8 string - fixing fret buzz

dampoldman

I got a great deal on an Ibanez RG8, £230 off eBay, and it is superb EXCEPT for the ridiculous fret buzz...

Anyone got any ideas how to fix it?

Neck looks to be arrow straight so I don't think it's the truss. Could need thicker gauge strings - any recommendations??

octatonic

Where is it buzzing?

You might need to raise the action.

If you've never set up a guitar before then it might be worth having someone show you how to do it.

stonevibe

Check the relief first.

Hold down the first and last fret and measure the string between the top of the frets and the bottom of the string midway. This is easily done with a feeler gauge. But to be honest I just look and see if it looks too high / low.

Then set the necks relief using the truss rod.

Ideally use new strings when doing this and make sure tuning and intonation are set first.

The trend seems to be to have a low action with little relief. This tends to cause buzzing.

However as long as the fretwork and neck are all fine then setting some relief will help with buzzing issues. I recently bought an Ibanez RG550 and the guy had zero relief in the neck, so it buzzed all over the place with a set of gauge 9 strings.

So I restrung it with 10s, tuned it and set intonation. Then put a little relief in the neck (quarter of a turn if that on the truss rod to loosen it) and now it plays with no buzzing, plays it still has a low action.

The trick is with truss rods is that a little goes a LONG way, so do the job gradually and let your string tension bed in. I usually leave it overnight and then readjust if it needs it.

Other causes of buzzing are old strings, worn frets, too low an action (obviously) and worst case scenario warped neck.

dampoldman

Cheers, a high-ish action doesn't bother me too much and I don't really shred it, so I'll have a look at the truss. 

Reckon I'll probably get some thicker gauge strings too - even at standard tuning for an 8 the strings there's hardly any tension so the bottom 2 strings wobble all over the place. Makes it very hard to riff using open strings. 

Everything else looks fine - nut is clean and not too deep, strings are new, frets are tidy. Neck doesn't look warped in any way.

Jetfire

£230 for an RG8 is a bargain! I bet its in black too...

dampoldman

Heh, no it's white. Damn sexy too. Never had an 8 before, but figured for £230 it was worth an impulse punt... Once I've fixed this buzz the bowel loosening brown noise can begin

Jetfire

I do love dem whites one..  

dampoldman

I do too, wish I could play the damn thing though. The buzz is horrendous and means I can't even use it until I get it sorted. 

octatonic

Where are you based?

dampoldman

In Southport

octatonic

Ah, that is a bit far- I was going to offer a free setup if you were London based.

Well, I'd still offer it but the bus fare might make it unworkable for you.

dampoldman

Heh, cheers for the offer. London is a bit far though

ChrisMusic

Hey dampoldman, great deal that.

Is that buzz across all strings, or mostly the bass ones?  And yes they do flop around.

That flop and buzz, and going in and out of tune all seems a part of the dgent sound, but Tosin Abasi and Alex Hutchings among others seem to be trying to move away from that and get 8 strings playing "properly".  I assume that the floppy bass strings are a product of short scale length and small string guage, ie low string tension.  Just compare the pitch with a bass guitar string for thickness.

I would love to know if there is another option as you can't go that heavy with bass strings on these.  There are practical issues of fitting the string through tuners and tail.

I think the neck is titanium reinforced IIRC, and should stand all that you can throw at it.  Have you checked that there is adequate relief in the neck?  It should come from the factory OK.

White sounds cool.

What tuning will you use on yours?

There is a useful string tension calculator >here<, if its any use to you.

dampoldman

Yeah, the buzz is just across the bass strings. There's got to be a happy medium between string tension, gauge and tuning, it has to be a common issue. The other thing is getting hold of strings, especially at .90 gauge - yet to find a single pack on sale in the UK. Can get them from the states but it works out (including shipping) at near enough £20 per pack...

Not sure re tuning. Still playing about with it. The buzz is terrible but the amp masks it quite well, although means notes don't sustain very well as a result. 

ThePrettyDamned

For strings, go into a store and ask for bass singles

icarusi

I've just got that guitar model (a £249 px). I think the bottom 3 strings are a bit low at the nut to avoid buzz. Mine has 9-80 and there isn't sufficient adjustment to intone the 80 correctly. Probably ok with a lighter string but then the tension would be poor. Considering moving the bridge back 5mm, or putting a 6 string bridge in with something custom for the 7+8.

sweepy

I take it that you are tuning F# B E A D G B E ?, 8 string non fan-fret guitars are a little bugger to get rattle free tbh , I would definitely try increasing the gauge of the F# and B though

WezV

sweepy said:

I take it that you are tuning F# B E A D G B E ?, 8 string non fan-fret guitars are a little bugger to get rattle free tbh , I would definitely try increasing the gauge of the F# and B though

8 string non- fanned fret guitars are almost a non functional instrument in my opinion.

im very familiar with djent, even listen to some.  But I can't get past that massive tension issue when I am trying to play the bloody things.   It's harder to accept it when there is such a perfect solution now readily available for normal guitar money.  Fanned frets don't have to be super expensive custom builds these days.

Fair enough, some people can make decent music from them, but you could say the same thing about a dustbin.  

DLM

Wis for @WezV

Watched this last night, and really didn't like it: