[deamhain]

Okay dokay shiny happy people,

Following good advice I decided it was time to try new strings so off I went and procured same. Back home, destrung, cleaned and restrung following all available instructions.

Problem.

Bass strings (EAD) sound a tiny bit 'buzzy'. Have read, re-read and read some more all the good instructions from here and elsewhere and can't see where I've done anything wrong. Any clues? Or could it be that my old strings were just so 'dead' that I'd got used to it?

Martin Lights - phos bronze, incase anyone asks!

Cheers

[annoying_2001]

i notice that when i changed my strings awhile ago. but, mine just seemed to have gone away, i think it was that they were new strings. but i could be wrong. i'd look for better answers on this topic when they come.

[omnibus]

Neck adjustment? Did you buy the same gauge strings that you had on it? Has the climate changed in your area? That affects the neck. Try adjusting the truss.

[dadfad]

Do you know what kind of strings you had on originally? Sometimes a change to the lighter will let the neck straighten slightly and give a bit of a buzz. Do the strings feel lighter? Also, check that string on every fret. Play it and see where the buzzing stops. If it's mid neck a VERY slight truss-rod loosening should easily take care of it. Also, if you JUST changed them (within a few hours) and if it was very close to start (with the old strings) the neck may have straightened a tiny bit (with the tension removed) and then might take a while (maybe over-night) to re-shape back to normal. When you check for that buzz. If it doesn't stop (buzzes from open to last fret) then the buzz isn't the string but actually probably a simple mechanical buzzing by another moving part that vibrates from a string's resonance (a bass string is most likely to cause this too).... such as the tuner bushing being loose, a bit of extra string vibrating against something (sometimes it's the ball-end inside your guitar if it isn't pulled up snuggly near the underside of the body), a loose truss-rod cover, etc.... a simple loose vibration that sounds like a fret-buzz. In any case, it's probably easily taken care of, and might even go away by itself quickly.

[deamhain]

Firstly; thanks again for the advice guys!

Fad McFad of McFad (now an honorary scotsman for services to distressed scottish guitar students) has again listed many possibilities that send me away with as many questions as answers - always the mark of a good teacher!

So, following my first ever change of guitar strings here's the latest situation:

The buzz seems to be going away as the strings settle. At least that was the impression I got last night.

The buzzing stops (from memory - I'm in the office at the moment) around the first or second fret.

The climate inside my house has not changed significantly between Sunday and Monday.

I don't know what guage the original strings were as they came with the guitar but these new ones feel a bit lighter.

I'm hoping things settle down of their own accord as has been suggested might happen - I really don't fancy messing around with truss rods with my level of inexperience!

Incidentally Dadfad, you were correct in that I noticed a huge difference when I put the new strings on. There's a lot more 'body' and clarity to the sound.

Cheers again.

[dadfad]

Good! Hopefully they will settle in just fine on their own. If not I have an extremely quick-fix (but give it a day or so if they seem to be getting better). Here's my thought. If it's on the thick-E and it's near the nut, the nut was probably carved for a slightly wider string. Your slightly thinner string gets down inside that groove a very-tiny bit deeper, thus allowing it to get closer to that first fret, which coupled with slightly less tension on the neck, gives you that buzz. Here's a quick, temporary fix short of carving a new nut (this "temporary fix" has been on one of my guitars for over ten years!). If it won't go away. Take a short piece of your thinnest string. Clip it to approx 1/4" long with a bend on the end (like an inverted "L" shape almost) (easier to do the bending before the clipping!). Place that tiny piece under your string in the nut groove, effectively lifting your string ten to twelve thousandths higher near the nut (less so even as you progress up the neck). Make sure the string-segment does not extend past the nut on the fret-board side (so as not effect the intonation). The little L-hooked end (on the head-stock side) will keep it from moving. Like I said, I have a guitar where for years everytime I change the strings, I carefully save and replace that little insert! Being lazy, and being that the problem is perfectly corrected, I've never taken the time to re-carve and replace the nut! Actually, any dense material would work as well... a tiny piece of brass foil, etc. I've heard of guys doing a similar thing with a tiny drop of hard glue allowed to dry in the bottom of the groove, and then putting the loosened string back in (to me, it seems like it would work, but might have to be re-done periodically.) Whatever, you see the intent! Hopefully you won't have to do it at all and the neck will correct itself. Anyway, I'm glad your guitar sounds better!

Now... As for this Fad McFad business and my being be-knighted as an honorary Scottsman! It's an honor! In fact, a bit of Scottish blood flows through my veins anyway. My great-grandmother's father (my great-great grandfather) came to America from Scottland in 1840. He was a Baptist minister, and he played the pipes as well. A phrase my great-grandmother (who loved the pipes) used to often say to me was "Nothing can stir a man's soul, whether to valor or to sorrow, like the pipes". I've sometimes thought that my.... er... proclivity... toward Dropped-D and Open-D is possibly genetic, something in me that calls for the drone of the pipes as I play the guitar! In any case, I thank you!

(By the way, I've recently gotten (back) into a tuning I learned a very long time ago from an old Appalachian guitarist/fiddler he called "Scotch-B" (sorry, he didn't call it "Scottish"!) that he'd learned from his grandfather. It's EF#BF#BE (all changes tuned lower). I never could do much more with it than a few old traditional fiddle-type tunes, but in the last week or two I've been messing around and experimenting with it, I've found it potentially very Scottish-sounding indeed, with reel and aire-like music very accesible on it!)

-Fad McFad