Floyd Rose string buzz issue

leib10

leib10

Well-known member
I have a FR-equipped guitar that has open and fretted string buzz on the G string. The other strings are fine. I took it to a tech to look at and he can't figure out what's wrong with it. I'm at the end of my wits with this guitar... any ideas about how to fix it?
 
The G string is always the problem child. It could be many things. A high fret, nut not high enough to handle the neck radius, truss rod adjustment. Does the buzz go away when you play the G# on the first fret?
 
leib10 said:
Nope. It buzzes on all frets and when played open.
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If it buzzes on the last fret, it has to be at the bridge. Did you try a new string? Maybe it's not seated right on the trem string block.

Also check to make sure it's not hitting a pickup.
 
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Yep, it buzzes on the last fret too, so it must be the bridge. Maybe the saddle is defective?
 
I find when this happens it is normally something at the saddle end.. take the string out and re install it, if it still does it try turning the little block retainer around 180deg .. also spray some WD40 or similar onto the bridge metal
 
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leib10 said:
I just ended up ordering a replacement bridge. I didn't really like the one the guitar had anyway. Thanks for the replies and we'll see how this goes...
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I have had less troubles with the GOTOH Floyds.
 
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I had something similar happen on the B string with one of my guitars. Only the B string buzzed at any position on the neck, including open. Through experimentation I resolved the issue completely. What worked for me was keeping the B string fine tuner screwed most (2/3 - 3/4) of the way down, thus exerting more force on the fine tuner tension plate. I usually prefer to keep all the fine tuners at the half way torqued down point, to maximize the plus or minus adjustment range. On this guitar the problem just disappeared when I adjusted that fine tuner down more than the others. Obviously I first unclamped the locking nut and adjusted the main tuners to compensate for this action.
 
thegame said:
I had something similar happen on the B string with one of my guitars. Only the B string buzzed at any position on the neck, including open. Through experimentation I resolved the issue completely. What worked for me was keeping the B string fine tuner screwed most (2/3 - 3/4) of the way down, thus exerting more force on the fine tuner tension plate. I usually prefer to keep all the fine tuners at the half way torqued down point, to maximize the plus or minus adjustment range. On this guitar the problem just disappeared when I adjusted that fine tuner down more than the others. Obviously I first unclamped the locking nut and adjusted the main tuners to compensate for this action.
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Yes to this. I chased a strange metallic buzz on an unwound string on a Floyd equipped guitar and finally discovered that the spring plate with the 6 tabs that press up against the bottoms of the saddle bolts was not exerting enough pressure on the offending saddle. I carefully bent the spring tab for that saddle upward to increase pressure between the bolt and the fine tuner and the buzz went away.
 
thegame said:
I had something similar happen on the B string with one of my guitars. Only the B string buzzed at any position on the neck, including open. Through experimentation I resolved the issue completely. What worked for me was keeping the B string fine tuner screwed most (2/3 - 3/4) of the way down, thus exerting more force on the fine tuner tension plate. I usually prefer to keep all the fine tuners at the half way torqued down point, to maximize the plus or minus adjustment range. On this guitar the problem just disappeared when I adjusted that fine tuner down more than the others. Obviously I first unclamped the locking nut and adjusted the main tuners to compensate for this action.
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That is extremely interesting and useful information. Thank you
 
PDC said:
Yes to this. I chased a strange metallic buzz on an unwound string on a Floyd equipped guitar and finally discovered that the spring plate with the 6 tabs that press up against the bottoms of the saddle bolts was not exerting enough pressure on the offending saddle. I carefully bent the spring tab for that saddle upward to increase pressure between the bolt and the fine tuner and the buzz went away.
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Did you dismantle the entire bridge to do this? I think I may have tried this but didn't have enough wiggle room to bend that single spring plate with the bridge set in place.
 
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I had one drive me nuts and it ended up being the spring tension wasn't enough. I use a stop that has a screw that the block rest on. When I struck the d and g strings hard I'd get a buzz sound. It was just enough to float the tremolo. Tightened claw one turn and its fixed.
 
thegame said:
Did you dismantle the entire bridge to do this? I think I may have tried this but didn't have enough wiggle room to bend that single spring plate with the bridge set in place.
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I didn’t have to dismantle the bridge in my case, I did remove the long bolt that compresses the string block in the saddle - took the bolt all the way out. Then I could get a bit more upward movement on the spring tab. But the tip of the spring tab does line up with the fine tuner, so if your spring tab needs a good amt of bend, you might need to disassemble the bridge. Also, a brand new spring plate from Floyd is not that expensive a fix if that is where the problem lies.
 
Welp, replaced the whole bridge and the problem is still there. I'm at the end of my wits on this.
 
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