love the way it sounds too.

TAYLOR310CE · #7 January 27th, 2006

You know to be honest I dont know . thats a good question to post so one of the experts here can answer. Wish I could answer it for you but , I know someone here will.

nagukush · #8 January 27th, 2006

No Problem pal

Let us wait for some expert to pass-by and answer both our questions !!!

sorry if i have carried the thread to a different direction, i hope you get your answers soon enough

and if not we can PM some senior and ask him the same...

Kirk Lorange · #9 January 27th, 2006

Hi Taylor ...

Could be a few things, I guess, maybe those frets are pushing themselves up out of their slots slightly there ??? There's really only one smart thing to do in cases like this: take it to a pro. It'll cost a few bucks, but unless you're really good at things like setting up giutars, you can do more harm than good trying to fix it yourself ... I know!

nagukush · #10 January 27th, 2006

Yes Pal, i too wanted to say the same thing as our Captain Kirk has suggested here. Actually i cant even think of repairing or adjusting my guitar by myself, cause neither do i have the knowledge, nor the sources.(I'm stranded ie I have to take my guitar to the nearest city which is 5-6 hours travel from my place.)

Take them to a person who really knows his job, buddy.

Ultimate Garage Band · #11 January 27th, 2006

Have you checked the relief yet? Going from medium to lights will produce to opportunities for buzz. The first is that with lighter strings and less tension to tune them, the headstock takes away relief by moving away from the bridge towards the back of the guitar. In other words, the headstock is fighting against the string tension too much and is 'winning' by actually making the fretboard hump up in the middle, around the 9th - 12th frets. To remove the hump and add relief you'd need to loosen the trussrod nut. This is an easy adjustment to make. With the guitar tuned to pitch even, FULLY INSERT the wrench into the adjustment nut and turn it counterclockwise about 1/4 turn, say from 9 o'clock to 6 o'clock. Retune your guitar and check it out.

I suppose I should have started with explaining how to check your adjustment. With a capo or a friend with a hand, capo/depress the 6th string at the 1st fret. Use a finger to fret the 6th string at about the 15th fret. Now, see if you can slide 2 business cards between the 6th string and the 7th fret. Do the cards pick the string up? You need more relief. Do the cards slop around and don't even touch the string? You could take relief away.

Ok, so I've explained how to check and add relief. The other cause for the buzz might be the lighter strings themselves. The lighter the string the less tension there is needed to bring it to pitch. Lower tension = a larger vibration arc. Larger vibration arc = more distance needed away from the frets to minimize buzzing. Smaller strings are easier to press down, but they have to be set a bit higher than heavier strings so they don't buzz. At a certain point, the distance to push down can be just as much, if more, pressure required to fret a note than a heavier string that sits closer to the fret. It's a trade off.

Dyeace · #12 January 27th, 2006

If it buzzes lower down the fret board, and not at the top, then u propably have a cheap guitar, or u need to change the string, but since it's not buzzing up top it's prop just a cheapy

TAYLOR310CE · #13 January 28th, 2006

Thanks to everyone that replied to this . I fixed it today by going back to meduim gauge strings. Ult Garage Band was right on the money with his reply .. thank you . Its my Taylor 310 so it was driving me crazy to hear it buzz.
I got a reply back from another form so I went and got med gauge strings. The reply :

Simple solution is go back to mediums. Believe me, you'll eventually get used to them and your 310 was braced to use them, so they're going to give you a better tone than lights.

Otherwise, check out the buzz diagnosis section on frets.com

Again Thanks to everyone in helping me fix this problem =) This is what I truely love being apart of a forum family for.

~James

nagukush · #14 January 28th, 2006

Hi james

Congrats , you got your probs fixed. So happy for u

. I know it must be very frustrating to hear the buzzing, specially when u love u'r guitar !!! anyways glad that u r relieved. Hey can you suggest me whether, is it better to maintain the same string-gauge forever on a guitar. (ie right from when u buy a new one )

Thanks and take care mate...

comeTATU · #15 January 29th, 2006

I thought that it was normall for a bigginer for the strigs to buzz like

but any way I started plucking strigs and noticed i had the same problem. i was about to post saying that i had that problem but i ended up here: http://www.jaybuckey.com/buzzing_strings.htm

All you need is an allen key and know which way to turn it (left or right lol)

I love this place I learn something new everytime.

edit:
oh yea your also going to have to retune it