G and D buzz

Started by johnr, October 25, 2024, 06:33:22 PM

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Hi ;I put this question on another forum,but I think they are tired of me! ha.. I adjusted my new custom Larrivee OO-03 today .It played just the way I like it. Now I pick it up and the G and D strings are buzzing terribly on the 2nd and 3rd frets ,just there . Not  A Tech by any means but I bought some Stew Mac tools last week and I know enough to be dangerous ;to my guitars. any suggestions ? Thanks .

If it's not buzzing in the open position, then you can probably just get a new saddle and start over. That's normal and no big deal. If you adjusted the truss rod, then you'll want to check that first.

Quote from: johnr on October 25, 2024, 06:33:22 PMHi ;I put this question on another forum,but I think they are tired of me! ha.. I adjusted my new custom Larrivee OO-03 today .It played just the way I like it. Now I pick it up and the G and D strings are buzzing terribly on the 2nd and 3rd frets ,just there .
And who is this forum that are tired of you? Please let us know.
Mike
Larrivee OM-03, OM-03 laurel, OM-50, L-03 laurel, LSV-03 walnut (Forum VI)

Sounds like could be either saddle too low or truss rod not having enough relief.

I found when my Larrivee was brand new, there was a brassy zing on the same strings you mentioned and truss rod adjustment wasn't doing anything for it so I purchased a new saddle from Larrivee and sanded the bottom of it to be little taller than the stock one and problem solved.

Ok ;I did adjust the neck an eight turn to give a little relief .It made a small difference but that brassy zing sound is still there. I should probably send for a six pk of saddles since I 'm not real good at set ups .

Get a good tech to check it.When its not comfy for you do get it to good.




advice from an old tech. :wave
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Quote from: unclrob on October 26, 2024, 09:39:51 PMGet a good tech to check it.When its not comfy for you do get it to good.




advice from an old tech. :wave
If I recall correctly, they took it to a tech and it got worse, so they got a stewmac setup kit and they're giving it a go.

There are a lot of decent technicians out there and no one is going to take the time and care to work in your guitar like you working on your own guitar.

If it's done at a busy shop, they'll restring it, tweak the truss rod, strum 2 chords and tell you it's ready for pick up.  Then if you're like me and the rest of the guitarists out there, you'll bring it home and get it to buzz on one or two strings and keep playing the buzz note over and over until you go crazy.

There's some things I'm not comfortable doing like installing a new nut or fret leveling, but a new saddle is damn near plug and play.

Take a fine tip pencil and with the strings off, draw a line along where the saddle starts to come out of the bridge the entire length of the saddle.

Now take the saddle out and measure how much the saddle is below the line you drew.

Now take your new saddle blank and add 2mm or 3mm to the measurement you just took on your old saddle and draw a line. Basically, you're trying to make it so if you put both saddle together, the new one will stand up about 2 or 3mm higher than the old one.

To sand down the bottom of the new saddle is easy, since it's flat and level and the top is already radiused.  You have a straight pencil line drawn across the new saddle.  Grab some 220 grit sandpaper and in long even strokes holding the saddle standing up, start to shave off the bottom until it meets the line you've drawn.

Once it's there, drop it into the guitar and restring it.  The width of the saddle I got from Larrivee was a hair too thick to fit in the saddle slot on the bridge so I also had to sand the width a little so it would drop in.  They did tell me that would probably be the case.

Keep in mind, whatever height you add to the saddle height will raise the 12th fret action half of what you added.  For example, if you added 2mm of height at the saddle, your action should be 1mm higher at the 12th fret.  I suggest making your new saddle 2 or 3mm higher since you can always shave off a little more on your next string change.  Once you shave off too much and you still have buzz, then you either need to shim it or replace it.

If you want a cheap, fast and easy solution while waiting for a new saddle to come in, you can get some sharp scissors and slice a piece of a credit card or something that will fit under the saddle and see if its enough height to cure the buzz.

If you find you got rid of your buzz but the 12th fret action is now too high, now you can tighten the truss rod that should lower the string height enough to make it closer to what you had before.

If tightening the truss rod, loosen the strings a few turns first.

Let us know how it goes, I hope I was able to more or less articulate how to set the height of a new saddle in comparison with the old one.


I agree with Sandstorm. I've experimented buying new saddles and sanding them down myself.  It's a time consuming process, and it gets dusty, but it's a fun way to get intimately involved in your guitar.  And saddles aren't too expensive.  Just take your time and experiment a lot.  It's like a hair cut:  You can always take more off, but you can't put it back on!  Here's a nice video that Gibson guitars did explaining the process a bit more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3895Wqv4TfQ
Larrivee P-03
Epiphone USA Texan
Larrivee 00-40R Moonwood top

All great advice !! It is FUN. and I am getting to know my guitar . I am enjoying having some of the right tools. Went to auto parts store and bought feeler gauges. haven't tried them yet ;but I am less afraid to make adjustments now! Thank you!

Picker mentioned dust, and it should be mentioned that bone dust is especially bad for the lungs. Absolutely wear a dust mask (or better) when making saddles. I used to go without until I started feeling like it was messing me up. Then, I looked it up and discovered bone dust is a known carcinogen.

Quote from: johnr on October 27, 2024, 08:56:46 AMAll great advice !! It is FUN. and I am getting to know my guitar . I am enjoying having some of the right tools. Went to auto parts store and bought feeler gauges. haven't tried them yet ;but I am less afraid to make adjustments now! Thank you!

Hey Johnr, did you do some tinkering and get this sorted out?

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