JP 6, another fret buzz question...

[Megadeth79]

Hello everyone,

Sorry in advance for asking another boring fret buzz question.

So, I have just bought a second hand JP6. It plays great but there is an annoying fret buzz on the 15th and 16th fret of the high E string. The neck relief seems good. I raised the action a little bit but made no difference.

It has stainless steel frets. They look like brand new. As I do not have a fret rocker at home I could not check if the fret is well levelled but I would be surprised if it is not, as it is a Music Man.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[beej]

Generally, if you're experiencing buzzing on the higher frets, raise the bridge saddles. (On the lower frets, loosen the truss rod.)

Beyond that, you really need to look at the neck with a straightedge (or use something like the string) to see what's going on. Could be a high fret.

 

[DrKev]

A credit card (in good condition) can be used as a fret rocker. It's not as good as the real deal fret rocker but if there is something majorly wrong, you'll find it. Just make sure you only contact 3 frets at a time. You'll have to cut one of the sides of the credit card which is why I try to keep old ones handy.

Try rocking across 14-15-16, 15-16-17, 16-17-18, 17-18-19. If one fret is high, you'll have rocking in only one of these positions (I am guessing that will 17th fret, 16-17-18). However low frets can cause buzzing too and can be harder to figure out becaus ethe card will rock in more positions.

Music Man are known for the quality of their fretwork but of course as guitars are played and loved and age anything can happen.

What's the production date of your guitar? Check with the serial number tool here: Serial Number Database
All Petrucci guitars shipped before mid-March 2012 will be nickel silver frets. How can I tell if the JP has stainless frets?

 

[Megadeth79]

A credit card (in good condition) can be used as a fret rocker. Just make sure you only contact 3 frets at a time. You'll have to cut one of the sides of the credit card which is why I try to keep old ones handy.

Try rocking across 14-15-16, 15-16-17, 16-17-18, 17-18-19. If one fret is high, you'll have rocking in only one of these positions (I am guessing that will 17th fret, 16-17-18). However low frets can cause buzzing too and can be harder to figure out becaus ethe card will rock in more positions.

Music Man are known for the quality of their fretwork but of course as guitars are played and loved and age anything can happen.

What's the production date of your guitar? Check with the serial number tool here: Serial Number Database
All Petrucci guitars shipped before mid-March 2012 will be nickel silver frets. How can I tell if the JP has stainless frets?

Thank you very much for the reply and the help.

The guitar has stainless steel frets according to the serial number database.

 

[Megadeth79]

If there is no problems with the frets, hopefully it is just a neck relief problem. I will straighten the neck a bit now to check (as the buzzing frets are the high ones 15th 16th high e).

 

[DrKev]

Changing neck relief won't change clearance over the upper frets. But because neck relief affects action a little, too much neck relief can inflate the action over the 12th fret which can cause us to reduce saddle height too much. So raise the saddle a little. If you want to raise all saddles to match go ahead and reduce neck relief a touch to compensate.

 

[nervous]

Just as an aside, there is a fine balance sometimes between relief and saddle heights when trying to dial in the last little bit of preferred action/string height. Some guitars are more forgiving that others and some never get where I want them. What are your current 12th fret string heights? 3.5/64's is a pretty attainable height on the high E for most guitars but if you're at 3/64 or less you could ne asking too much. Being a single string issue in a specific area it is likely a high fret, but again may be more evident with super low action. Another thing that I have personally introduced as an issue in that area was when adding a shim that was a bit too much so wondering if there is possibly a shim in there as well. But no need to go there yet. Get some real measurements of current relief, string heights and fret checks as described in that problem area and that will help present a clearer picture of what might be going on. It's not that complicated once you do it a few times.

 

[GoKart Mozart]

Hello everyone,

Sorry in advance for asking another boring fret buzz question.

So, I have just bought a second hand JP6. It plays great but there is an annoying fret buzz on the 15th and 16th fret of the high E string. The neck relief seems good. I raised the action a little bit but made no difference.

It has stainless steel frets. They look like brand new. As I do not have a fret rocker at home I could not check if the fret is well levelled but I would be surprised if it is not, as it is a Music Man.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Dumb question but have you changed the strings yet on the second hand JP6? Reason I ask, I've bought several used guitars that at first glance seemed like they would need fretwork, but just turned out to be issues with the old strings.

 

[Vadauco]

If there is no problems with the frets, hopefully it is just a neck relief problem.

The only way to know 100% sure is to straighten the neck and use a fret rocker.

 

[Chronomariner]

I have had a few guitars adjusted by an experienced luthier that are trusted by many artists.
I don’t know too much about this stuff but he told me it is not uncommon to have some fret buzz with low action.
It’s not an issue if you don’t hear it while playing through an amp and it doesn’t affect the strings in a negative way while bending them.

If it is choking the strings then I would just let someone else with experience look at it, if it doesn’t help much to do minor adjustments.