Buzzing on open B

Blueingreen · October 2020

The relief on my Gibson 339 had increased to the point where I wasn't enjoying playing it, so I adjusted the truss rod this morning. That gave me a bit of buzz on the higher strings but I raised the bridge a bit and got an action/feel I was much happier with.

Except - the open B string is still buzzing. Everything else is fine all the way up the neck. It's not a slight buzz that you can't hear through an amp, everything sounds good except one note that sounds like a sitar.

The guitar's playing so much better now that I'm reluctant to raise the action/increase the relief for the sake of one note.

Anyone any suggestions for a fix? Do I need a new nut? Putting a new one on would be beyond my skill level and the guy I like to use for this sort of work means longish round trips to drop off the guitar and pick it up again.

guitars4you · October 2020

Assume not buzzing on the 1st fret and thereon after - Assume no other buzz on the other open strings

Fret the B string at the 3rd fret - now look at the gap at the 1st fret - Can you see any gap at all - Suspect not, in which case nut slot to low - If you want at this stage, just to prove a point, put a piece of paper, folded over once or twice in the slot and see if the buzz goes - If it does then that just confirms a low nut

You can avoid the new nut issue by dropping a touch of Supaglue in the nut slot - mask of either side of the nut first - Make sure it goes deep in the slot (use the cut of part of an e-string in the slot to ensure this) - Leave for 24 hours - Now I have to assume you have a set of nut files - Recut the slot, carefully with a .13 gauge file - Do a bit and check - Fret at the 3rd and look for the gap to nearly disappear - This is now the correct depth - Nut needs to be cut at a slight angle - So the top of the 'hill' is at the fingerboard and the 'bottom' of the hill is the headstock - Hope that makes sense

guitars4you · October 2020

Some don't like the idea of supaglue in the slot - But no issues if done well and the glue is harder than the nut so should not be any long term issue

Blueingreen · October 2020

Thanks guitars4you. Much appreciated. To be honest I'm pretty hopeless at anything of a practical nature and probably wouldn't trust myself to do the superglue thing. No problem with the idea of it, just my aptitude for it.

How skilled a job is making a new nut? The reason I ask is that there are local techs I could use but I prefer to make a longer trip to someone I think is better when it comes to issues that require skill and judgement and affect playability. If it's a more or less mechanical thing that any competent tech could do to a high standard I could save myself a trip.

thegummy · October 2020

Blueingreen said:

Thanks guitars4you. Much appreciated. To be honest I'm pretty hopeless at anything of a practical nature and probably wouldn't trust myself to do the superglue thing. No problem with the idea of it, just my aptitude for it.

How skilled a job is making a new nut? The reason I ask is that there are local techs I could use but I prefer to make a longer trip to someone I think is better when it comes to issues that require skill and judgement and affect playability. If it's a more or less mechanical thing that any competent tech could do to a high standard I could save myself a trip.

It's something I would be picky with the repairman about.

There's very little sweet spot between too high and broken. A chancer repairman who isn't highly skilled may well leave it higher than is optimal to avoid potentially spoiling the nut.

If it's too high it can be less comfortable to fret and can cause the notes on the first few frets to be sharp.

Blueingreen · October 2020

Thanks for that thegummy. That would have been my hunch too. The guys I'm thinking of aren't chancers, but I've just found from experience that when it comes to things affecting playability a lot of techs just aren't fussy enough for my taste. Time is money I guess. Even most of the professional set ups I've had have left much to be desired. I know enough to tweak a set up closer to what I want, but I don't have the skills or the tools to improve a poorly cut nut.

noisepolluter · October 2020

I had a similar problem with my 335 back when it was new - the low E chewed through the synthetic bone nut. I ended up having a real bone one cut by a trusted tech and it was worth the time and money. No further issues in 13 years.

guitars4you · October 2020

It is vital to get a nut correctly fitted and cut accordingly - A fraction out and it can cause tuning issues and all sorts - A good tech should be able to do it accordingly - But equally a good tech can sort out that little supaglue mod - It is only a fraction of a mil that is required to 'fill up' the slot enough

womble_fuzz · October 2020

I had a buzz on one fret only on only one string, it turned out the the string had a bend / kink in in around the fret.

guitars4you · October 2020

womble_fuzz said:

I had a buzz on one fret only on only one string, it turned out the the string had a bend / kink in in around the fret.

Not the first time I've heard this and I've come across it many times

Blueingreen · October 2020

Thanks to all. I've gone back to the guitar and by tweaking I've found the exact point at which the relief is as flat as possible without the B string buzzing. The action is not terrible at the point, lots of people would find it perfectly acceptable, but the guitar used to take a lower action and it now suffers by comparison with my other guitars. It's normally my number 1 but wouldn't be now, so I think I need to take it to a tech to get a new nut fitted or the repair suggested by Mark.

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Buzzing on open B

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