Guitar action.... I think I messed it up :(

zoom!

So I was short on cash and I had like 50 euro so for my starter guitar I ended up buying this 'Swift Les Paul Standard'. It looks pretty good but the pickups and quality of the guitar itself are what you'd expect from 50 squid.

Anyway It came with incredibly bad fret buzz. I thought it was my technique at first, but now I've improved and I'm certain it's not. Anyway the other day I decided to try and fix it and I adjusted the thrust rod a bit. First thing I tried was make it looser, which made it worse, So i went looser again, it got a bit better but still worse than it was. So I thought I'd just leave it and put it back to the way it was, and when I tighten it again it sounds horrible, I mean the strings won't even make noise its just pure buzzing. So what should I do? And if u suggest take it to a repair shop can you please recommned some?

Thanks

feylya

Have a look at the strings from the side of the neck - is there much of a gap between them and the top of the frets? Should be a little bit more than the thickness of a business card.

After loosening the truss rod, did you tune back up to pitch?

Nahguavkire

Woah woah woah!!!

Firstly you shouldn't have touched the truss rod if you suspected the action was off, first thing you ought to do is adjust the bridge, if you look at the bridge on your guitar you'll see it's help up with two metal posts which have screwdriver slots in th top of them... Take a coin/big flat-head screwdriver and adjust only a little at a time until you get the desired action...


Right, so what you ought to do now to fix the truss rod issue is take off your strings. Then, you can do this by eye if you trust yourself or use a spirit level/ straight edge if you don't, you need to retighten your truss rod whilst checking the neck all the time, when the neck is perfectly straight you've got it. Look from the bridge, along the neck to the headstock to ascertain this. When you feel confident that the neck is straight and retensioned correctly then put your strings back on and adjust your action as described above. Hope this works out for you. In future if you don't know how to do something though have a quick look online and you'll find a helpful description/ instructions for what you want to do nine times out of ten.

Good Luck!

Rigsby

Here is a detailed link for setting up a guitar. It's for bass guitar, but the principal is the same.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=2067718&highlight=kindness+set+up

Paolo_M

I think you'd be better off going to someone who knows what they are doing at this stage. I realise this will cost more than the €50 your already paid for the guitar itself, but you know already that you were really taking a chance anyway.

The web guides are good but there's no substitute for getting someone who knows what they're at to look at it.

For example; a common problem with cheap guitars is a single (or multiple) rogue fret that's not level or seated properly, and this is very hard to detect without the right tool (* gufaws like a school boy!! *) or experience.
No amount of action adjustment, truss rod adjustment etc. will ever solve it. It would need to be leveled properly.

A guitar that plays well for €130 ish would still be a bargain.

FruscianteFan

You havent messed up dont worry! If you dont feel comfortable doing it yourself bring it to someone who knows what they are talking about!
Check out jamescustomguitars.com ! Hes really good and a nice guy with by far the best prices in Ireland! Give him a ring and he will be able to sort you out!