Intermittent buzzing A string at third fret

pdale

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Dale, here, back again. I'm a bit frustrated. As mentioned in a previous post, I am having a bit of trouble with my uke.

I started noticing a twang and sometimes buzz on my A string when I pressed the second fret. It sounds ok over the sound hole but up in the strumming area, not good. I put a straight edge on the fret board and it rocked noticeably over the third fret. The other strings don't appear to be impacted.

Well, have taken it to two different retail places and neither put a straight edge on it. The first blamed old strings or my technique. So I changed the strings, spent a few days getting the strings in tune and the buzzing did not improve.

The second place offered to raise the bridge for $10, so I agreed. The buzz did not improve and she then said it was probably that I was pulling up on the string and causing the problem. She said if it didn't happen all the time, it wasn't the instrument.

Ok, I am not an accomplished uke player, but I have played string instruments for many years, so I think I know when I have caused a buzz or twang.

So, my first question is, can a problem be intermittent and still be the instrument?

Second question is, should I just let it be and believe them that it is my playing that is the issue?

Third question: My uke is an $80 starter uke (Cordoba UP100 laminate mahogany) but sounds and plays quite nicely for my taste. (other than the above problem) Should I try to find an actual luthier to take a look or would it be more expensive to level the frets than the uke is worth?

I'm a bit discouraged.

Thanks for any advice,

Dale
 
I would say it's a fret that needs to be smoothed down.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 6 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 41)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
I would say it's a fret that needs to be smoothed down.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 6 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 41)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

That's kind of what I thought. Any idea how much that costs?
 
That's kind of what I thought. Any idea how much that costs?

Shouldn't be very costly, it's a very straight froward process from what I understand. If you're in the Los Angeles area, I go to Eric's Guitar in Van Nuys, he does great work, is not expensive, but because he's so good, he has lots of clients so it takes some time for him to get to it.

If not, then yes, I would think it would be worth it to go to a real luthier.
 
If you can measure a raised fret then you have a raised fret and that is a problem. The first thing to do is to try and hammer it back down with a soft faced (plastic or rubber) mallet. If that doesn't fix it then it needs to be filed down. This shouldn't be a particularly big job for an experienced Luthier.
 
Thanks, both. I am in Florida so it would be a bit of hike to visit Eric. But thank you!! I have gotten a couple of luthier recommendations from some local uke friends so will give one a call.
 
An update. Today I took my uke to a technician at a larger music store in the area (but much farther away!) and finally got a serious look at my fret concern. He could see that the fret was high, but indicated that it was the neck that was very slightly pooched up, rather than the fret. I think I saw it too but not really sure. It is very subtle. If it had not been pointed out, I never would have guessed. You can clearly see that the fret is higher though, which is a relief. Finally someone who didn't blame my playing. The smoothing of the board and refretting would be more costly than the uke is worth, so we agreed it was better to let it be my beater uke and start looking for a new one. It certainly is playable, so I am going to take my time deciding what I want to buy. That is going to be tough with no local stock to sit and play and compare. Mostly laminate in my area. I really struggle with buying without playing. Guess I am going to have to plan a road trip.

Thanks again to all!

Dale
 
If you slacken off the A string and put a sliver of kitchen foil under the string then re tune.

This will raise the A string very slightly at the nut end of the scale length, then see how it goes.

Add another sliver if need be and repeat.

If this cures of lessens the problem then build up the nut slot with some bicarb of soda mixed with a drop of superglue.
 
The smoothing of the board and refretting would be more costly than the uke is worth, so we agreed it was better to let it be my beater uke and start looking for a new one.
Dale

Smoothing the fretboard and refretting is not the way that I would necessarily recommend for fixing this instrument.
This may be considered the BEST way to do it but yes, Its expensive. If the ONLY fault is one raised fret then you just need to break out a fret file and level the fret. It's not really that difficult. If there are other faults going on yet at this point its just the one fret that you've noticed then this is different.
 
I'd be willing to bet that the reason you couldn't see a problem with the neck is because there is no problem with the neck. My experience with "guitar techs" at guitar stores has been that they nearly always see something wrong with the neck. The possible reasons for that are many.

An update. Today I took my uke to a technician at a larger music store in the area (but much farther away!) and finally got a serious look at my fret concern. He could see that the fret was high, but indicated that it was the neck that was very slightly pooched up, rather than the fret. I think I saw it too but not really sure. It is very subtle. If it had not been pointed out, I never would have guessed. You can clearly see that the fret is higher though, which is a relief. Finally someone who didn't blame my playing. The smoothing of the board and refretting would be more costly than the uke is worth, so we agreed it was better to let it be my beater uke and start looking for a new one. It certainly is playable, so I am going to take my time deciding what I want to buy. That is going to be tough with no local stock to sit and play and compare. Mostly laminate in my area. I really struggle with buying without playing. Guess I am going to have to plan a road trip.

Thanks again to all!

Dale
 
If you are in Florida and looking for a new ukulele, is this place near you? http://www.theukuleleplace.com

It's about an hour or two away and I would go, but their website seems to indicate irregular hours and best to call first. I'm sure I will make my way down there one of these days if they are open on a weekend day. Thank you!
 
I'd be willing to bet that the reason you couldn't see a problem with the neck is because there is no problem with the neck. My experience with "guitar techs" at guitar stores has been that they nearly always see something wrong with the neck. The possible reasons for that are many.


Maybe so, but the fret is still clearly high whether it's the neck or the fret. I do like the idea of taking the fret down a bit, but will wait til I have another uke to play before attempting that. Yes I do think it could get screwed up forever, and not willing to be uke-less. (Didn't he play for the Red Sox? ;) )
 
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