I love musicman guitars but...........

[jim_messina]

Hello, i have a sub1 guitar and i love it, it has a nice twang sound, the neck feels great, i change the tuners and now i have schaller with locking and i replace the pickups for a gibson T500 on the bridge and a bill lawrence on the neck, two push pull for parallel/series and series out of phase...everything is OK to me.
I have a guitar almost perfect but i think that the radius of this guitar is too vintage ...i can't use low 0.10 strings without having fret buzz when i play full bends, my luthier recommend to change the radius for a 14 or 15...i think it will be great that musicman could design new guitars with a different radius, what do you think? do you have fret buzz when you use low strings?

Take a look at this simple example that i made:

 

[nobozos]

I'm assuming that when you went to the heavier strings, that you had the guitar set-up for the heavier gauge. I don't want to insult you by stating the obvious, but the radius of the neck should not contribute to fret buzz by changing the gauge of the strings. If there is fret buzz, it is more than likely due to improper set-up of the guitar.

 

[mesavox]

Yea... sorry... radius isn't going to cause 10 gauge strings to buzz. Plenty Subs, and same radius guitars out there with 10, 11, and even 12s on them. I don't know who that luthier is, but he must have been on some sauce or something.

A change of gauge is going to require (if it's a trem guitar) tightening the claw screws, a trus rod tweak, and sometimes a nut filing. The buzz might be in the nut ya know...

 

[jim_messina]

I forgot to say something...i have fret buzz only when i play full bends and regular bends in some frets.

 

[jim_messina]

I'm assuming that when you went to the heavier strings, that you had the guitar set-up for the heavier gauge. I don't want to insult you by stating the obvious, but the radius of the neck should not contribute to fret buzz by changing the gauge of the strings. If there is fret buzz, it is more than likely due to improper set-up of the guitar.

Yes, i set-up my guitar for 0.10 ...and the fret buzz is only when i play full bends.

 

[izzy]

Musing aloud ... Jim Messina; interesting log in.
badump

 

[bkrumme]

There's no real way for us to help here, unfortunately. What you consider a "full bend" and what I consider a "full bend" may be totally different. Plus, this is the internet and full of misinformation.

The only real way to know is to have a good luthier look at it, or to call up EBMM Customer Service.

 

[jptortor]

I'm likely in the minority but I also prefer a a flatter radius. The 10 inch is ok though. Very playable and comfortable.

I really like 12 inch the best, like on the morse and luke. I just think it makes the bending and playability a little easier for me...

 

[jim_messina]

Full bend like this:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-SYLBFMahE"]YouTube- Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 guitar solo, POD XT, David Gilmour[/ame]
At 0:38

Check this:

 

[izzy]

perhaps ...

... just kidding

 

[tornandfrayed]

Jim, i agree with just about every thing the fourm has told you...they know what their talking about... Iam not trying to hurt anyones feelings but i think your repairman might be looking for work... To change the radius all the fretts would have to be pulled and the frett board would have to be sanded down with a radius board...and if you have
a maple board thats a bit more of a problem...rosewood is a lot easyer to do...then your looking at refretting it...then crowning the fretts...if your fretts are worn that could contribute to the buzzing and you would need yo get them dressed...i would get a second opinion from a certified luither...i hope i was some help...good luck!

 

[mesavox]

yea but from 9 to 10... they're going to fret out on a bend at much the same time. It frets out from another part of the string touching the frets higher on the neck as the angle increases. The difference in thickness here is not going to cause the fret out very much sooner at all unless the setup isn't proper. The increased pull from the strings is going to bend the neck headstock toward the bridge. Or, if you went to 8s the same thing would happen because of the bulge in the middle of the neck.

The vintage radius is going to fret out at roughly the same time on any gauge if it is set up right with any different gauge. Yes, it will be sooner than it will on a flatter neck, but then there are other tradeoffs that flatter radius necks have. The guitar is not a perfect instrument. One mans trash is another man's treasure.

First things first... did you adjust the trus rod, spring claw, and check the nut to see if it needs filed?

If you did all that, and are SURE it's right, call customer service and see if they have any advice. If you're not sure it's right, call them anyway and ask how they'd set it up. Either way, I don't buy the slightly heavier gauge not working with a 12" radius neck... it's been done for decades now.

 

[bkrumme]

While I see your point, I also believe this to be a non-issue. Music Man already has guitars with wider radii. They've been doing it for a long time. The John Petrucci guitars have a 15" radius and debuted nearly a decade ago.

So, they have guitars with 10", 12", and 15" radii. That pretty much covers the spectrum unless you want something even flatter.

Otherwise, I'm sorry to say your problem will only be fixed by one of 3 options:

1. Make sure the guitar is set up properly.
2. Have the fretboard re-shaped
3. Buy a John Petrucci guitar

 

[jim_messina]

First things first... did you adjust the trus rod, spring claw, and check the nut to see if it needs filed?

Truss rod and spring claw are ok but the nut i don't know, good point...i'm going to check the nut...thanks for the advice

 

[nobozos]

This is just me talkin' here, but if you are fretting out bending a whole step on your Sub1, either your action is too low, your neck is not adjusted properly, or your frets need to be leveled.

It really shouldn't matter what the gauge of the string is. If it didn't buzz with 9s on, it shouldn't buzz with 11s. The distance from the bottom of the string to the frets didn't change when the gauge changed. Yes, the string is thicker, but the this additional thickness doesn't bring the bottom of the string any closer to the frets. The bottom of the string is still going in a straight line from the top of the fret to the top of the bridge saddle regardless of the gauge of string.

Chances are that the increased tension of the heavier strings changed something in your set-up, which is now causing the fretting out/buzzing.

 

[douglasspears]

There's no real way for us to help here, unfortunately. What you consider a "full bend" and what I consider a "full bend" may be totally different. Plus, this is the internet and full of misinformation.

huh? Yeah, there's no way to make sure we all know what a full bend is, so let's give up

 

[tommyindelaware]

you simply need a fret dressing and pro setup.

I forgot to say something...i have fret buzz only when i play full bends and regular bends in some frets.

 

[Dante]

i think he's just screwing with you. never every have i met a luthier who suggested a radius change as a solution to fret buzz. i study with a shredder teacher, most of the guys play fairly normal guitars. if a good setup doesn't do it, the Petrucci is an alternative AND THE STERLING JP50 HAS AN EVEN FLATTER FINGERBOARD.

reradiusing the neck will nuke the resale value btw.

 

[jim_messina]

Guitar Tabs - Bend 2

Full bend.

 

[bkrumme]

huh? Yeah, there's no way to make sure we all know what a full bend is, so let's give up

So, what distance across the fretboard is a whole tone? Do you use one finger to bend? two? three? The point I'm trying to make here is there are different ways to bend a string. Depending on how you do it, the physics will change. They all can result in a whole tone up from the original fretted note. Also, depending on the original fretted note, the distance of the bend to get a whole tone difference will change.

Why not ask me what I mean instead saying I'm giving up? Besides, the bend in the Floyd tune would be more than a full bend. It goes at least 2 whole tones up.

Nevertheless, listen to what Tommy says. It's not every day you get advice from Steve Morse's tech.