Fret buzz on RG560 (only on open strings... hmm?)

[Stygian]

Hello, this is my first post. This is the largest guitar forum I've posted on yet and looks very awesome, so I think I'll be sticking around. Anyways, moving on...

I have a lovely Ibanez RG560 in black, a year '87, which I was so lucky as to pick up at a pawn shop for $100 out the door! I haven't been playing it so much recently (had it a couple of years now), but today after I restringed it I noticed mucho fret buzz on open notes. Yet, every fretted note, even notes on the lower frets; 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc, seem fine. I'd hate to think it is ready for a fret dress, as I said, only open notes do this.

I have the neck set straight, I have the action actually placed too high, I have 09-46 gauge strings tuned to E, I have the bridge set up properly (I've been doing floating trem set ups for years now - I'm real popular with my guitar playing friends ). Anybody have any idea why it is like this?

My possible ghetto solution: I had the idea to unscrew the locking nut and put a thin piece of metal in between to raise the height until the buzz is gone, then reattach the actual nut. Is it worth a shot?

Thanks for the help in advance. I'll try to reply to this tomorrow.

[brothersnowgone]

Sounds like shimming the nut should do the trick, if you're super cheap just cut up a soda can and use the aluminum for sheets...also you might want to add some relief to the neck instead of having it completely straight, then your action might not need to be so high...

[Stygian]

Hello. I'm still around, but will soon be logging off. Thanks for the reply. Add some relief to the neck, you mean so that it is concave (dips "inward" a bit at the middle)? I just adjusted the truss rod tonight, so it may still be setting, but last time I checked it is a little bit concave. I meant to say the neck is relatively striaght, not perfectly. It is definitly not convex though, so that's not where my fret buzz is coming from.

Is making the nut higher a common practice on a locking nut guitar like this?

[brothersnowgone]

Yeah, a locking nut needs a shim sometimes, it's fairly common. And yes your neck should be slgihtly concave, and most but not all necks start to relieve around the 7th fret (all guitars differ, even identical models) Make sure if you are going to have to adjust the relief that you do it in quarter turns and give it time to settle, loosening the truss rod will give more relief and tightening will take away relief (not that it sounds like you don't know all of this already, but just in case)

[brothersnowgone]

Also forgot to mention, welcome to jemsite!, it a great site/community. If you ever have time take a look at the tech sections on this site and also rich's site Ibanezrules.com (swirl banner at the top) you can find the answer/solution to almost any guitar question in these areas. Other than that if you can't find an answer in those places, questions are always welcome

[Stygian]

Thanks for the welcome, dude! Yeah, I think I'll be hanging around here from now on.

I knew most of the truss rod stuff, but actually I do larger turns than 1/4 turn. I do give it time to settle, but I should probably be a bit more gentle with my adjustments. By the way, do you know why a locking nut would need a shim from time to time? I can't imagine the metal got worn, I can't really figure it out.

[brothersnowgone]

I've never known a locking nut to need some shims over time either(only when you first get one and it needs a setup job), did the open notes ring always, or just all of a sudden? Also, yeah I also do more than 1/4 turns cause I've done enough truss rod fiddling to know when I"ve turned it just enough, I just didn't know if you've ever done it and I did want to give you info that would destroy your neck Maybe your neck changed somehow(which can sometimes happen after a long sit without playing)

[Stygian]

Well, I spent a while making an additional shim, there were two plates behind the locking nut already, when I figured out my problem. The shims have been digging into the fretboard and raising that! So now I have to somehow hold that down and when I reattach the shims, make an additional one with a 90 degree edge that holds the others in place.