Sam,
This may be another shot in the dark, but when you tie frets, sometimes
there is a small hump in the fret where the flat part bends around to
the back of the neck, even if the frets are really tight. A slightly
bulging fret at this bend could cause buzzing and it's likely to cause
it on the 1st course, closest to where the fret bends.
That's one of the reasons nylon frets are so difficult to work with,
IMO, as well as the very thick gut frets. If there is a slight gap with
the fingerboard where the fret curves around neck, you could have a high
point. I've been able to just file it down a bit and make things
work--it's that or lose the fret entirely (which costs $$).
And sometimes the opposite occurs: the fret gets sort of mashed and
stretched out at the bent point. Then you could have a low point and
buzzing when fretting . . .
Gary
--
Dr. Gary R. Boye
Professor and Music Librarian
Appalachian State University
On 31 August 2012 23:13, Sam Chapman <manchap...@gmail.com> wrote:
Interesting. I don't have an answer, but I have a problem of my own:
when I string my theorbo with gut, the 1st course always becomes untrue
rapidly and starts to buzz against the frets, long before I have such
problems on the other strings. Even if the string is fine when I put it
on, within as little as a few hours it can be more or less unusable
whereas I can play the other courses for several weeks or months before
such problems develop. The action is normal and though I use very low
tension now, I've had the same problem with higher tension strings too.
I've tried many makes of string and it's the same with all of them. I'm
wondering if there's a problem with the way the neck is set up, or if
it's something about the way I pluck that particular string that causes
it to become untrue. Or perhaps it's the way I tie the frets (though
they're tight and I don't see any obvious problems there)? It's a
Jacobsen theorbo, 84cm, about 20 years old. Any ideas?
All the best,
Sam
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