I just received my guitar and it’s buzzing




This video is for customers who just received their guitar in the mail and it has a minor buzz. Dennis Jr. shows you how to remove the buzz turning the truss key.   This is extremely common as when you’re shipping through different temperatures and humidity levels it causes the woods to shift slightly.  Our guitars have a truss rod adjustment that allows you to dial in the neck perfectly to your playing style and remove any buzzes and rattles.

I’ve had my guitar several months/years and it’s starting to buzz and or crack

Humidity and your Guitar

If you have a guitar that once played beautifully that is now buzzing, hard to play, sounding poorly, or is cracking, you have sustained damage from dryness.  All guitars from all manufacturers must be stored between 50 and 60% humidity.  If not the woods will warp causing playability and sound issues and will eventually crack. Damage can happen in a matter of weeks if conditions are severe.  New guitars with high quality solid woods and low action are most susceptible.  Less expensive guitars with high action will not be affected like a precision made solid wood Martin, Taylor or Zager with low action.  This type of damage is not warranted by any guitar manufacturer but it is repairable.  (Martin Warranty, Taylor Warranty, Fender WarrantyCollings Guitar Care, D’Addario Humidity & Temperature page)

Signs that your guitar has sustained damage from dryness

  • Buzzing or rattling on one or several strings especially near the sound hole.
  • Getting the same note when fretting certain chords
  • A leaning saddle (from a bridge tray that dried out and expanded) 
  • A peeling pickguard from the woods condensing loosening the adhesive 
  • Loose wires on electrics from the adhesive  drying out that holds the wires down
  • Looseness around electronic package from dry woods shrinking around it
  • A cracked bridge or separation of the bridge from the face 
  • Sharpness of frets when sliding your hand down the side of the neck 
  • A hump in the fretboard that sinks down into the soundhole 
  • Flatness or sinking of the face (a guitar’s face should bow outwards) 
  • Flatness or sinking of the back (a guitar’s back should bow outwards) 
  • Creaking in certain parts of the body
  • A crack on the face right next to the fret board. 
  • A crack running from bridge to the bottom of the face. 
  • Cracks around the screws of the electronics on electric models. 
  • A crack on the back, neck or heel. 

How to repair your guitar

Here’s a secret most guitar shops won’t tell you.  99% of buzzing, playability and sound issues can be solved by simply adding water.  When a guitars woods get dry the face lowers.  This lowers the strings closer to the fretboard causing buzzing, playability and sound issues.   To fix it a shop can install new frets, file the frets, build a new bridge, saddle, nut, even replace the entire neck, and all of this work will get your guitar playing again.  Or you can simply add water back into the woods that will raise the face back into its original position and fix the problem entirely.  Why don’t shops tell you this?  BECAUSE THEY CAN’T CHARGE YOU FOR IT.   We’d like to say these practices are rare but being in the guitar business over half a century we’ve seen it’s the norm.  By simply hydrating the woods and adjusting the neck using a system luthiers have used for hundreds of years (as shown below) you can bring your guitar back to 100% playability and sound without spending hundreds of dollars and without causing more damage to your guitar as shops often do.

Cracks

Water can even mend cracks if they’re small or just beginning.  By super hydrating your guitar as shown in the video below it causes the woods to swell causing small cracks on the face and back to disappear.  If your crack is larger 95% can be repaired by simply running a bead of Elmers glue into the crack as shown here.  There are shops who will tell you your guitar needs entire refinishing making the crack cosmetically disappear, but what they DON’T tell you is by applying a new layer of finish it will ruin the sound.   There’s a reason artists like Willie Nelson who has cracks all over his guitar doesn’t refinish it.  He knows if he did he’d lose the sound quality that’s been gained from many years of aging.

Step by step video to repairing your guitar




 Send your guitar to Denny for servicing

Denny still services guitars but charges a lot less than most guitar shops, and since he built your guitar he knows how to get the job done right. If you’d like Denny to service your guitar follow this link to our service page.

 

Correct String Height How to Raise & Lower Action




Dennis Jr. explains in detail where correct string height should be when your guitar is new and how you can adjust string height to your particular playing style.

 

Master string change video




This has been called the most thorough and useful video on the entire internet for changing guitar strings. Here you will see Denny’s 70 years of knowledge about guitars.

How to make a guitar humidifier that actually works!




In this video Dennis Jr. will show you how to make a guitar humidifier for free that will work better than any high dollar humidifier you can buy in the shops.

Humidity and your guitar




Denny describes the optimal humidity to store your acoustic guitar, the dangers of dry climates, and what you can do to keep your guitar in pristine condition.

How to reattach loose wires dangling inside your acoustic electric




Dennis Jr. shows you how to tighten those wires and we’ll send you the new Fishman adhesive fastener for free.  When the adhesives begin to come free this is a sign of dryness so before your guitar begins to buzz or cracks check humidity levels and make sure it’s being stored in 50% or higher humidity.

Using your capo




Using the capo can change your playing entirely for the better. Learn how to use this small tool in this video.

Heavy handed players




Denny talks about this style of playing guitar and how playing less heavy handedly will only help your music and also protect your guitar too.

Fine tuning




Denny talks about being in tune so your playing sounds the best.