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Trying to maintenance this guitar...it is a custom built EC-1000 with a Floyd Rose bridge. I have 11 gauge strings on it and have tried adjusting everything I can think of to rid it of the extreme fret buzz I get. The worst buzzing comes between the 6th and the 14th frets or so. Higher then the 14th fret all the notes sound plucked as if they are being held to close to the neck. I tried adjusting the truss rod both ways but noticed absolutely no difference in fret buzz. The bridge is somewhat stabilized (goes out of tune a little when using the bar) but is perfectly flush with the body. The action is at ideal height. Really cannot think of what else needs to be done to rid the fret buzz and fully stabilize the bridge PLEASE HELP THANK YOU

This is the kind of thing that when you take it to a pro a couple of quick looks, tapping this and that.... etc. and the pro will know exactly what's wrong.... From your description I have more questions than answers though with no offense intended but I can't translate what you wrote into what I need to know to assist. As such some questions for you.

1) Truss rod: We don't adjust the truss rod by listening for fret rattle.... Instead you sight down the treble and bass edges of the neck respectively observe, note and report. Is there relief, if so to what degree, is there less or more on the treble or bass side, etc. I suspect from your description that there may be some back bow in the neck happening here and if so that's suspect.

2) Nut slots: Do you know how to check nut slot depth? Fret and hold between the 2nd and 3rd and then tap the string over the first and report what you see. Is there space, is the string laying and staying on the fret crown, etc. This is unlikely to be the source because it's a Floyd....

3) Action measured at the 12th in 64th inches. What's the measurements for the low and high e respectively?

4) The Floyd.....: Is it level when the ax is tuned to pitch? If not has the string type and gauges changed lately?

5) The neck.....: Sighting down the treble and bass sides of the neck again is there a visual kick-up of the fret board extension over the body? This in conjunction with too low action at the 12 is often a limiting factor (it will buzz when you find it's limits...) for set-ups.

6) While sighting.... the neck look at the fret ends on both sides too - any obvious high or loose frets that stand out from the crowd?

With these things why there is buzzing should be crystal clear. It could be back bow from RH changes (your profile does not list where you are), it could be low nuts slots although unlikely, it could be that awful Floyd being set incorrectly.... and it could be the action is too low for the quality of the fret plane. It can also be a heavy handed player for the respective set-up.

You say the action is an ideal height - what's that mean in specifics measured at the 12th in 64th inches?

Report back some answers to my questions and I suspect that your answers will be discovered along the way.

One last thing because it comes up in the real world of dealing with customer guitars....

Are you by chance using any alternate tuning such as low C.... and do you by any change tend to hit the guitar like there is no tomorrow.....

Sorry, I have to ask, in our busy repair business at least once a month there is some Robin Hood who is completely responsible for their own buzzing issues because of poor technique OR a set-up that is too low for how they hit.

Thanks

Oh and really lastly for now where are you generally speaking. Again a pro could diagnose this is 3 seconds and I am wondering if need be if we know anyone near you who could help.

Hi Hesh, thanks for being so helpful! I don't take offense at all I know my description was very vague because I don't know how to talk specifics that well yet, so I was hoping for someone to help me break down exactly what to do to get to the issue, so thank you again:
1) there is slight forward bow in the neck, and a little more on the bass side. I was told when trying to determine bowing in a neck to clamp down the first fret while holding the 16th fret with ure finger and to measure the distance between the string and the 8th fret. So here are those measurements: bass side - 1/64 treble side: 1.5/64

2) I've never heard of this so I'm not exactly sure how to go about it. A) do you mean fret the 2nd and 3rd frets on each string individually and check or all strings at once? B) when checking for string space where am I looking? C) when checking if it is staying on the fret crown am I looking at the first fret? D) Should the string nut clamps and string retainer be removed to perform this?
3) low E- 4/64
High e- 5/64
(I don't have to clamp down any strings to perform these measurements like for question 1, correct?)

4) Yes it is level. But I have changed the string gauge from the 9's that it came with to the 11's I'm currently using.

5) For this I'm assuming you're asking if the neck is level with the body where attached...if so, then yes. It is a glued on neck so I don't see that being a problem.

6) As far as I can tell no out of place frets.

Lastly, I'm located in Suffolk County NY, and I am indeed a very heavy player and I know that I should expect some buzzing because of the way I play but what I have right now is very excessive. I am using Standard tuning however. And when you say hit the guitar like there's no tomorrow, if you mean like hitting out of aggregation then NO, haha.

Thanks again I can't express how much this is helping me!

Sounds like you need to loosen the truss rod a little.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

rawlings, as a possible short cut, did you have to lower the bridge when you put the 11's on?

If yes, than try tightening the rod until your test, as in #1), shows a tiny tiny bit of clearance. This should lower the strings at the 12th fret too low. If you then raise them back up to your prevoious numbers, (4 and 5/64") by raising the bridge, you might have better luck.

Assuming the frets are in decent shape (a bold assumption), the heavier gauge strings sound like they pulled too much relief in the neck. If the bridge was then lowered to compensate, the strings are now hanging up on the frets that are now swooping up at the body end of the fingerboard.

This problem would be make even more pronounced if the larger gauge strings are sitting up high in undersized nut slots.

Just my $.02

Thanks Rawlings for the data now we can figure it out.

It sounds like there is relief in the neck (forward bow slightly) and that's a good thing. What is not great is that there is more relief on the treble side than the bass side and this is not what we want but not uncommon either... With the lousy fret work and total lack of understanding of fret planes that many manufactures have... we want slightly more relief on the bass side and a flatter, less relief neck on the treble side. Nonetheless most f*ctory guitars it's luck of the draw and you have a 50/50 shot of getting less on the treble side and more on the bass side.

As for number 2 forget this for now, with Floyd's nut slots although still an issue for intonation when they are high are rare low so that an open string buzzes when plucked.

Changing strings from 9's to 11's is a huge change and would require a complete set-up again - no electric guitar can change string gauges this much without many things being off such as intonation, action, relief, you name it so this is the root problem changing strings without doing a complete set-up afterwards. Now we know what's wrong and why. Even changing from 9's to 10's will change it all.....

Regarding the extension I was looking to see if you see any kick-up where the frets are over the body. It's often a limiting factor in set-ups and may still be but first the guitar needs a proper set-up.

I do around 600 set-ups annually and string gauges are super important to know what the client likes and will stay with once we set it up for what they like. Different string gauges and even different brands of string with the same gauges... can have differing amounts of tension associated with the string choices. This means that the instrument to be optimized needs to be set-up with the string that will be used by the player.

From what you shared with me the instrument needs a complete set-up and this would include the nut slots, relief (truss rod) action, intonation, leveling the stinkin Floyd..., and a plethora of other things such as cleaning the frets, checking for loose frets, cleaning the electronics, tightening and cleaning the input jack, and going over every inch of the thing for defects that need to be addressed.

Because you changed string gauges it needs a complete set-up and that's not something that I am going to talk you though on an Internet forum. The set-ups that I do address over 55 things on electrics so you can see it's comprehensive and specific to the instrument as well as takes a while to do.

If you feel qualified to do your own set-up step one for me is adjusting the truss rod with the strings that will be used and the instrument tuned to pitch, then the nut slots (even with a Floyd because it impacts intonation if you don't take them down very low, and then the rest of the set-up.

My suggestion if you don't feel qualified to do a complete set-up is that you take it to someone in your area for same. Let me know if you have any questions and of course I am happy to help with PMs too.

Many things in setting up a guitar, electric or acoustic are dependent on other things and as such there is a sequential order to the approach that I embrace and use every day. It works for me and my clients very well. From the sounds of what you have there it needs everything addressed as any instrument would with a large change in string tension.

An observation after working on hundreds of these is that Ibanez and ESP's usually have some of the best fret work and necks in the business.... Go figure..... not what I would expect. This is also why shredders love them, out of the box they typically can do super low action because the quality of the fret planes is very, very good. Much better than G*bsons.... sadly....

If those are accurate measurements then you have somewhere between 15 and 25 thousands of relief - that's huge. Too much relief (combined with low action and/or bad fretwork) can cause buzzing in the upper frets. And yeah, its twisted but there isn't much you can do about that.

Take the strings off and take all the relief out, then get the frets perfect. Restring it and see how much relief is pulled into the neck, adjust to somewhere between 0.004 and 0.010 with the truss rod - use automotive feeler gauges to measure (capo at the first fret and hold a string down at the neck joint). Now check the nut slots (a quick check is to hold each string down at the third fret and tap it over the first, you should have a bit of clearance). Adjust the bridges to give you the action that you want at 12 or 16 or where ever you want to measure (you can use your little 64's rule for this), deal with the trem and then set the intonation. Each step affects the next, take your time and measure accurately.

interesting...

I have the following questions:

1: was this buzzing present before the strings were changed from 9's to 11's? if not, then very obviously what has transpired is rooted in the gauge change

2: whom was it that did the work required after the change? and just exactly what was done?

Floyds are set up for 3 springs with 9's, 4 for 10's and 5 for 11's...while this is most likely not part of the issue, it is still something to think about..while you can adjust the claw for the springs to hold the Floyd level (actually parallel with the plane of the fretboard) they will over time 'wear out' and the bridge will tilt up in response.

the change from 9's to 11's should result in the following: Floyd tilts forward in response to more tension, and this must be dealt with either by adding springs and adjusting, or simply adjusting

intonation changes, and this must be dealt with after Floyd has been leveled

neck relief increases (becomes more bowed) and this must be adjusted via the truss rod...

I am confused by your statement of "Higher then the 14th fret all the notes sound plucked as if they are being held to close to the neck" are you saying they sound as desired? realize this is the point at about where the neck joins the body and after the point of truss rod adjustment has a big effect...

as Hesh has noted, the change in string gauge requires a completely new setup...and it is most likely in this scenario where something went amiss...without seeing the guitar I can only guess at the following: the Floyd needs to be raised up...the nut could arguably be dropped a bit because of the heavier strings, but that is a PITA job more likely to be achieved by a luthier...so this, as David Farmer responded, most likely leaves the culprit of too much relief and action was set by 'simple' numbers...

action...a four letter word many times...back in the day I used to have a very high action when I had a much heavier hand...lots of relief, high bridge, etc...and that pushed the limits of how far the saddles could be moved back and still intonate...biggest goal is simple: intonates correctly, has little to no buzz (again, this is very arguable...pups are known for not picking that up, but it certainly reduces sustain), and WORKS FOR YOU...I've known many people over time that had no issue with buzzing from a super low action...I'm not that way...it robs sustain for sure, and to me part of that is the resultant 'tone'...to each their own

Great advice -- this is a hands on job, check credentials and go for it. $.02

_________________
Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

It sounds like multiple problems at the same time....

Fretting out near the body is most likely from the bridge being too low... Could be one of the many things listed above.

Neck has way too much forward bow in it... Adjust trussrod to fix as per instructions above.

I personally believe that a Floyd is one of the best reasons out there to have a pro do a setup for you.


Thanks

They are an odd critter, that's for sure.
I've hated them since they came out.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince