Get rid of fret buzz FOREVER! common guitar setup problems and basic fret leveling
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- I go over in detail what causes fret buzz and the most common reasons for it. I also teach how to fix fret buzz, some common setup mistakes, as well as an introduction to fret leveling at home on a budget. be sure to check out my videos about guitar repair, restoration, and custom builds here www.GelvinGuitars.com
I'm new in the guitar world. I have learned a lot of guitar repairs, lessons, and set-ups from you. Guitar Doctor Willie
Wow, what a amazingly informative video! This should be required watching if you decide to even own a guitar. Thank you so much for your time to put something so time consuming and basically so much of yourself and not asking for anything in return. Nice job and thanks again.
I kinda agree and kinda don't agree with this being required watching if you want to own a guitar, agree because really, this stuff isn't rocket science, get used to it, get good at it and it doesn't take long, on the other hand, should you fully understand how combustion engines work and how to repair them in order to own a car? its definitely better that you do know in both cases, if you can repair your own guitars and cars, you can save a lot of money, but then, mechanics exist for a reason, just like guitar techs exist.
Personally, i'd say this SHOULD be required watching if you want to own a guitar, it'll make your life far easier in the long run if you really enjoy playing guitar but if you wanna fork out the cash to pay someone else to do a 15-30 min job, i mean, sure, i don't exactly want to rebuild injector systems or fix cam timing on a car either, but if you also happen to be quite talented at working on cars, maybe you'd rather not pay a mechanic, ya know?
@Kevan Who really gives a crap about what you think... What kind of troll posts something stupid like this to a post that’s over five years old? Moron!
@@budandbean1 jeez settle down dude, what crawled up you and died, after all, i did say i generally agree with your comment, its just a simple fact that some people aren't really that great with doing things like doing a full setup on a guitar, or even changing some spark plugs in a car, like i said, yeah, it'd be better if you can do it yourself, its really not that complicated once you've done it a few times but wheres the shame in paying a professional to do something even better than you can?
u sound like a scumbag
First step: Remove frets
Congrats you now have zero fret buzz
@Jay Colten I hacked into your gfs as well, but it wasn't her Instagram
I thought zero fret buzz was when you have a zero fret and it's buzzing!
"What I'm doing is I'm trying to teach you how you can do the stuff at home, with limited tools."
Sir, you know the shit.
A lot of people really liking the paint job on this guitar is kinda surprising to me. It looks like an episode of telitubbies blew up on it. Just my opinion though lol. Great vid!
check the 80's jackson, kramers , charvels, BC Riches.. all of em had fluorescent colors and custom airbrushed graphics
Took the words right out my mouth.
I was going to say it looked like a unicorn threw up on it, but teletubbies are apt as well.
The color only works on certain guitars, just like this color only looks great on a Lancia Stratos or Lamborghini Miura.
@DamageIncM Late to the party, but I'll be honest: its probably not the paint alone that makes it ugly. I love flourecent guitars but that together with the pick ups and the ... knobs (BLEH) ... just doesnt work that well. The damn thing looks like a duplo creation a 3 year old would make (if it accidently made a guitar shape).
This is one of the most thorough and useful videos on the subject, and should dispel any myths and fantasies, well done
It's refreshing to know that someone really knows their stuff. Thank you for the insight. I'm an engineer and I'll give you two thumbs up for your expertise.
This video is absolutely amazing, clear explanations with great examples and drawings to help understand. Love it.
What an extraordinary tutorial. I have a healthy obsession with tuning and caring for my guitars and I am always interested in learning what professionals have to say about guitar problems and how to correct them. I appreciate how you kept the explanations technical but to the point. Thank you, Will!
It's always fun in Nostalgia to go back and look at your videos. They will remain a staple on RUclips for eternity.
Amazing video! I’ve watched countless truss rod/action/intonation videos and I could never get it quite right. This is THE best video out there and now my guitar is playing better than ever. Appreciate you!
I learned more on this video than I have ever learned on any single RUclips video. Thanks for your time and effort making this stuff available to us players that need to learn as much as we can. I've learned that guitar playing is much like life. You are ALWAYS learning. At least most of us are. Videos like yours are INVALUABLE to most of us. Thank you!
For the nut-lovers: @25:00
This is HUGE for people wondering if their nut is the right height/ making sure their nut isn’t causing intonation issues:
Fret at third fret, your nut is the right height if there is a TINY gap between the string and the first fret. If you have buzzing between your first and third frets too, your nut is probably the culprit. This video is so helpful.
This is the kind of quality content that makes RUclips so valuable. I learned more about guitar set up in this hour than I've learned in a loooooong time of piecing info here and there over the years. I now feel much more confident going into making adjustments, because I have a much better understanding how the various aspects of a guitar respond to changes.
I’ve been playing guitar for 2530 years and just wanted to say thank you you’re very thorough on everything especially since last year I switched to a seven string I have a Jackson that I’m having fret buzz with just the first well the lowest be string and I figured it out because it’s a cheap plastic nut I’m gonna use your baking soda and crazy glue approach thank you keep up the awesome content
Damn you must be good playing for that long
These videos have been incredibly valuable to me. Fixing up pawn shop clunkers has become a hobby of mine. Your videos have saved me loads of money and frustration. Thank you.....
Thank you Will. People now days want to learn everything they need to know in a 5 minute video, but you simply can't cover everything in that time.Great video. I'm much more confident trying to find the issue I've been having...
Wow, it's about time somebody explained all this . Excellent video!
Great explanations, and being graphically oriented, I love the diagrams. Especially when you are drawing "on the fly" while talking. Very easy to follow along...
Your right about Guitar Center. In my area, they have no idea, on working on a Guitar. I was actually showing one of the kids how to make a saddle for an acoustic guitar. The kid did not have the proper tools to do it. All he had was sand paper.. He sad it took him hours to sand a bone nut, i was kinda in unbelief. Because Guitar Center, advertise that they have guitar techs...Very good video. I learned allot..👍🎸
I have a guitar with fret buzz and absolutely no competent luthiers in my town. This video is an amazing resource, and after watching it, I believe I can actually fix my guitar now. I'll be ordering some tools and then getting to work on it. I also watched the other video you did on fret leveling and crowning. I think between the two videos, you covered it excellently. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos!
Gelvin if I were in your position I won't sell my self cheap because you are highly skilled very knowledgeable and know what you are talking about , the worries are other people who are watching g will have only little information and this even worse , the best is to always refer the right jobs to the right people , and I salute you my friend
Cool , thanks man. I regret taking up guitar now. I am going to go rethink my life choices
This is the video that every new guitar learner should watch. It contains tons of valuable information. Thanks!
Wow great drawing illustration! thank you now i understand after 30 years of not knowing.
this guy is absolutely bang on, learn from him. anyone that left a negative, stick to air guitar. simple. excellent Thank you for taking the time . Wish I had this 20yrs ago. A lot of us learnt the hard way., Again. Thank You
Just the best masterclass guitar tech videos on YT !!! Everybody who owns guitar must watch !!! this guy is just amazing teacher !!!
The absolute best video covering this subject anywhere!
My father is western guitar maker for 45 yrs and he does everything exactly the same as you do in this video, only he checks nut height 1 fret further than you. I guess that makes very less to almost no difference. 12/10 tutorial. Great job mister.
Beginner guitarist of 6 months here....bought a mim fender and had weird buzzing...I have a critical ear not being a new musician, and it just really bothered me...techs couldn't fix it and sold it thinking higher end guitar would be the answer...I think it was the sitar sound you mentioned and could have been solved had I known this! Great video! I am learning so much and wish I found your channel sooner! Exceptional explanations!!!! If you had a course I would take it!
Excellent coverage of the concepts instead of just going in and filing the frets. Appreciate this.
Ahhhh....a breath of fresh air!
I think I've encountered every single poor neck, fret, nut, saddle, intonation, and string issue/condition/relationship you've covered.
I called it the "Pawn Shop Guitar Education".
People trash their guitars set-up, or they have factory defects, so it sounds like crap.
Instead of learning these set-up topics...they buy more distortion/effects .....then "Pawn It"
I've scored some nice guitars this way.
I absolutely "Love" your custom guitars headstock design...very lined up!
80's Colorful too!
william amos I wish we had pawn shops in Denmark 😅
So funny when he said “that’s why plastic nuts suck…”. lol. I’m a beginner and am going to watch all of your vids on your channel. Thanks!
Thank you very much for the information you provided in this lesson. However, the word you were trying to remember is a scarf joint.
We need RUclips more like this, thank you sir for your education!!!
Well, the first of two cheap used guitars I bought to learn on is done and wow what a difference. Half of it's frets needed to be tapped back down and even after doing that the height of the frets were all over the place. It took me a long time but it was worth it to make sure I got it right the first time. Now on to the other one. That one also has the nut slots too shallow.
I found your channel recently. I am impressed with your knowledge about guitar setup. I learned how to set up my guitars by myself, reading a lot of information on internet and some books. I agree with everything what you are saying about the fret buzzes and the truss rod adjustments. You are totally right. Your videos are the best ones on RUclips; there are no other ones with such accurate and precise knowledge and information. I just saw your last video talking about your condition. I am so sorry. But be strong. I can see you are a warrior, and you can deal with this. Don’t give in without fight. Wish you the best to you and your family...
I watched this-then fixes my fret buzz issue in less than 10 minutes. Nice video!
Great video! Only thing you didn't really get right was your comment having to set tremolo flat. You can screw the springs in and block it flat like Clapton or float it a step and a half like Beck or set the float at 1/8 in like Leo recommended, or anything in between that floats your boat and still get it setup without buzz by doing all the other great stuff you said.
On the first guitar I ever owned, there were slight distortions on the fingerboard. Some frets were higher than others. I didn't have a sanding bar. I had a brand new American made 16" bastard file with fairly fine teeth. It worked great! I think it was better than a sanding bar. Sandpaper can have height variations where it wraps around the end of the bar.
I was reinventing the process. I didn't have a fret rounding file and didn't know one existed. I just played with some flat-topped frets and I was happy.
Thanks for the in-depth and physics-style approach! You're a friend to the youtube community
Your video helped me find the problem I've had with my almost 30 year old mercury series Washburn. It was my very first guitar that was mine. I was getting buzz particularly on the B string in two locations. I kept thinking for years it was an adjustment issue. I found two very minute indentions on two frets on that string, exactly where it was happening. I was able to level my frets out removing the indentions and NO MORE BUZZ. Thank you for making this. Going to have it playing smoothly now. It does need cleaning and some adjustments (action, intonation) but for a long time I thought it would never play right again
You, sir, are a lifesaver. I was messing about on the internet trying to find out why in the world is my MIM strat fret buzzing like crazy. Turned out to be the truss rod, that needed some tightening. Setup the guitar afterwards with fender recommended settings. Action: Str 6-5: 2.4 mm, 4-1 : 2 mm. It's perfect.
Excellent Video /Tutorial on the Mechanics /physics of what is going off when the string is set in motion, to give one an understanding ,Before setting about working on your guitar and making a complete Bollocks of it THIS IS A MUST WATCH VIDEO . Thankyou
You're the man. I'm glad to see some of the info I'd saved that disappeared coming back. Hope you're feeling well.
so far best video I've seen about fret buzzing... thank you much! 21minutes in and already learned tons... usually everyone starts elevating the bridge so I was interested from the beginning when you actually explain why this may happen! good for you man.
Wow! What a great video! I can't begin to list all the things I've learned about guitars by watching this video. Not only is there tons of useful information in this video, it is presented in such a simple and concise fashion that even a guitar newb like me was able to understand the whole thing. I almost got hung up when you talked about the radius of the fretboard, but then it clicked and it was immediately clear. Obviously, if I want to know more about guitars, I should watch more of your videos. Thanks!!
Excellent video, with enough information and dry humor to keep me going. Thanks for taking the time to do this. I enjoy your nonsensical approach and delivery.
You Sir are a complete genius in your knowledge and communication!
Thank you so much.
Man I like this video! It's great to see a video that explains everything without the bull**** in detail. This video is for someone who's making decisions on how to tackle many different buzzing problems with any style type guitar. If you're having fret buzz, this will explain in plain english and gives an understanding information. You offers users different decisions to accomplish many problems within different sincerious of fret buzzing.
Way cool I worked in a guitar shop for 5 years and your right on point. About gutter center and technic. My so called luthier boss would ask me why I was using a marker on the frets, but my machinist training worked well for guitar.. Nice work...
One of the best well detailed informative videos I have seen on this subject great job
Best hour spent watching a video! Thanks!
I also made my own nut files by using a metal band saw & cut a series of notches along the edges of a set of feeler gauges. Use the kind that fold like a pocket knife. I had to clean up some burrs before they would fold without jamming. They work fine.
It's nice to hear someone confirm the issues with a scarf joint..I have an Ibanez with a scarf joint and sure enough it frets out at the 1st and 2nd fret and when looking for a replacement neck on Amazon the affordable ones have a scarf joint..
Great video , probably one of the best there is for fret leveling there is.
Wow, I'm actually feeling pretty smart that you were one of the first guitar channels I followed, I'm up to probably 50 now. I just bought a Epi LP Custom and didn't realize until after the deal the frets are really worn down around 10 - 15 with flat places on a few strings and the action was so high when I got it, the guy said he liked it high but actually it just couldn't go any lower without buzz. So my new guitar is next to unplayable for me. Anyway I called one local luthier and it's going to cost me $125.00 to redress and polish.. and I'm just not very happy. But this video showed me there is hope. I'm going to watch it one more time as I prepare but thank you so much. I bet you get hate from some luthiers but I really appreciate how thorough and informative you choose to be.
Thank you so much. I would recommend your channel to anyone.
This is awesome because he is giving the order of things to do. Straighten the the fret board with the truss rod 1st. A lot of instructions dont give the order of the steps. Just use a fret rocker or crown and polish or adjust the truss rod. But they dont do the order of things. This is great!
The pushing down of the strings at the bridge at 34:37 (and also the nut) is something that my friend René Martinez told me about, what he used to do for SRV when he tech'd for him. One gig, Stevie said he was having trouble staying in tune and René realized he had forgotten to push doen on the strings after he changed them that day. So he never forgot since.
I congratulate you fro the time you took to give such a comprehensive rundown on guitar buzz. I hate buzzing.
You sir, are a king! Thank you so much for these video's! They help a lot for people like me who don't have the expensive luthier tools, but still want to do some adjusting themselfs.
Great teaching !! Helped answer a few basic important questions necessary to start off right. It is a shame how many expensive guitars and necks on the market have horrible fret leveling if any! I was once replied by well known companies that fret leveling is such a personal thing that they don't offer it as part of the purchase. What B.S !! I don't know any guitar player that would not want to have the frets leveled and a buzz-free neck. I trust your explanations and you do know what you are talking about!!. Guys watch these videos , learn a lot and avoid being trapped by self proclaimed experts and waste money all the while remaining frustrated. I loved your comment about G.C. I have seen horrifying set ups and lack of care on expensive items have gotten horrible advice as well ( all about making the sale !). Anyway enough ranting I could go on for a while, I hope you put out more of these videos . The information is out there however Nobody tells you the Why's as if they are guarding the secrets. Thanks again and let's keep them honest !
Wow, that is a lot of really useful information, a one-stop shop for problem solving. Thank you so much for this.
When you clip your strings save the clipped parts. Glue them on to popsickle sticks for feeler gauges. Bug your lazy friends who use super skinny strings so you can have .009, .008. and now Rev Willy even makes an .007. These will give you a reasonably accurate read on nut height and relief.
Get Erlewine's book. It's loaded with practical advice like this for working on your stuff.
Good video. Thanks.
Dude...Thanx for this vid. Replaced a neck on a bolt-on that was busted. I was going to bring it to someone to have it done. But, I figured if I fuck it up, what the hell...I'm out a neck. After the vid, I had the confidence to do everything and got it all good. Now I am setting up guitars for people who gig every week.
Just have to start with one project that doesn't matter if you screw up, and pay attention. Your videos are great for the working musician who doesn't have the money of the stock-trading guitar hobbiest to have all their shit worked on by guitar techs and luthers.
Thank for the awesome video....did everything you advised and now no fret buzz!!!!! awesome!
I Agree 100% about: The Guitar Tech's @ Guitar Center. You might-as-well, take your Guitar to a Shoemaker. Those guys are so UnProfessional. Numerous people in NYC with horror stories. Great information. Thanks for sharing. This was awesome.
Very good. Easy to follow. It's well worth learning how to do this for yourself especially on cheaper guitars. It's not brain surgery ! Thanks
This man knows his stuff !
This video was awesome, the only thing I didn't like was "heigth" I have some inexplicable hatred of that mispronunciation. The fact that I was able to sit through it for an hour is a testament to how awesome the content of the video is.
i have a Jay turser arch top hollow body....and a fender tele.....i play blues, and do a lot of string bends...upwards to 2 notes....from the 7th to the 17th frets...they are flattened out!....from low E string to G string.....i need to re-fret, just no time or money for shop....am thinking of doing it myself, from watching your vids...and my trusty stew-mac catalogue for proper tools and supplies!....love your vids.....very informative....i actually take notes!
Just the diagram explained a huge amount of things to me. Thank you!
I think you should not pay attention on bad criticism. What I mean is that if there is criticism at all should be constructive. You should understand how you impact on people. I just followed your video and helped me A LOT. Thanks for the information and hope you keep providing valuable information. Thanks!!!
Thanks for this video. A lot of the things that are in it I have known for years, but your experience has given you the ability to explain a few of my unknowns so that I have the knowledge to understand and fix the weird real world problems I have encountered and couldn’t find a cure for. I’m going back to even my best playing guitar and double checking certain aspects of the setups. I may discover something that I previously couldn’t remedy. Super good information. Thanks.
Very informative and worth the watch. Looking forward to the next video.
Awesome job! I am (now working on it) an agressive picker so this makes so much sense and will be observing from now on to correct. thanks so much
Good vid. A guide I kind of use when setting the nut height is that the distance from the second fret to the string "when the first fret is depressed" should be the same as the first fret to the string when riding directly on the nut. Nice to have it just a tad more though as it does wear a bit from tuning.
Thanks for going into such depth, this is the best video I've seen on this topic 👍
God bless you man! That is a really good vid. Now I know why my new guitar has this fret buzz. Thank you!
Thanks a lot for your effort that give much information and induce a confident skill to repair a guitar fretboard.
Delightfully captivating video.Thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience. You have a great approach with your teaching skills. I got so much back from this. thank you again!
Super video! A bit time consuming but very helpful and technical.
Great video , i love learning guitar science, and you teach it very well and make it understandable. I'm currently suffering from 3rd fret buzz on my high e, and 1st fret buzz on my low e. I took it to a luthier who gave me a full set up , but since the weather got hot my buzz came back in the exact same place. And this is preventing my action being where a prefer it. Now i know what to do , thanks buddy.
Good video. Lots of useful info. One tip that I think should be added is about the fingerboard radius. When leveling the frets, if you have a single radius neck, to maintain that radius your have to keep the sanding strokes parallel to the center line of the neck. If you follow the string lines than you create a compound angled fingerboard. If you have a compound fingerboard or want one that you should follow the string lines.
That´s excelent! I´ve learned a lot about fret buzz in theses videos. Thank you for sharing these tips, because they´ll help people like me to not be fooled by some guitar techs, mainly in Brazil. I know there´s a lot good technicians, you don´t have idea how it´s hard to find a good and honest technician here! I can start to make some small repairs myself on my electric guitars from now on.
So far best infodeo I watched!
Awesome advices. I really like how you put the knowledge in my head and telling the things that I hear in the deeps of my mind. Brilliant.
Hey man I still refer to these videos; great wisdom u got. Thanks
Thanks man its so good to have someone who makes sense and just talking out of their stomach, i really like how you approach the problems and i just tuned my own guittar and i now know that the guy from the guittar shop has been an idiot
Thank you Will. Thanks to your vid I was able to get rid of my Dean Deceiver fret buzz!
My head can rest now, your video is awesome. THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for all this practical information and demo.
This is actually a very good video for ppl who dont have the tools for doing this kinda stuff at home, its not an easy task but with practice it will eventually be good, i have some videos to about frett leveling and crowning and such things.. :D
Joshua Caleb Are you ok? Take your meds, you might feel better!
Great video. Very very informative. Thank you for taking the time to share all these tips and not just how to fix, but helping us understand why and how it happens in the first place.
EXCELLENT video!!!! (HUGE understatement, lol) I am very comfortable w/ most guitar repairs.. but don't mess w/ frets often (mainly because of lack of tooling..I'm not going to make mine or others worse, lol) but am ordering proper tools to FIX frets (finally) great stuff and SPOT on!
Thank you for your knowledge and your time
Going to refret a guitar with nickel frets, then the 2nd one, stainless steel
I know this is an old vid but thank you. I have around 16 guitars and basses that need some degree of fret work and i’m not about to bring them all to a shop. Maybe one or two. But as I have been researching the DIY approach this really helps and is in line with what others have said. The one common thing i see on todays guitars is the failure to finish frets properly. That seems to be the main area ALL companies cut corners on to keep costs down. Even if they say they are Pleked, they can still be crap. Who cares what they used for so called tonewoods if you can’t get your action under 2.5 - 2:0 mm. Maybe they are all setting them up for slide players? LOL. A few tools i plan on getting the real deal, but there are some good DIY alternatives out there for leveling and notched straight edges and polishing. Just go slow and practice on something less expensive.
That headstock design is actually pretty slick looking. Good jobs you should modify it just a bit and patent it.
Watch any video on setting up necks you want as long as you watch this one as well. Very good.
Just would to say thank you for this vid. It helped my les paul turn into an awesome playing guitar now.
2 weeks I bought a new epiphone les paul standard pro honeyburst and have struggled to get a good setup,low action,easy and comfortable playing lp. No matter what I did it was terrible compared to my other guitars.
Well guess what had 1 fret that was just a tad low. I did everything almost exactly as you said and it's like a completely different guitar. I was on the verge of returning it to guitar center,it's the only shop in town.
I do have experience setting up guitars. I have played since 1990 but only ever owned guitars like ibanez rg570,Jackson dk2m,Jackson Rhoads, and some similar all with floyds.
I tried off an on for years to get a les paul but something always happened,stolen,taken from because of sketchy authorities and the last was ruined by guitar center. Never had one for more than week. Finally was able to get this one and it was terrible playing, but know I'm loving it.
So thank you again.