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Low E and A String Buzz All The Way Down The Neck on JTV-69


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I just purchased a JTV69 from Guitar Center Outlet last week.  It has string buzz from one end to the other, every fret on the Low E and some on the A strings.  Also the Low E seems to be especially dead (go figure, it's rubbing).  Guitar has really low action 1.4mm Low E at the 12th.

 

I put new EB 10's on it. Didn't help.

 

I put a piece of metal over the middle pickup.  I could have swore it made a difference.  So I lowered the pickups on the Low side (may have helped a hair). But not nearly enough.

 

Neck looks very flat so I loosened the Truss Rod 1/4 turn.  That did put a little curve in it and raised the string height a little but buzz is still there. Maybe a hair less....

 

Next I started really looking hard at the problem.  If I press like hell on the string it stops buzzing and this works all the way up and down the neck.  But I mean you have to really press with all your might.  Never seen anything like that.  I went from a Schechter to a Fender Strat recently and I did have to learn how to use Jumbo Frets, but this is nothing like that.

 

Does it with power on or off.

 

Only thing I haven't done is raise the action.  Just purchased a small enough allen wrench to try that.  However, it seems like the bridge is sitting almost flush in the rear.  I don't think a piece of paper would slide underneath.  Which is fine, my American Strat is setup that way now.  Stays in tune better. Maybe that's there the problem lies.  Not sure how to raise the bridge.

 

I guess I have 30 days to return it for Store Credit.  Wonder if I'm screwed? I could take it to a luther but I'd rather try to learn something, taking slow subtle steps and then reversing them if they don't correct the problem.

 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Mike

 

 

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It should have come with all of the allen wrenches needed to do adjustments.  I have never purchased a guitar that was set up to my liking out of the box.  I had to do some minor tweaks to my JTV69S too.  All guitars need a good setup out of the box.  Glad you got yours to your liking.  I really like mine and I play it far more than any of my other guitars. 

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However, it seems like the bridge is sitting almost flush in the rear.  Maybe that's there the problem lies.  Not sure how to raise the bridge.

 

 

Yep, raise the bridge at the 2 pivot points. Since your low E is the problem you may

only need to raise that side. A little bit makes a noticeable difference.

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On a 69, you should only need to adjust the individual piezo.

Adjusting the bridge posts needlessly changes the overall action on all the strings,

when you need to do only one.

 

Make sure of the relief and at what fret the fall-away or leveling out occurs.

Check the intonation with a precision strobe tune (not one of those $30 ones from the corner

music store), or have a local guitar tech do intonation on it.

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Adjusting the bridge posts needlessly changes the overall action on all the strings,

when you need to do only one.

 

When he said "string buzz from one end to the other" it sounded to me like he meant all 6 strings.

If that were the case then adjusting the bridge height could have been the problem.

It was on my 69 only in the other direction. My strings were all (way) too high so I dropped the

bridge, tweaked the truss rod and saddles from there and I was good to go. :)

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My JTV69 came arrived from Sweetwater with an almost perfect setup.  I was amazed seeing as they're about 800' above sea level and I'm at 6,000'.  A couple little tweaks to individual string saddle height and it was spot on.  There was no buzzing whatsoever right out of the box and the guitar was almost in tune.

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String action overall is adjusted at the bridge post, the piezo saddle allows for dialing-in

an individual string.

 

Altitude can have a little affect, but it has to do with the climate in your area, mostly the

long term temperature and humidity. Amount of Neck Relief in a set-up is set different for

a guitar in a temperate zone than for a guitar in say, the Great Lakes region.

 

Neck relief and action sets the string level and done right will prevent fret-to-string buzz.

 

Changing string gauges requires adjustments in the set-up, because changing gauges

changes the string tension, so a whole new set-up is required to adjust for that.

 

And what ever you do, take it to a guitar tech who knows how to do this correctly and knows

the specs and range of specs.

 

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My JTV69S from Sweetwater was almost the way I like it.  I had to raise the E and A saddles slightly and the low E was way off on intonation.  Easy adjustments.  Action was very nice - not as high as most guitars ship with.  Trem was nice and level and the nut was very nice.  I like 10's and that's what it came with.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just purchased a JTV-69 from Sweetwater. Love the guitar . . . but also have string buzz on the D,A, and E strings only using any of the 12 string models.

When I switch out of the 12 strings . . . no buzz ???

Any ideas ???

Tx,

 

dant601

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Have the set-up checked (by a Line 6 authorized tech).

Sounds like the action is a smidgeon off on that half of the neck.

The more resonant Models can exaggerate such things.

Going from one location climate to another can have an affect on the set-up.

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Another thought - pickups might be too close; the single coil pickups on my JTV69 have a lot of pull down towards the fretboard which was stronger on the fatter strings. 

I lowered them as one of the first adjustments because the bass is too strong for my taste - it was also suggested way back by stevekc:

 

"* Adjust the pickup height.  I should point out the JTV-69 uses single coil pickups with strong magnets. I adjusted the pickup height same as I would a vintage Fender Strat - that is I made damn sure the bass side of the pickup is backed away from the strings. If these pickups are set too close to the strings, it kills sustain, and the strong magnets can actually "pull" the low strings sharp with periodic oscillations as seen on a strobe tuner. Lower the pickups and these oscilaltion anomalies go away, and sustain improves!"

 

http://line6.com/supportarchivenew/thread/73637

 

Pulling the strings low can cause fret buzz!

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  • 2 months later...

Hi All

 

I have the same issue of string buzzing all along the neck. I brought it to luthier and we saw that there is a terrible fret craftmanhip on the neck. You could see that uneven frets and there was openings that you can insert your nail  between fret and fretboard. So I brought the guitar to store and they will nail again some of the fretwires and do some leveling on fretwires. I will take the guitar back tomorrow. I was suprised this guitar has such a bad craftmanship on the frets. I hope luthier acan fix it. 

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Hi All

 

I have the same issue of string buzzing all along the neck. I brought it to luthier and we saw that there is a terrible fret craftmanhip on the neck. You could see that uneven frets and there was openings that you can insert your nail between fret and fretboard. So I brought the guitar to store and they will nail again some of the fretwires and do some leveling on fretwires. I will take the guitar back tomorrow. I was suprised this guitar has such a bad craftmanship on the frets. I hope luthier acan fix it.

If its really that bad, then any attempted "fix" is like putting a silk hat on a pig, and you are likely to be disappointed with the results. Save yourself the aggravation and spend whatever $ you were gonna give the luthier on a replacement from Warmoth. You won't be disappointed. Makes the 69 a different instrument...night and day difference, trust me.
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Even the (less expensive) Mighty-Mite replacement necks make quite a difference.  Compared to the Warmoth offerings, maybe more like "night and early morning" than "night and day" :-)  I looked longingly at the Warmoth necks, but between the long lead time and price I couldn't justify it. 

 

For my fingers and playing style the stock '69 neck was a disaster. 

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Even the (less expensive) Mighty-Mite replacement necks make quite a difference. Compared to the Warmoth offerings, maybe more like "night and early morning" than "night and day" :-) I looked longingly at the Warmoth necks, but between the long lead time and price I couldn't justify it.

 

For my fingers and playing style the stock '69 neck was a disaster.

Only takes forever and gets really expensive if you have them build your neck from scratch. Search through their "in stock" necks, and there will be dozens, if not 100 or more to choose from won't break the bank and are either ready to ship, or just need the final finish. I chose the latter this time, and it shipped within 10 days or so.

 

Always a bunch to choose from that are below $200.

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Really...  Wish I'd known that two years ago :-).  They are not doing themselves any favors with the setup of their web site.  I do not recall seeing anything about "in stock" when I was poking around.  It was a while ago, but my definite impression was that everything was custom.

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Really... Wish I'd known that two years ago :-). They are not doing themselves any favors with the setup of their web site. I do not recall seeing anything about "in stock" when I was poking around. It was a while ago, but my definite impression was that everything was custom.

That sux...maybe the site was recently updated then. The search filter is over the top specific and there is definitely an entire "in stock" section. You can filter by type of wood(s), profile, radius, fret wire, finish. I did pay a little more for mine (~$300 shipped?? dont remember exactly) because I really like birdseye maple with abalone inlays...and you can pay upwards of $800 or $1000 if you really wanted to, but its not necessary. $200-$250 will get you a really nice neck.

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Hi All 

 

My JTV-69 returned back from luthier. He levelled the frets and now the frets are much lower . They even became like mediım jumbo frets. Playability is much more better then before but i think I will also go for a warmouth neck. Only problem it becomes so much expensive if they try to ship to Turkey

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Just a curious point here, as I have just started to do some measurements on my JTV69, when I started to reset the action from factory default. (I mean, I had played the guitar as it was for a while before deciding I should be able to set this better myself)

Mine came to me with the Low E side of the bridge set at 13/64 and the High E side set at 9/64, as measured at the rear as a distance from body to underside of bridge piece. The simplest way I saw to adjust this was to turn the two poles at the front of the bridge.

I now have them both set to 8/64 (1/8) and the action has improved immensely. (Same as a strat btw)

Couple that with setting the radius of the individual saddles to the 12" radius of the neck now means I can get an action that works all the way across the neck.

Wish I had done this right away, when I got the guitar.

Now to adjust the pickups.

What I would really like to see is a complete set of setup specs for these guitars, in the same manner as fender do. For now, I am using their specs and finding out what might be different from a standard strat model. Each time I adjust my JTV69 closer to the strat specs, it gets better, so I intend to continue down that road

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IMO Guitar specs are just a starting point.  You can adjust to your taste if you know what you are doing.  Strat specs should work fairly well as a starting point for a '69.  Mine came from Sweetwater fairly well adjusted for my taste.  I had to raise the Low E and A slightly at the bridge saddle to get rid of some fret buzz.  Most guitars come set up much more conservatively - not to my liking at all.  My JTV was set up very nicely at the nut - something that many posters here find not to be the case.

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IMO Guitar specs are just a starting point. You can adjust to your taste if you know what you are doing. Strat specs should work fairly well as a starting point for a '69.

Yup...I really don't understand the obsession with "factory specs". Hauling out the calipers and "spec-ing it out" guarantees nothing. The measurements are not magic. If a guitar plays comfortably (entirely subjective...means different things to different players), with minimal buzz, proper relief, etc etc, then its fine. Don't care what the measurements are. My JTV has proved no more difficult to set up than anything else I've ever owned. Set it up how you like it and play....

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  • 1 month later...

I would like to point out that this "Warmoth" etc. necks making a big improvement is VERY much subjective and dependant on your hand shape, finger size etc.  

 

A fair # of people have commented on being unhappy with the neck and/or seeing an improvement upon replacement.  Again, people who are unhappy are much more likely to post than those that are happy with it stock

 

Personally, I've played a LOT of guitar necks, and I own a PRS, an Ibanez, and I've played plenty of Fenders.

 

I GREATLY prefer the stock (maple) 69S neck to many other necks I've played and yes that includes Warmoth.

 

If the neck doesn't fit you, it doesn't fit you.

 

But it is not true that a Warmoth or whatever neck is BETTER than the stock neck. For SOME yes, but not for others.

 

Personally, I would NEVER change this neck.  I love it

 

So just keep that in mind when you read that "oh noes this neck on the JTV was so awful and the Warmoth is such an improvement"

 

People tend to extrapolate from the individual to the aggregate. Iow, person X does not like the JTV neck and likes his replacement much better THEREFORE the replacement IS A MUCH BETTER NECK (implied: for everybody)

 

that;s utter rubbish

 

again, ymmv

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I agree.  I personally like the JTV 69 neck.  It fits my small hands better than most other stock necks.  Warmouth will make anything you want so you can get a neck from them that will fit your fancy - and their quality is great.  Bottom line is that everyone should get a neck that they like - and the advantage of the Strat like design is that it is easy to swap out necks.  A good neck costs a few bucks but having a guitar with the perfect neck for you is worth it.

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