Truss Rod? Other Solution?

[azraelswings]

A friend ordered a guitar from musician's friend. Epiphone acoustic. Buzzes on frets 5-7 on the treble strings, pretty much every string on the 12th fret. At first I figured the rod was too tight giving it a slight backbow. Gave the truss rod about 3/8 of a turn. Anything else it could be?

 

[DogFood]

Epiphone fret job. If the truss rod does not yield good results have the frets looked at by a pro.

 

[seismetr0n]

frets could be out of wack.. maybe a good fret honing, with one of those big fret sanding planes????

 

[cephus]

Randomly tightening or losening the trussrod is not such a hot idea.

First figure out what the neck is looking like. Fret the high E string (the little one) at the first fret and between the last fret and bridge and sight down it (for me it works best from the bridge end). The string acts as a straight edge so you can see if the neck bow is where it should be. It should not be poker straight. It needs bow to function. If it has a back bow, I seriously doubt you're gonna fix it with 1/8 of a turn of the truss rod.

Most of the time, my necks get too straight and start buzzing in the middle. As far as the 12th fret being a problem, it may be just that one fret.

 

[Anfontan]

Was there any tension as you tightened the truss rod? I have known some imports to have a totally loose truss rod, just remember to go in slight increments so as not to break it though!
Cephus has some good points, follow through on his suggestions.

 

[TelePaul]

Think you should look at the frets and saddle before you hit the truss rod. Also, run the fretboard down with some lemon oil just in case its rough wood.

 

[Light]

The truss rod is there to adjust one thing, the neck bow. But if you don't actually LOOK at the truss rod, you will never know if you need to adjust it.

So, to answer you question, yes, it could be MANY other things. And if you are having buzzes at the twelfth fret, it is PROBABLY something else (though I can't say for sure). Get the guitar to a good repair person for a set-up. It is typical for any new guitar (except sometimes with very high end hand built guitars) to need a good set-up. Guitar factories simply can't possibly set-up guitars properly. There are too many things that can go wrong. Take it to a professional and get it done right.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[blazingstrings]

How long after you gave the truss rod a tweek did you see if it was any better?

Some times you may need to give it some time to settle.

I know some great techs were I live and they will tweek the truss rod to a reasonable extent and then sometimes let it sit for a day or so and then check it again.

Not always the case but some times.....

-Blaze

 

[azraelswings]

Thanks for the help all, sadly a pro is not an option.

I did the truss rod yesterday, there was tension. it turned smoothly though. Anyways I'll give it another try today and check the neck.

Thanks again.

 

[Dani Pace]

Fret buzz can be caused by a number of things. The most common is the bridge being set too low. Some guitars will never have a super low action due to the way they are designed. Truss rod needing adjustment is a common cauce of buzz, especially near the middle of the fingerboard between the 5th and 12th frets. When you get a buzz in just one or two places it may be a high (impropperly set) fret. The repair is known as "fret leveling" and consists of filing the fret then recrowning it. Fret leveling is NOT a diy project, but any good repair shop should be able to do it farily quickly and without it costing you an arm and a leg. Often a slightly heavier set of strings will eliminate a lot of buzzes and rattles, factory strings are usualy the lightest set recomended for that model of guitar, easier to play but not always the best sounding.

 

[ggunn]

Was there any tension as you tightened the truss rod? I have known some imports to have a totally loose truss rod, just remember to go in slight increments so as not to break it though!
Cephus has some good points, follow through on his suggestions.

Hopefully he loosened rather than tightened the truss rod. If it is a truss prob, and if the strings are hitting the frets, the truss rod is too tight. The truss rod acts in opposition to the tension of the strings.