Buzz Kill - There are two kinds of guitar buzz......

There Are Two Kinds Of Guitar Buzz......

 

The first is a mechanical or "guitar fret" buzz from high frets or very low action on a guitar where the frets haven't been leveled on the guitar fret board. This kind of guitar buzz rarely translates through an amp.

 

 My friend Curtis called me when he discovered the cause of a recent "mystery guitar buzz"  thought to be in his guitar but instead when he switched off his "push-on" style knob in his music studio to operate on the dimmer lights the "buzz" disappeared. He asked if I knew about that. Sure I knew about it. Sometimes we forget to share information with our friends until they jog our memory. Thanks Curtis!  Now that you reminded me of the buzz. Musicians have a lot to deal with during performances: club owners, equipment failures, another band playing on their stage tonight because someone double booked etc. It also reminded to to share some solutions with my guitar playing friends to make their lives a bit easier.

The second  type of guitar buzz is an "electronic or electrical guitar buzz" from extraneous and malfunctioning electronics, poor ground circuits, loose guitar ground wire and variable resistor switches. These inline with the circuit the amp is plugged into can wreak havoc. For this problem solver we'll concentrate on the most common forms of electrical buzz that drive musicians crazy.

What Curtis discovered was how a rheostat acts in a circuit with a guitar amp. What is a "Rheostat"?  Simply, a device used to regulate an electric current by increasing or decreasing the resistance of the circuit. Some common uses of a rheostat are to dim stage and room lights, to control the speed of an electric motor.  They are used to control the volume of a "house" sound system. It's usually in the form of a push-push on-off wall light control button in place of a light switch. They are used to lower the lights in a room,club, on-stage, in-studio and drive musicians crazy. Armed with this information you are now more prepared to do something.

Some solutions: Calm down. Think. Get your heavy duty extension cord. Look for alternate sources of power in the room. You're looking for an isolated output, ensuring that any electrical noise and interference present on the incoming power supply is filtered out. Try each outlet until the buzz is gone in which case you are no longer in the circuit with the problem. If you still have a problem check to see if you are using a three prong plug. That is important. Most of all you need a good ground. Therefore be sure you have all three prongs working due to any ground issues

Another effective solution to use is a "power conditioner".

Why?  First of all, it has an isolated output, thereby ensuring that any electrical noise and interference present on the incoming utility supply is filtered out. Simply put, a "power conditioner" is used for surge protection and noise filtering. The rig I use has an amp top mounted 3 space rack. There is a power conditioner in one of the spaces (see photos below). As a result if you use a power conditioner or try all of the above solutions something is bound to go right!

Haywire Custom Guitars 

Buzz Kill - There Are Two Kinds Of Guitar Buzz......]

 

Since power line conditioners provide effective and reliable protection against voltage fluctuations they clean up line disturbances. They deliver an enhanced level of power protection consequently referred to as a ‘CLEAN’ supply. - See more at: Power Conditioners

Your guitar needs an isolated output, hence ensuring that any electrical noise and interference in the area on the incoming power supply is filtered out. Kill your guitar buzz.

 

Blog Home

You Can Adjust the Action Of Your Guitar!

My Guitar Strings Are Too High-What can I do?

                                         You can adjust the action!

Action is most commonly thought of as how high the strings are from the frets. Action is a term used to describe how a guitar is adjusted according to how high or low the strings are on the neck which affects how well it plays.

Saddle height directly affects how high the strings sit above the frets. Saddle radius/contour also affects the instruments action as the curvature of the saddle changes the strings height.

                                        What Is A Guitar String Saddle?

What is a guitar string saddle? The saddle of a guitar refers to the part of the bridge that physically supports the strings. It may be one piece (typically on acoustic guitars) or separate pieces, one for each string (electric guitars and basses).

Reasons to raise and lower your string saddles:

    Increase comfort by decreasing pressure on the players finger tips
    Eliminate or decrease buzzing
    Improve sustain and tone
    Improve intonation by reducing the distance (sharpness) of string travel to the top of the fret

If you could make adjustments in action yourself, you won't have to take your guitar to the shop for small incremental changes. the action can be set at the bridge. The action is how a guitar plays, specifically the distance of the strings to the fingerboard. If the strings sit too high, they’re hard to fret; if they’re too low, buzzing occurs.

                  Adjusting Saddle height for Action, Play-ability & Tone

The action is how a guitar plays, specifically the distance of the strings to the fingerboard. If the strings sit too high, they’re hard to fret; if they’re too low, buzzing occurs. The farther a string must travel as it is pushed down by a players fingertip-the sharper the string gets. High action=Sharper notes.

Some players prefer higher action, while some prefer low action. You raise or lower the saddle for higher action by turning the hex screws with a tine hex wrench. Turn the screw clockwise to raise the saddle; turn it counter-clockwise to lower the saddle for lower action. If the saddle has two hex screws, be sure to turn them the same amount so that the saddle stays level.

                                                                  Electric Guitar Saddles

 

This is a QR Code for HAYWIRE CUSTOM GUITARS INC.. If you have a QR Code scanning app, you can simply scan this image to have this business's information displayed on your phone.

Ordering From Haywire Custom Guitars

If you would like to order this or any other custom guitar, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss your guitar needs.

I Just Bought This Guitar and It's Un-Playable!

I Just Bought This Guitar and It's Un-Playable!

 
The problem with a NEW guitar especially an acoustic is that it's NEW! A new acoustic leaves the factory with very high action and it is not meant to be played until it's set up correctly. It's stiff, tight, hard to play and makes your fingers hurt. The store is supposed to tell you-but sometimes they don't know because no one told THEM. 


The guitar factories typically put out guitars day after day and they never know who it's going to end up with them. They'll say, "Well, we don't set them with low action because we don't know if possibly a slide player, who for the most part like higher action, may purchase it".  Sure we get that. However you really need to relay that kind of info to the stores and players and perhaps give them an option to have a similar model side by side with it to be set up for lower action so customers have a choice-high or low action. We get calls like this all the time from customers indicating-"Hey, it's NEW". "Why is it so hard to play?"


So....what does an acoustic player do?  The best way to deal with it is to contact an independent custom guitar shop to have the action set exactly, where they need it to be.  In our Custom Shop in South Carolina we typically have the customer drop it off or ship it with instructions on how he wants it to play, we'll work on it. When he or she comes back to pick it up-we'll ask them to test it out. If it's fine-that's great! If it needs more work to make it comfortable for them then we'll tweak anything that needs to be done to get it where they want it to be while they're right there to test it so they won't have to come back again with the same problem.


While a NEW acoustic can look beautiful on the wall in the store it may need lots of work to get it where the players needs it to be. An acoustic guitar should play with ease and sound great.  The player shouldn't need to think about the difficulty of playing but rather about entertaining and getting their musical point across and creating the mood for the gig. There is hope. You don't have to sell your guitar or return it  but you need to have it set up properly for YOUR style of playing to be happy. We'll do it for you, just bring it in.  Typically a day turnaround time will get you going and playing comfortably and your fingers will thank you.  

Haywire Custom Shop

843-347-5742 

  

This is a QR Code for HAYWIRE CUSTOM GUITARS INC.. If you have a QR Code scanning app, you can simply scan this image to have this business's information displayed on your phone.

Ordering From Haywire Custom Guitars

If you would like to order this or any other custom guitar, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss your guitar needs.

Does Haywire Custom Shop Have An Ebay and Amazon Store?

Does Haywire Custom Shop Have An Ebay and Amazon Store?

That is an often asked question! YES.... and here's why...

Each year in between Custom build projects we build a couple of guitars that we design and put them up on eBay for sale. We don't make much money on eBay but we use it to get guitars in the hands of players for less than the website costs for publicity.

Our philosophy at Haywire is simply this, instead of wasting money on advertising let's just return it back to our customers who will in turn appreciate a great guitar and advertise it for us. Thus, we sell a few guitars for less every year on eBay when we have extra time in the shop and use parts we have on hand to build them. We get our guitars into the hands of players who appreciate them in turn will tell other players. We use Lollars, EMG, Duncan and DiMarzio as well as our own house Haywire Custom Shop brand SRV pickups (specially wound for us) in all of our builds. Each guitar is unique. Since we use parts on hand we can build for less money.

 If you notice on the website our guitars cost bit more because cases, special order items as well as shipping are included. The quality however remains the same. The custom guitars on eBay are built in between custom builds with parts we already have in stock. There are no "special orders" to deal with and specific details that cost more in a custom build thus-the lower price can be offered for sale. The quality, setup, alignment, playability and feel remains the same.

At the low prices on eBay we don't really make money with ebay and Paypal fees, shipping, etc. The cost is about at break even for the Haywire Custom shop, but it is a great no frills way to introduce new players to our quality Haywire Custom Guitars with great set ups and super tone qualities. They also don't have to wait for a build- just simply "Buy it Now" and have it for the next gig.

We also refurbish and sell instruments brought in by our customers on a split commissions basis.
There is not always a "flashing light" showing you where to look for a bargain, however a guitar player seeking a good deal will benefit by paying attention and checking our eBay: http://stores.ebay.com/Haywire-Custom-Guitars-Inc and Amazon stores. So,....if you're paying attention and looking at our stores.....you'll find some great deals!   Start looking.

Ordering From Haywire Custom Guitars

If you would like to order this or any other custom guitar, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss your guitar needs.