EX-5 Bridge saddles at max height but still fret buzz...

[Troy Bridges]

This is my first build...it's an EX-5.

I've finished the guitar but to get the strings off the fretboard I had to up the saddles to max height (which does not look right) and the strings still buzz. What is the correct path to resolve this? Shims?

Thanks in advance,

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[wokkaboy]

Hi Troy, welcome to the forum. I would remove the neck and make sure the drill holes for the neck screws haven't caused wood chips or burrs to stop the neck heel sitting flush in the pocket. The neck pocket or neck heel might need a light sand. This may be causing the neck to be sitting a bit high in the pocket. Otherwise if that doesn't help you may have to shim under the bridge to raise the height a bit.
Also the truss rod of the neck may need adjusting if it's not level, could be the reason why the strings aren't clearing the frets.
String buzz could be a number of reasons. Have you done a fret level ? Is the nut the stock nut ?

[JB RETRO]

That neck to me looks to be sitting rather high off the body. It might require the neck pocket to be made deeper. Find some other EX-5s on the forum and compare.

[pablopepper]

In my opinion it just needs a shim.

[Troy Bridges]

I sincerely appreciate all your help here.

Wokkaboy: I did find chips in the pocket...cleaned that up but it did not make much of an impact. I have not done fret level. Yes, the nut is stock.

JB RETRO: I've been searching for pics...can't find anything for good comparison, maybe someone will see this post and add a few pics.

Pablopepper: From my research it does look like a shim may be the solution.

Again, this is my first build and not only do I not have the knowledge but I do not have the tools either...I'm going to have my local guitar shop take a look. I will followup with the results.

Thank you for all your input!

[wazkelly]

This could be a combination of all things and 1st place to start is with a straight edge to see if the fret board is flat or in which direction there is a bow. This should be done under tension when all strings have been tuned up to pitch. If there is a forward bow (which I doubt if frets are buzzing) that means truss rod needs to be tightened. Conversely if there appears to be a hump in the middle this indicates a back bow and means the truss rod is too tight and needs to be loosened off a little bit. Any truss rod adjustments should only be a small one then tune up and re-check everything again. Rinse & repeat until you get things where they should be.

Once you have a flat deck you need to check that all frets are level and best gadget for this is a stanley knife blade and suggest starting up at the PUP end and gradually work your way back up neck towards the nut. On mine I found a couple of high riding frets around 13-15 that needed a tap and then one also required a bit of sanding to drop it down to the right level. When you are happy with frets re-tune up to pitch and play every note on every string to double check no more buzzing.

Looking at side profile my bet is that the neck is sitting around 2-3 mm higher than where it should be in the neck pocket as I have had similar problem on both my Tele's where I had to sand down 5mm on both to drop neck and fret board levels low enough to bring bridge saddles back to where they should be. Yours look way to abnormally high and raising the bridge is not the answer as the problem is most likely where neck meets the body. Almost forgot to mention the nut as that may be contributing a small part but not as much as then neck joint area.

I have quickly taken some shots of mine and yes, the action is a bit higher than on some other Basses but ok for now and can manage until I find time to have another tweaking session.
208762087720878

[wazkelly]

2087920880208812088220883

Hope some of these measurements help. Just remember that the bottom reading is in inches.

Cheers, Waz

[Troy Bridges]

Wazkelly, I very much appreciate your detailed response. Before I saw it I had dropped the bass off at my local guitar tech so unfortunately I cannot compare or upload pics.

I will followup....

[wazkelly]

No worries Troy. If unsure about these things you have probably made the right choice. It would be interesting to know what he does to get it sorted as posting that type of information could help others down the track.

Cheers, Waz

[Troy Bridges]

The guitar tech corrected the issues:

1. The neck screws engaged the body not just the neck so I was actually not fully engaging the neck...he made the body holes larger so the screws passed through the body.

2. The nut was too high...he re-cut that.

3. Minor shim bridge side of neck pocket.

4. Frets 14, 15, 16 and 17 had "popped"...he re0seated those

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Thank you for all your input here.

[king casey]

1. The neck screws engaged the body not just the neck so I was actually not fully engaging the neck...he made the body holes larger so the screws passed through the body.

Ah now that's something that I could make use of.
Good tip.

cheers, Mark.

[wazkelly]

Happy ending and really appreciate you posting what was required to get the job done.