severe fret buzzing help needed to fix up a potential bargain

finest1

hi all,

I took a bit of a gamble today. a person on gumtree was selling a fender tele MIM as a project. upon reading the ad and talking to the seller, he had bought the telecaster, put strings on it but it chokes, buzzes or is "dead" at frets 7-10.

I ended up buying the guitar as it was a great bargain, but that's the gamble!

upon playing it at frets 1-4 it plays great, also at frets 12 onwards.

I checked the relief at the 7th fret and decided to relieve it. the neck instantly was relieved and the buzzing got better at frets 7-10 on low E and high E string,

i'm going to leave the adjustment overnight.

what else can I do to trouble shoot the issue?

i'm hoping I can get lots of advice so I can get this guitar playing great

finest1

hi all, here is an update on the guitar. I left it overnight and here is the result:

Low E: frets 7,8,9,10, & 16-21 all buzzing
A string: 7&10 buzzing & 8 &9 dead
D string: frets 8,9,10 dead
G string: frets 8,9,10 buzzing and choking
B string: frets 7,8,9,10 choking
E string all fine

paulnb57

It is extremely difficult to diagnose a problem on a forum without actually seeing the guitar, there are so mamy variables....
So, my suggestion would be to go right back to basics and do a full setup......

TimberG

I agree with @paulnb57 this sound like it will need a full set up, fret level and dress, and then re adjust the relief in the neck. do any of the frets look like they are coming away from the finger board? 

FelineGuitars

Set the neck dead straight via the truss rod and raise the action till you get  about 1.2-1.5mm (50-60 thou of an inch) at 12th fret
If you are still getting choking out then it is likely that the neck has a hump in the high fret region
A fret dress may be a solution for that...adding fallaway to the highest frets too.

Maynehead

The above advice is exactly right.

You may also have an extremely high 11th fret, which you can check with the edge of a credit card.

finest1

thanks for your feedback. I haven't got time to implement them. I did however check frets with a fret rocker and it was rocking at the 11th fret, as predicted by maynehead, but its a slight rock, rather than the 11th fret being extremely high. I did check to see if any frets were coming away, but they look well seated. I would say its slight as the credit card did not detect it. my fret rocker is dead straight.

does a slight rock help matters?

finest1

update:i've been away from the weekend, but I been thinking about the guitar. I've never tried levelling frets, although I've always wanted to, as I know how to simply set guitars up.  there is so many techniques and tools. I've seen levelling beams, and some files like the one Ben uses in crimson guitars videos, that are not levelling beams.  bit confusing, but dead worried i'll get something wrong!! 

Funkfingers

That is why professional guitar techs are worth what they charge.

impmann

Before buying any tools or anything else, implement what Jonathan @FelineGuitars  says and then you will know what needs to be done.

If it's one fret that is causing an issue it's likely that it has slightly popped up. Levelling the frets without attending to this rarely works well. You may find all that is needed is wicking some thin CA glue (superglue but very thin, runny stuff) under the fret and then pushing and clamping it down cures the fault.

WezV

finest1 said:

update:i've been away from the weekend, but I been thinking about the guitar. I've never tried levelling frets, although I've always wanted to, as I know how to simply set guitars up.  there is so many techniques and tools. I've seen levelling beams, and some files like the one Ben uses in crimson guitars videos, that are not levelling beams.  bit confusing, but dead worried i'll get something wrong!! 

You should take from those that there are many tools that will work for a fret level.  Don't let it put you off if you want to have a go.

but yeah, they must be seated properly first

finest1

@FelineGuitars ;

I followed your guidance. here is the result: the bass strings still buzz with dead spots around the 8th & 9Th frets. G,B,E strings got better but still buzz badly but no dead choking spots. thanks