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Posted by: Ctodd Nov 17 2009, 04:00 AM

hey all,

My ukulele has a bad case of the fret buzz, and I'm not sure how to treat it. It's actually a really nice instrument and puts most other ukes that I've played to shame as far as playability.

http://www.kalaukulele.com/KA-C.htm

seeing as there is no truss rod to adjust, I have nothing to tweak. It is tuned properly (in other words it's not tuned so low that the tension in the neck is pulling back to far on the strings).

some other relevant information:
I got it new last Christmas (11 months ago).
Never changed strings. Could this be affecting it?
I jam on it nearly daily for a bit, so it has seen a bit of use, but it certainly hasn't been beaten to death.

I'm going to take it to my local shop to see what they have to say, but I'd like to get some opinions/advice here.

thanks,

-Chris

EDIT: one more bit of info: This has been going on for a couple of months, so I'm pretty sure it's not the changing of the seasons, colder and drier winter, type deal.

Posted by: Sensible Jones Nov 17 2009, 06:45 PM

Try changing the strings first, if it still buzzes it may need the bridge raising (as this is your only way of adjusting the action). Slacken the strings right off until you can lift the Bridge out of it's slot. To pack it up cut some strips from an old Credit Card/Loyalty Card, you know the sort of thing and just raise it one strip at a time. Retune and stop when the buzzing ceases! If this raises the action too much then you may need to offset this by replacing the nut for one with slightly shallower slots (thus raising the action at the Nut end of the neck too)
Hope this helps!!

Posted by: MickeM Nov 17 2009, 08:49 PM

Yes it could! Old strings, less force in those allowing the neck to pull back. I think new strings will do the trick.