Guitarists all around the world since the invention of the guitar have dealt with the issue of string buzz.  String buzz happens when one or more of the guitar strings buzzes against one or more of the metal frets.  It can grind on your nerves, bother your ears, and leave you frustrated with your guitar, no matter how well you are playing.  Diagnosing and minimizing string buzz can be difficult.

Almost all guitars have some level of string buzz. Electric guitars can be especially susceptible to it, but learning how to minimize it to a level you can live with is critical.  Whether due to a player’s mistake, a maker’s error, or a combination of both, it can happen to the best of us. Read on to see some of the reasons why guitar strings buzz and what you can do to stop them.

The Wrong Setup

The first thing that should be checked when your guitar is not performing the way you would like it to is the setup.  It is an intricate part of any musician’s instrument.  

When a guitarist is first learning to play, it is recommended that a professional or experienced player perform the setup to ensure the beginner’s success.  Once a player is more familiar with all the parts of a guitar and how they affect their music, then they can begin to perform their own setup.

The wrong setup can cause a plethora of issues, including string buzz.  If the string action is too low, the string type is too thick or too thin, or the tuning is off, no amount of technique or skill can make the sound more accurate.

Insufficient Pressure/Weight on the String

This can be, perhaps, one of the most common instances to blame for string buzz. When playing different notes and chords, your fingers have to press down on the strings behind the correct frets to create the desired sound.  That amount of pressure is a delicate balance; for many guitarists, that comes with familiarity, muscle memory, and practice.  

If you don’t press down hard enough on the strings, then the strings will have too much room for vibration on the frets closest to your fingers.  That vibration can cause the strings to buzz against the metal frets and make that sound that all guitarists spend so much time trying to avoid.

The delicate balance comes into play, though, because if you press down on the strings too hard, it can really slow down your speed as you play and cause your hands to be in a state of tightness that is not optimal for comfortable and fluid playing.  Most guitarists take the time to practice and find the sweet spot of pressure, eliminating most of the string buzz but not overly tightening their hands. 

Extra pressure on the strings can also cause additional pain to your fingertips and knuckles when learning to play. However, some pain in the fingertips is to be expected at the beginning of any guitarist’s musical journey.  

So, while you don’t want to overshoot the needed pressure and have the related adverse side effects, making sure that you are pressing hard enough on each string every time you play will ensure that the strings don’t noticeably buzz.

Inaccurate Fretting

Fretting is the term used to reference when you use your fingers to press a string down on the fretboard to play a note. It’s what guitar players use to make all those sweet melodies.  Experienced guitarists have mastered the art of fretting perfectly to ensure that the notes are clear, in tune, and buzz-free.  

This is where many beginners go wrong, though, and may find that their notes don’t sound as clean and clear as they’d like them to.  This is also where many beginners might discover that their strings begin to buzz.  It all has to do with how close or far away the string is being pressed to the metal fret in front of it. I would venture to guess that every fledgling guitarist experiences this to some degree at the start.

If the player presses the string down too far behind the metal fret or right between two of the metal frets, they will have to push it significantly harder to get a more precise note. This increases the chances of the string buzzing against the metal fret, as opposed to the more accurate way to fret: fingers pressed directly behind the metal fret before the note.

Try always to position your fingers so that with each note, they are pressing the string as close to the metal frets as possible. That will help eliminate string buzz caused by inaccurate fretting.  

Realistically, with many chords, this is not possible to do for each note. Still, it is recommended to try to get as many fingers in the chord as close to the fret as possible. For the few that are not possible, be sure that the strings are being pressed down adequately to compensate for the distance.

Time, practice, and a little extra attention to detail can take your playing from fine to fantastic.  With any instrument, it’s the little things and the dedication that make all the difference.

Strumming or Picking Too Hard

This has everything to do with the preferences of the player.  Many guitarists, especially electric guitarists, love to incorporate aggressive strumming and plucking into their technique.  Perhaps it is for extra volume, dramatic effect, or maybe the musician got caught up in the moment expressing a raging passion for his music (rock on!). In any sense, it can cause the strings to buzz.  

It’s just a matter of physics.  When a string is plucked too hard, it causes the vibrations to be larger, increasing the arc and resulting in the strings buzzing against one or more of the metal frets.

If the guitarist finds that the buzzing is an undesired effect of their aggressive playing, it can be quickly resolved with less aggressive strumming or picking. The same amount of musical impact can be found from purposeful and controlled playing. It can also minimize the buzzing that can be distracting for the musicians and the audience.

Low String Action

Another culprit of string buzz could be low string action.  This happens when the strings are too low.  Even if the player uses sufficient pressure on the strings and pressing directly behind the metal frets for each note, there could still be string buzz if strings are being held too low or too close to the fretboard.

The strings will begin to buzz against the frets simply because they are too close to them to start with. Any other movement happening with the vibrations of the strings will cause the contact.

To avoid this, it is recommended that you adjust your bridge saddle.  There are a few different types of bridge saddles, and each type has a different process for adjustments.  First, you need to identify if your guitar has a more modern drop-in saddle or a vintage through-cut saddle.  

If your guitar has a vintage-style through-cut saddle, then the adjustment will need to be left to a professional to avoid any damage to the instrument.

If your guitar has a more modern drop-in saddle, then the saddle is removable when the strings are taken off.  I would recommend that before you attempt to adjust the saddle, though, you need to be sure the truss rod is set correctly (this could make a huge difference) and the nut slots are appropriately filed. 

A “Cheap and Dirty” fix if the saddle needs to be slightly raised is. Using an old credit card cut into strips the same width as the saddle slot, or something of similar texture and strength, place it within the slot to raise it. If this works you can use it for some time but taking it to a professional to have a new saddle made will always be better.  It’s also a good idea to consult a professional if a more intricate or complex adjustment needs to be made.

Tuning or String Changes

Sometimes changing the tuning or strings of a guitar is a necessary thing that can broaden the possibilities of music to be played or help the guitar to perform more effectively and keep it well maintained.  These things are essential and even beneficial when done correctly and at proper times in a guitar’s lifespan.

However, you can do this too frequently, and that is where you can run into some problems.  Guitars are exceptionally touchy, and for good reason.  The setup of a guitar is a vital part of any guitarist’s success and experience, and that setup can be heavily dependent on the preferred tuning and as well as the string size, kind, or brand being used.  Changing one of those elements can shift the balance of the setup and leave the musician with various needed adjustments.

Frequent Tuning

Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t tune your guitar because you should.  What this refers to is changing to different tunings. Many tunings are looser than others. So, if you find yourself changing your guitar’s tuning for any reason, you may have come across some string buzz.  This happens because a guitar is typically set up for the specific, preferred tuning of the player (most people play in “standard” tuning but some prefer to tune a half step down which could be looser than “Standard).  Each part of the guitar is adjusted and in precisely the right condition for that tuning and that tuning only.  

When you change your guitar’s tuning without going through an entirely new setup process, you might find that it causes some buzzing.  If changing the tune is done only occasionally for a specific song or session, it may have to be tolerated.  

Suppose you change your guitar’s tuning reasonably often and are still wanting it to perform without any string buzz. In that case, many musicians prefer just to use thicker strings or a higher action level to avoid the side effect.  

Some examples of alternate tunings may include Drop D, Half Step Down, Open G, Open A, Open E and so on.

String Changes

Maybe you aren’t changing the tuning too often but recently changed out your old strings for new ones and then found that your strings now buzz.  

This can be because all different string manufacturers have different:

• Manufacturing processes
• Raw materials
• Sizing and shaping

These all cause discrepancies in the strings’ sounds and performance once installed in a guitar.  

To avoid the string buzz that comes with new strings, consider buying the latest strings from the same brand or company that the old ones were from so that you can minimize the chances of those discrepancies.  

Otherwise, a new setup process might need to follow the installation of one or more new strings.

Personally I always buy the same brands and sizes for each of my guitars.  Once I find the brand and size I like for a particular instrument I stick with it.  I may use Martin Marquis in 11’s on my acoustic and D’Addario 10’s on one of my Fender Stratocasters but another Stratocaster I use D’Addario 11’s.

Makers’ Errors

Hopefully you would discover these when trying out your guitar before buying it.  A new player may not recognize a problem until it’s too late. A guitar player you trust or other reputable guitar person will usually help you to find these. It does happen though. To no fault of the player, something that can happen is that there can sometimes be a design flaw with an instrument that causes the sound to be less-than-spectacular. There are many examples of this for guitars since it is such a specific and delicate design, and one or more of these could be the culprit.  

If you find that your guitar strings are buzzing and you’ve already:

• Checked your fretting and your pressure
• Checked your setup and your action level
• Avoided putting in new strings or changing the tuning too often

Then perhaps one of these is to blame.

Uneven Fret Heights

Occasionally a guitarist will notice that their strings are buzzing despite their best efforts to keep them from doing just that.  One thing that could be to blame is the heights of the metal frets being uneven.  

When one of the frets is slightly taller or shorter than the others, it can cause the strings to buzz.  If a metal fret is too short, then the string will not press down on it correctly for the note being played, and there will be room left for the vibrations to cause buzzing.  

If there is a fret too tall, then it will keep the string from pressing down on the other frets firmly enough, and the buzzing will ensue once again. The guitar will sound its best when all the metal frets are the same height, and the space between the strings and the frets is consistent.

This can happen as strictly a design flaw, although it can be remedied with a quick trip to a guitar repair specialist.  If you suspect this is the problem, then lay your guitar flat on a surface and look closely using a ruler, a level, or another perfectly straight object to see if the frets are all the same height.  

You want there to be the same amount of space between the strings and each metal fret so that there are no discrepancies between the fret heights.  If you find that there are discrepancies, then it is recommended that you take it to any guitar repair specialist who would be able to assist you with this multistep and delicate repair.

Inaccurate Neck Relief 

The neck relief of a guitar refers to the very slight dip that is purposely placed in the center of the otherwise straight neck of a guitar, typically found around the eighth fret.  This is a sensitive and specific thing that can make a big difference in the guitar.

Neck relief can have lots of variations, such as:

• Up-bow (warp) neck that causes a large gap between the strings and the frets
• A straight neck that causes that string and fret gap to be too small or nonexistent
• Back-bow neck that causes there to be no gap between the strings and the frets
• Typical setup which leaves a small gap between the strings and the frets

The typical setup provides the perfect amount of relief for the strings to avoid any buzzing.  It requires the neck to be almost entirely straight, with a slight and accurately placed curve right in the center of the neck that offers the proper relief for the strings to perform at their best.  

Any more or less than that, and it can start to cause problems.  If there is too little relief on the guitar neck, as is the case in the straight and back-bow situations, then there will be buzzing from the strings contacting the first fret.

To fix this, a professional will need to be consulted to gauge the severity of the straight or back-bow and then fix it properly with no risk of damage to the instrument.  

There are also factors out of our control that can cause an otherwise accurate neck relief to bow upward or backward.  Those include exposure to changes in:

• Humidity
• Temperature
• Elevation
• Tuning

Regularly checking your neck relief can help prevent the bowing that can cause the strings to buzz against the metal frets. 

These kinds of manufacturer’s errors, while not as common, can still be the cause of your dreaded string buzz.  Keep in mind that every guitar will have small imperfections, as they are all subject to flaws at the makers’ hands.  Try to be sure when you are purchasing a guitar that you go through and check for each of these things to minimize your risk of running into problems.

Final Thoughts

While experiencing a lot of string buzz is cause for concern and action, keep in mind that it’s almost impossible to remove it altogether.  Very few guitarists find the sweet spot that leaves them completely buzz-free, and even fewer electric guitarists. 

If you’re doing your best to be sure that you are applying sufficient pressure directly behind the fret of each note, keeping your guitar properly tuned and set up, and checking for any major or minor maker’s flaws, then you should be able to avoid having too much string buzz kill your vibe.