About Rico Martinez Expertise I can answer just about any question on the repair and maintenance of electric guitars and acoustic guitars including intonation, tuning, tonal characteristics, electronics, finishes, hardware, technique, etc.
Experience Thirty years playing guitar. I was also a guitar salesman and repair person at a very popular store, working with a master luthier who taught me the standards of repair. I've been working with guitars most of my life and my repairs have run the gamut from simple to complex body rebuilding and refinish.
Education/Credentials On-the-job training. My college degree isn't related to guitar, but communication, which should be a qualification for answering a question in proper English!
Question QUESTION: Hello, I just a bought an Epiphone Special off of Ebay. It was advertised as new. When I took it out of the box and tested it, I noticed lots of fret buzz. 1 or 2 strings buzz when played open and maybe 3-4 strings buzz when played on the first fret. All the strings are ok when you play from the 2nd fret and higher.
Btw, when someone say go "up" or "down" a fret does that mean towards the bridge or the neck?
Anyway, is it unusual for a new guitar to come out of the box with fret buzz? Granted it is an under $200 guitar.
What do I need to do to get this fixed? Is it a simple adjustment by a pro or is the neck screwed up? Thanks.
ANSWER: Hello Jeff,
Well, I hate to be so vague, but buzz like that can be caused by many different things which can vary from big problems to small problems. The good news is that it's usually a quick fix.
If you are buzzing at the first couple of frets, it SOUNDS like you need a truss rod adjustment. It sounds like your truss rod is a bit too tight if the rest of the frets are sounding fine. A truss rod adjustment should cost no more than $5, or even can be free depending on the store.
Or you can do it yourself, but be careful. If you tighten a truss rod too much, you can break it. It's not easy to break, but people still manage to do so.
If you loosen the truss rod yourself, only do 1/4 a turn at a time and then check the guitar to see if it has improved. NEVER go a full turn because that is too much.
Is it comment for a new guitar to come out of the box with buzz? Sure...depends on the seller. Some sellers adjust a guitar before shipping. Others don't take the time. It's a minor adjustment.
Also, "going up" your neck means toward the bridge. Going down the neck means toward the headstock.
I hope this helps. It may be an inexpensive guitar, but that's no reason for it not to play great!
Rico
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QUESTION: Thanks for the info! On that same guitar the pickup switch seems to be a little flaky. When I first tried it, when I switch to bridge pickup only, there was no sound. Neck pickup only and both pickup positions seemed OK. Just the bridge only position was the problem. I unscrewed the nut and wiggled the switch around a little and then resecured the switch and it seems ok now. Sometimes I hear a little pop when I switch pickups but at least I get sound from the all three positions. Do you think I need to get it looked at or is it probably ok?
Answer Hello again Jeff,
Sometimes pickup switches can get a little dirty inside and make some scratchy noises when you switch pickups. However, not hearing the bridge pickup at all means you probably have a loose wire, or a bad switch, or the switch is really dirty.
I'd say go with it if it's working fine and if it craps out again, you can have someone solder a new switch in or resolder a loose wire. It's a pretty easy fix that you can do yourself if you have any soldering experience.
