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I have recently completed my first classical guitar and have encountered a buzz on the 5th string on both the second and third fret. The funny thing is, when I play it on the second fret it will buzz on the fret I am playing it on, and not the next one down as I would expect. If I move my finger closer to the fret it will stop but that does not seem practical. Does anyone have an answer to this? Thanks

I would have to question the analysis that it is indeed buzzing on the fret you are playing on - that's a very difficult thing to say with absolute certainty. It's possible if during the leveling the fret was ground very flat on top and not properly recrowned, but unlikely.

The more likely options are these. The string is buzzing on the following fret, and as you move your finger further toward the played fret you are in effect increasing the arc as it extends over that fret, thereby raising the string higher above the following fret. This is one reason for the common capo buzz when they are placed too far back from the fret. If this is the case you would obviously need to focus on your fret leveling.

Another possibility is back buzz, or buzzing on the fret(s) between the preceding fret and the nut. These can be very finicky, and require a very specific set of circumstances. As you move your finger and change the angle the string meets the preceding fret at (again, thus changing the arc and string height beyond that fret) the buzz can disappear as the string gets farther from or closer to the fret. If this were the case you would need to raise the nut, and/or possibly benefit from dressing the frets as well. This is a symptom more commonly found on classicals than steel strings. It usually occurs at frets higher than 2 or 3 though, where the string length behind the fret is longer and more receptive to being driven to sympathetic vibration.

Again, it's possible for a string to rattle sitar-like on a very flat fret, but that would be low on the list of usual suspects. If it were the case, it would be a very different sounding buzz than the common fret rattle, usually being much more faint. Again, it would also require a very, very flattened fret.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

The buzz is a very non characteristic sound. Very faint and hard to hear. In fact it took me a couple weeks to hear it.
Thank you for your advice. You have given me a good starting point.

Does it buzz on those frets, or at those pitches? In other words, if you tune the string down to, say, G, does the buzz still show up on the 2nd and 3d frets, or does it move up two frets to still be at the B-C pitches? Buzzing at certain frets is usually associated with fretboard/nut/bridge problems, but buzzing at a certain pitch can have a lot of causes in other places.

The type of buzz you describe is pretty commmon on classicals. All of mine do this, especially on the D string on the lower frets, and also somewhat on the A string. One of my guitars was recently fretted by one of the top repairmen in the country, who does guitars for some of the top players and it buzzes a lot if not fingered perfectly. Indeed, you need to learn to get your fingers closer to the frets, as inconvenient as that is. I have notice Julian Bream, for example, on youtube sometimes making quite an effort to twist his hand or fingers in the lower postions to stay right next to and touching the frets. My technique is not good enough. As another mentioned, this is also partly a function of the crowning, and also sometimes the brand or tension of strings for the given guitar. Sometimes your crowning will do a better job, but really it is mostly in the palying technique to avoid the buzz by fingering at the fret.

What size frets did you put on it? I wonder if size comes in to play here.I would think a higher crown fret could possibly help with this problem.

My experience is that higher is not better. My Kohno was done by the top repairman with extra high frets--I think about 0.05 inches. I had thought that the old frets had been dressed too often and were just too low. The new frets buzzed worse. Pushing harder far behind these high frets does not help. I think that the original post is correct that the string is buzzing on the fret. I am sure that subtle differences in the shape of the crown can make a difference, but this is not a reliable substitute for good technique. Unfortunately, I played for about 30 years believing that one purpose of the fret was to allow me to place my finger anywhere behind it and have good results. This is not true on classicals, and I do not know about steel string. I noticed Bream in concert about 15 years ago playing right up to the frets in the extreme, and then I realized the difference--but it was too late and maybe I was too lazy to make all the corrections, but I did improve some. I am sure if you study the top players fingering in the lower postions you will notice many or all of them adjusting their hands and/or fingers to get right up to the frets on the bass strings. I have seem some rotate their hand about 45 degrees from their usual postion when that is the only way to get all the finger up to the respective frets.

I have only been playing classical guitar for about 30 years(not well, I might add), but I have never noticed that problem (getting close to the frets) on any classical guitar I have ever owned, played, or the one I built. It may be an issue if one tries to get very low action on a classical, but that creates other disadvantages. I'm not saying it isn't better technique to get close to the fret, but not doing it shouldn't create a buzz.

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Waddy

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Classical D strings can actually have a 'built-in' buzz problem. It's sort of complicated, but the way D's are made ssems to encourage coupling between the usual 'transverse' vibration and a 'longitudinal' vibration that is not usually an issue. My former apprentice, Aaron Green, who amkes only (very fine) classicals says that he gets this on about one D string out of three, and the brand and gauge doesn't seem to matter. If it is this built in issue, the givaway would be that the the buzz will go away if you tune the string a little higher or lower.

Bream plays the lute as well as the guitar, and on the lute you really do have to place the fingers carefully at the frets to play in tune. He probably just got into the habit. If you're going to develop odd habits, that's a good one.

I don't know enough to know if this is even a valid point on a classical. But on the instrument I'm making it buzzed a faint buzz and I couldn't figure out why. I thought it might even be a loose brace as I couldn't find it. Turned out it was the truss rod as it wasn't snugged up.

Thanks Guys I figured it out. I ended up just raising the action a little to cure it. I dont think I put enough relief in the neck during construction. Good learning lesson. Your comments were all a lot of help. Thank You

Sam

More on an old thread.

I was recently looking through a translation of Aguado's method for classical guitar. Aguado (1784-1849) was an all-time great performer, composer and teacher. In his method for guitar, he instructs "...placing the fingers of the left hand close behind each fret...is extremely important... and not elsewhere in the space between the frets...otherwise, the more the finger moves back from this point, between frets, the duller the sound, however much pressure is placed upon it."