setup issues

[Fastfingers83]

I'm having a hard time setting up this JPXI, the action is already higher than i'd like at 2mm on the low e with .006 relief and i'm still getting fret buzz all over the neck. The saddles look like they are as high as they can go as well. It also sounds like there is something else vibrating with the string and makes the guitar sound very harsh and tin-like.

 

[DrKev]

Well, your numbers seem good - 0.006" relief and 2 mm should be fine. At 2 mm personally, I would go for 0.008" - 0.010" as rhe magic numbers tat work for most people but you should be OK with that.

What gauge strings and what tuning? One string or all of them?

Assuming the string is not faulty, look elsewhere first and eliminate the silly things that re easy to overlook. Sometimes what seems like fret buzz can be something else - make sure there are no loose screws anywhere (a loose strap button once drove me crazy for hours). Pickup heights too, if they are too high they can pull on the strings and all kind of weird things happen.

 

[Fastfingers83]

I've got it playing better,but there still sounds like something else is vibrating with just the g-string...Im going to throw a new set of strings on when i get time today and see what happens. I've checked everthing,the tuning is standard and the string gauge is whatever they use at the factory(im assuming 9-42), I just got it back from replacing the neck. The thing that sucks is it stays with UPS for a week and when I took it out of the case the neck had a backbow to it.

 

[Fastfingers83]

I have no idea why this guitar sounds like complete ass, but im done messing with it. I guess im going to have to take it to a local shop and see what they can come up with. I've never had so much trouble getting a decent sound out of a guitar before. It doesnt matter which amp I plug into.

 

[Svava]

I've got it playing better,but there still sounds like something else is vibrating with just the g-string...Im going to throw a new set of strings on when i get time today and see what happens. I've checked everthing,the tuning is standard and the string gauge is whatever they use at the factory(im assuming 9-42), I just got it back from replacing the neck. The thing that sucks is it stays with UPS for a week and when I took it out of the case the neck had a backbow to it.

Most guitars I've owned have trem springs that vibrate to a sympathetic frequency.

For me it was B. For you it might be G.

On my Luke it does this but if I put the trem bar in it sounds fine- not 100% sure why.


Sounds like you have more profound issues in this case though.

 

[Etudica]

I too have a slightly strange buzz going on with my JPXI as well on g string, but it's not bad enough to come through the amp unless using piezo and digging in hard.

I never thought about checking strap screws, so thanks for that kev.

Also, aren't the JP pickups non-adjustable? If you need to raise them I suppose you could shim them, but lowering seems like a serious operation unless I'm missing something. I had some strange buzzing on my jem7vwh which in the end was solved by lowering pickups. A great tip just not sure how it would apply to JPs...

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[lock-ny]

+1 on the springs in the cavity, put some foam under them and it deadens the vibration from the springs....

 

[Fastfingers83]

Ok, I've tried putting foam on the springs and that didnt help any but I'm pretty sure its the strings buzzing on the frets,I have the action at 2mm which is pretty for high a JP guitar, am I wrong? It still wants to start buzzing and losing sustain around the 12th fret and above. Is it possible that they cut the slots for 10's instead of 9's by mistake? Can I compensate by raising the bridge?

 

[t_rod]

Pics would help. Sounds like either bridge is not parallel, saddles too low, or neck misaligned while with UPS. Worries me that they kept it for so long and had a backbow on arrival which implies (to me at least) the neck may have shifted. Just my 2cents

 

[Fastfingers83]

Pics would help. Sounds like either bridge is not parallel, saddles too low, or neck misaligned while with UPS. Worries me that they kept it for so long and had a backbow on arrival which implies (to me at least) the neck may have shifted. Just my 2cents

Bridge is parallel, I didn't mess with the saddles at all. I'm still at a loss for the g-string vibrating or resonating more than the others which comes through the amp and makes it sound very harsh. I'm going to get a scrunchie and see if that helps

 

[t_rod]

Are you still getting fret buzz on top of that?

 

[Fastfingers83]

Are you still getting fret buzz on top of that?

No,I had a buddy come and help me get it setup right but the g-string still sounds like its vibrating alot more than it should and its driving me insane! Anybody looking for a JPXI? lol

 

[DrKev]

Ok, I've tried putting foam on the springs and that didnt help any but I'm pretty sure its the strings buzzing on the frets,I have the action at 2mm which is pretty for high a JP guitar, am I wrong? It still wants to start buzzing and losing sustain around the 12th fret and above. Is it possible that they cut the slots for 10's instead of 9's by mistake? Can I compensate by raising the bridge?

2mm is high for John Petrucci, and the JP guitars are factory set for his preference. 1.8 - 2 mm is medium-low action. Over 2.5 mm would be high. Remember factory spec for most other brands is around 2 mm and a LOT of people will get significant fret buzz if they ever tried playing at such low action as Petrucci uses. (And if you listen to Petrucci playing clean live he sometimes buzzes quite a bit). Every player hits the strings a little differently and we all get differing amounts of fret buzz even playing the same guitar. So, no, 2 mm is not high for the JP guitars, it's high for JP himself, and everyone else's mileage will vary. Personally, anything lower than 1.8 or 2 mm and my playing will buzz a little all over the neck. The audience never notice, nor do other musicians, but I do. So I keep it at 2 mm or a hair over.

If you are getting fret buzz above the 12th fret, the answer is raising the saddles. Why? Because the nut has no effect on fretted notes and the truss rod has little effect past the 12th fret and no effect past the 17th fret. The only thing left is the bridge or bridge saddles, which you can of course raise. Try one half turn on each saddle adjustment screw (with 1.5mm allen key). That's easy to remember, easy to undo if necessary, and will give you about .2mm extra height over the 12th fret.


BTW, the nut slots make no difference here because 1) the bottoms of the slots will be the same height for different string gages, only the width would change, and 2) usually slots are cut the same width for both 9s and 10s. Having a slot a little wide by a 1/1000th of an inch is no consequence at all.

 

[Fastfingers83]

One other question I had was measuring the relief on these guitars, the faq says capo the 2nd and fret the 12th but I always assumed you capo the 1st and fret where the neck meets the body then measure at the 9th?

 

[DrKev]

There is more than one way to skin a cat, and all are good. Most manufacturers say hold 1st and body fret and measure 8th (which is what I do), some say 1st and last fret and measure 9th, and some Like EBMM say 1st and 12th and measure 5th. You can try them all and see how the result of each measurement changes a little depending on how you do it.

But they all come out pretty close. Set a guitar up according to one manufacturer's recommendations and it will be pretty close to everybody else's too.

 

[t_rod]

Thanks for the wisdom DrKev! Some great info about action set up. I did notice on the Live At Budokan album JP buzzes a bit when playing the intro to Endless Sacrifice.

About that g-string issue, is it more noticeable when palm muting? I had a similar issue on the d-string which I fixed by putting surgical tubing in the trem springs and a piece of electrical tape loosely wrapped around the strings behind the nut. Put your finger on the g-string between the nut and tuners, pluck, and see if it goes away. Hope that helps

 

[Fastfingers83]

Sweet, thank you for the info...it's not noticeable when Palm muting just a tad but if you just hit the note without any muting it just sounds horrible. I was doing a search and it sounds like it's called a wolf tone or something, where the note being played resonates at the same frequency as the body of the instrument. I tried putting a rubberband above the nut and I've got surgical tape around the springs and foam stuffed inside the springs and it still there.

 

[wynn]

A wolf tone usually refers to a particular note, it sounds like your issue is with more than one note on the g string though, is that right?


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[Fastfingers83]

A wolf tone usually refers to a particular note, it sounds like your issue is with more than one note on the g string though, is that right?


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Yeah it's more than one note, idk maybe the guitar is supposed to sound like this and it's just not for me.

 

[T- Bone]

My buddy's JP did the same thing and ended up having a fret that was too high. I think it was the second fret. He had it leveled and it was fine