buzzing frets

[viento]

Maybe somebody could give me a hint how to get rid of light buzzing above the 12th/13th frets of my new made baritone guitar..
When looking alongside the neck from the headplate down to the soundhole the neck shows a little bow in the region of fret 10 up to fret 14.
Maybe I should make the bone saddle somewhat higher...? Or could filing / sanding the culprits a bit more down help?
I even thought of changing some lower frets...

[rocket]

First off ,, check that the neck it,s self is straight then check for any high frets.
Rod.

[Nick]

If the action is right then you won't need to play around with the saddle at all. As Rod said, also check the neck with a straight edge (or a string pressed down in two places) to see that it's straight or has a slight relief (whichever you prefer), pays to check with a reference edge as sometimes things can throw up optical illusions when eyeballing a neck, even something as simple as a slightly uneven chamfer along the sides of the fingerboard can make it look like the neck is dipping or not straight. If all that appears to be right then play the strings that buzz up the neck until the buzzing stops. Once it stops you need to take a small amount off the previous fret i.e if the buzzing stops on the 15th fret then the 14th is the offending high fret.

[jeffhigh]

Did you level the frets after installation?
Check the relief in the neck, sighting along the neck is not adequate. I look for 4 thousands of an inch (0.1mm)
In my experience, buzzing in the higher frets is often due to a neck with excess relief which has then had the saddle set too low. This gives a 12th fret action which looks right, but is actually too low for the upper frets.

[viento]

Thanks for your friendly help!
First of all I´ll get me a real straight edge to measure the fret tops. I did that before only with a small aluminium tube I had lying on a shelf.
Then I will file down the previous frets of the buzzing ones with a fret file . I hope that will solve this nasty problem.
I have to wait until the end of my holidays though...
but then I´ll post the result.

[jeffhigh]

Viento,
I think you are misinterpreting Nick's advice about previous frets
You would NOT file down the previous frets

But you are getting too far ahead in planning to file frets anyhow.

First diagnose
Check the relief either using the string method (string pressed lightly to frets 1 and 14, check clearance of string to fret midway between) or with a short straightedge spanning the same frets only.

Did you do any fret levelling after fret installation?

[rocket]

Don't file any frets until you get the fret board straight, then and only then can you tell which frets need attention, put 3 or 4 equal thickness spacers along the f/b and when your straight edge can touch them all,,, you have a straight fret board, then you can dress the frets.

[simso]

Maybe somebody could give me a hint how to get rid of light buzzing above the 12th/13th frets of my new made baritone guitar..

My first question is, did you build the guitar, or was the guitar built for you.

Steve

[demonx]

My first question is, did you build the guitar, or was the guitar built for you.

Steve

What Steve said... This is the first question i'd ask. Before jumping right into filing and levelling and adjusting, let's do a background check on what is happening!

As for straight edges, this is the ONLY straight edge I use these days during fretwork. Apart from levelling tools etc.

Also take note of the jig it is on. Over the years I've macguivered many temp jigs for clamping the neck for fretwork and none of them were as good as this stewmac jig. Sure it's rip off, but my fretwork is better now than before I owned it so I'd say it was worth the purchase.

[kiwigeo]

What sort of neck/body join? Is the upper fretboard bolted down? Could be issues other than relief although it's the first thing I'd look at.

[Kamusur]

Nothing worse than a "rising tongue".

Steve

[jeffhigh]

Yes, a rising tongue is another possibility, though perhaps less likely since the buzzing is starting on the 12th fret on a 14 fretter.
Checking the relief takes less than a minute.
We need Viento to do that before further speculation.

[Kamusur]

Absolutely Jeff, ya gotta get the devil in your hands/on the workbench to see whats going on.

Steve

[viento]

Well, I´m back here...I admit a bit late... sorry!
First of all thanks for your help!

Meanwhile I have changed some things on my (homemade) guitar:

I sprayed the top into yellowish or "Vintage Amber" because I like the (fake ) older hue of that.

Then I made the neck a bit wider with stripes of herringbone and a turtoise lining.
Before that I glued stripes of cedro on each side of the neck to have a bit more width.
To make the neck I had measured the neck of my 12-string Rickenbacker but
that was a tad too narrow for an acoustic guitar.
As a result I had to refret it. No easy work but finished successfully
(Too lazy and too costly to make a new fingerboard )
Btw I didn´t forget to glue the tonge of the fb on the top.

New neck - new problems:
Due to the vibration height of the thick ( .047) E-string I get some slight buzzing when hit harder.
Maybe a thinner or other brand will reduce that.

Then I want to make a new and compensated saddle.
A complex work!
But your description is a big help for me!

I´ll tell you when I have finished this task.

Here´s two pics showing the zero fret at the open head
and the whole guitar as it looks now:


...a bit darker as in reality...