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Guys,

I am stringing up my newly built Bouzouki (still having problems) GDAD.

Everything is great but for this one annoying buzz making it unplayable. It is on the 2nd course G string. The first G is fine, all of the other strings are fine.

It is NOT frets
It is NOT nut
It is NOT relief

When played in unison the first G doesn't buzz, the second does. Buzzes open or fretted and remains for the duration of the note. It's really horrible.

The buzz seems to be coming from the saddle. I put a mirror in the soundhole and the strings are seated correctly.

I did have to notch the saddle (only one bridge pin per two strings) so I thought it might be that. I packed the notch with a bit of tin foil but the Buzz remains!!

Am I allowed to swear

Any help will be most welcome, I'm supposed to be taking her out to a friend tonight (potential customer!!)

Many thanks

Mat

Your post contains mostly conclusions. Try to not make conclusions yourself and only present the evidence, as much as you can think of.

What is the nature of the buzz.
Is there relief in the neck, or is it straight?
WHY do you believe it is not the nut?
What is the saddle made of?
Etc.

I do the same thing to my doctor, I tell him about what I think it is or isn't, and then, he inevitably has me back up and tell him about the symptoms so that he can be the one making a diagnosis.

Pictures are really helpful too.

_________________
"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

Its not the nut if if still buzzes on fretted notes ... the nut is no longer in play.

Change the saddle and see if that changes anything .. if your saddle slot has a slight flare to the end of it, it will buzz in there, especially on small diameter strings (same issue at a nut slot). Its also possible that the string is bad if it is a wound string. I had one that drove me nuts as well, changed it and the buzz disappeared.

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Martin thanks - the saddle is bone and there is relief in the neck. It is not the nut for what Tony said

Tony - I have changed the strings -same buzz. I thought about the saddle flare - hence the foil paper, but still buzzes

Howdy Mat!

I just dealt with string buzz on the high E of a guitar that was brought to me for repair regarding that issue. I don't know how it would apply to your instrument with the slotted saddle but this is what I found in my case. The saddle on this guitar is bone and 3/16 wide. The high E was buzzing with the twang of a sitar when plucked whether fretted or open. At first, everything seemed to be set up properly when I checked it out, and I couldn't figure it out. I sat it on my bench and walked away for a moment and when I returned I noticed a slight shadow on top of the saddle under the string. Originally I thought the break point was at the front edge of the saddle, but with the aid of my trusty headset magnifiers, and a bright light, I found that the string was actually breaking just to the rear of the center-line of the top of the saddle. I marked where it broke from the saddle, filed down the front to give good clearance, and wallah, no more sitar buzz. Not sure if this will work on yours since you have no pics for us to see, but it's worth a look IMHO. You might want to consider as was suggested above, making a new saddle. Or fill the slot with bone dust and CA and rework it. Also, I've found that if the saddle isn't resting firm on the bottom of the slot, it can rock creating a buzz, and at the very least, dampening.

_________________
Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Did you try just the offending string by itself to see if the buzz remains? If you have a fairly wide saddle for compensation, are your notches sloping downward toward the pins?