Adjustments to an Archtop

I have a question: When I capo to the 7th fret, and strum open, I get a buzz on the G string. If I play an Am chord, no buzz... which tells me the fret is high. Stuart did a partial fret dress -- but only above 12. Or maybe the guitar set after he adjusted it. IDK. Problem is he's on vacation now, and I have a song set to do on Sunday. So, what adjustments do I have available to me on the Savoy?

I'm looking at this gear-looking screws on the floating bridge and I'm wondering if I can raise the action slightly and take the buzz away?


Or is this more of a truss rod adjustment?

Buzz is noticeable. But not horrible. Seems like a small adjustment would take care of this...

What do the experts think?

Use the edge of a credit card method to see if any frets are high. If there is one and I would guess the 9th fret, the card should rock on it, if held on the 8th to 10th frets. If you put the capo on the 8th fret and it still does it, but stops when you put it on the 9th, that would be pretty sure. Yes, it could be that you need a touch more relief and the truss rod needs to be loosened a little, but check the frets first.

You can turn the bridge screw knobs and raise the bridge, as a quick temporary fix. Just remember how much you turned it, if you need to get back to square one. It could be just the treble string side needs to move up a little. Loosen the high strings a bit to make turning the knob easier. Not lots looser ! The string pressure is what is holding the bridge in place.

For what your trying to accomplish in a pinch adjusting the string height action up a little won't hurt. The bridge height adjustment wheels are not a truss adjustment. You may even perfer it up higher because of your use of the capo.

I have been known to take a file to the trouble making fret wire! Don't think you need to go there at this time.

I was told by an older guitar player that he finds that Guilds tend to have the fret buzz issue where the neck fretboard attaches to the body more than other guitar manufacturer's. I found it hard to believe it was more of a Guild "thing". I think all guitars need fine adjustment to make the "players".

Interestingly, a few years ago I did a tour of the Martin factory and the one piece of gear that caught my eye was the automated laser measurement equipment that probed the neck and frets to assure that the fret wires were at the right height. I don't recall if the automated measurement tool only measured or if it corrected on the fly any fret wire issues. However that is one tool that assures a quality product at an affordable price. We like to believe the craftsmanship from a earlier time gave us great instruments. However all the hand built guitars had more variation and may explain how one guitar is "a keeper" and another one not. Now lower price point guitars have consistent quality.
M

Thanks guy!

JohnW63 said:

You can turn the bridge screw knobs and raise the bridge, as a quick temporary fix. Just remember how much you turned it, if you need to get back to square one. It could be just the treble string side needs to move up a little. Loosen the high strings a bit to make turning the knob easier. Not lots looser ! The string pressure is what is holding the bridge in place.

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Thanks John. I'll admit, the floating bridge has me a little spooked. I guess I'll get over it when I change my first set of strings. (I know -- one at a time)

matsickma said:

Interestingly, a few years ago I did a tour of the Martin factory and the one piece of gear that caught my eye was the automated laser measurement equipment that probed the neck and frets to assure that the fret wires were at the right height. I don't recall if the automated measurement tool only measured or if it corrected on the fly any fret wire issues.

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Yeah, the PLEK machine. It will file away the high spots as well. IDK what happens if they plek it for medium strings and you switch to lights, tho. That always worried me about it. BTW, you can take any guitar and have it plek'd. Pretty pricey tho and many folks seem to think its not worth it.

PittPaster, what's the fuzzy looking stuff sitting between the guitar's top and your bridge base?

Walter Broes said:

PittPaster, what's the fuzzy looking stuff sitting between the guitar's top and your bridge base?

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That picture was taken when I first got the guitar. It is a protective paper that was put on there from the factory. (And has since then been removed!)

I hate to say it. My Newark Street Starfire III had a similar but much worse problem w/fret buzz.
It turned out my top was sinking. Every bridge adjustment just made the problem worse.

Good luck.

Pittpastor's looks fine, from the angle in the picture.

marcellis said:

I hate to say it. My Newark Street Starfire III had a similar but much worse problem w/fret buzz.
It turned out my top was sinking. Every bridge adjustment just made the problem worse.

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The A-150 Savoy's bracing is completely different from the Starfire III:

>The A-150's pressed solid-spruce top is X-braced, rather similar to a flat-top acoustic.

>The hollowbody Starfire III has a laminated top with parallel tone bars, which is the more common bracing seen with most hollowbody archtops.

I ended up adjusting the truss rod. Maybe two 1/4 turns and the buzz went away. I am still a little wonky about going near that floating bridge.

That bridge is adjustable with those thumb screws. It sounds like you could use a good setup. In that pic the strings already look quite high. "Fret rockers " are cheap to find frets that are sitting a bit high, but you have to have some knowledge to make use of it anyway. I would pay for a good setup and check.

swiveltung said:

That bridge is adjustable with those thumb screws. It sounds like you could use a good setup. In that pic the strings already look quite high. "Fret rockers " are cheap to find frets that are sitting a bit high, but you have to have some knowledge to make use of it anyway. I would pay for a good setup and check.

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Well... the thing is, I already paid for a setup...

I missed your post about a little truss rod adjustment. I had this nice long paragraph going.

In short, most hollow body guitars don't see much capo use. Just because the style of play, Jazz, for instance, moves all over the neck and weird chords. You guy may have set it up with a fairly low relief to make the guitar play as easy as possible, all over the neck.

If your adjustment removed the buzz and the guitar is still intonated well, down in the high frets, then you are ready to go !

PittPastor said:

Well... the thing is, I already paid for a setup...

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Sorry, I read over the capo use in your original post. It happens a lot on one string or another with capos IME and I've found finding the right capo for a particular guitar helps.

Capos can vary. I have a small handful. I have a Shub designed for a 12 string that works on lots of things. I can quickly tighten the knob, while it is in place and gain some or lose some tension, depending on where I have it.

swiveltung said:

That bridge is adjustable with those thumb screws. It sounds like you could use a good setup. In that pic the strings already look quite high.

Click to expand...

One thing I forgot to mention is that the pic I posted in this thread was taken before the setup. The action isn't that high any more. Sometime after the first of the year, I'll take it back to Stuart Day and get his opinion on whether this is just a slight settling that the truss rod is supposed to take care of, and that's what its for, if the rest of the frets need dressed.

As for Capos, that's interesting. I have a few. I'll have to experiment and see what works best. I have a Shubb on it now, that I've been using on my other acoustic with pretty good success. I also have a Shubb for my Classical I can try. Also, I guess I can play with the positioning a bit to see if that makes any difference.

Thanks for the ideas!

PP - Just sent you a PM..... Bob