12 string acoustic issues

[anxious_ant]

Hi all! I have a 12-string Ibanez acoustic which has been in storage for about a year. It’s been in a bag stored in my garage.

Recently took it out, gave good clean and have also put on new strings.
I noticed fret buzz on the 2nd fret on the E and A strings, so have decided to loosen the truss rod a little. (Not an easy job as truss rod is on the other end instead of the neck)
Buzz is gone but now the E,A and D is playing same notes on 2nd and 3rd fret.

Before I go further, would like to seek advice if this is a truss rod issue.

I did notice some fret buzz before restringing, but haven’t really checked all strings if the play the same notes before adjusting truss rod.

[CypSIdders]

It's more than likely a "storing it in your garage for a year" issue!
If it was mine I'd start from scratch, first I would let it sit in its normal environment for at least a week, with no string tension.
After a week, if you don't have a notched straight edge, look down the neck, the neck needs to be perfectly flat with no string tension.
If it is bowed in either direction use the truss rod to get the neck perfectly flat.
If you don't have a fret rocker, use a credit card to see if you have any high frets.
Tune the guitar, then check the neck relief according to the specs for your guitar.

If you don't start the process this way you're just pissing in the wind.
Hopefully you didn't store the guitar with full string tension.
If none of the above makes sense, you need to find a guitar tech or luthier.

[singlecoil]

Sounds to me like an uneven fret issue but without some diagnostic tests it's impossible to be sure.

If you are in the Aylesbury area I will have a look and tell you what the problem is F.O.C.

[anxious_ant]

CypSIdders said:

It's more than likely a "storing it in your garage for a year" issue!
If it was mine I'd start from scratch, first I would let it sit in its normal environment for at least a week, with no string tension.
After a week, if you don't have a notched straight edge, look down the neck, the neck needs to be perfectly flat with no string tension.
If it is bowed in either direction use the truss rod to get the neck perfectly flat.
If you don't have a fret rocker, use a credit card to see if you have any high frets.
Tune the guitar, then check the neck relief according to the specs for your guitar.

If you don't start the process this way you're just pissing in the wind.
Hopefully you didn't store the guitar with full string tension.
If none of the above makes sense, you need to find a guitar tech or luthier.

Yes, unfortunately I have been storing with string tension. It’s not tuned but there was definitely tension.

Thanks for your advice. I’ll de-tension the string and let it sit for a week and then check the neck to ensure it’s straight.
I was trying to adjust the trust rod with strings tuned which probably wasn’t the correct method.

[anxious_ant]

singlecoil said:

Sounds to me like an uneven fret issue but without some diagnostic tests it's impossible to be sure.

If you are in the Aylesbury area I will have a look and tell you what the problem is F.O.C.

Thanks so much for the offer
Aylesbury is a bit far from where I am but I do go into MK for work so might drop you a bell.

[singlecoil]

anxious_ant said:

Hi all! I have a 12-string Ibanez acoustic which has been in storage for about a year. It’s been in a bag stored in my garage.

Recently took it out, gave good clean and have also put on new strings.
I noticed fret buzz on the 2nd fret on the E and A strings, so have decided to loosen the truss rod a little. (Not an easy job as truss rod is on the other end instead of the neck)
Buzz is gone but now the E,A and D is playing same notes on 2nd and 3rd fret.

Before I go further, would like to seek advice if this is a truss rod issue.

I did notice some fret buzz before restringing, but haven’t really checked all strings if the play the same notes before adjusting truss rod.

If that's the only problem area then you've got either a low or a high fret in that area. It doesn't sound like a truss rod issue to me. Do the credit card check as suggested above. I expect it will rock on one of the frets, and another it won't touch as long as whatever you are using is long enough to bridge the fret above and below.

[anxious_ant]

singlecoil said:

If that's the only problem area then you've got either a low or a high fret in that area. It doesn't sound like a truss rod issue to me. Do the credit card check as suggested above. I expect it will rock on one of the frets, and another it won't touch as long as whatever you are using is long enough to bridge the fret above and below.

Cheers. If it’s fret issue I guess it needs dressing?
Definitely not something I can do

[singlecoil]

anxious_ant said:

singlecoil said:

If that's the only problem area then you've got either a low or a high fret in that area. It doesn't sound like a truss rod issue to me. Do the credit card check as suggested above. I expect it will rock on one of the frets, and another it won't touch as long as whatever you are using is long enough to bridge the fret above and below.

Cheers. If it’s fret issue I guess it needs dressing?
Definitely not something I can do

It depends. High frets (if that's what it is) are usually there because the fret has 'sprung'. Quite often you can feel them moving if you press down on them with something. If it's a low fret then the choice is to lower the others until they are level (which is ok if they are high enough to start with to leave a reasonable playing height after levelling) or to replace some or even all of the frets.

If I encounter such a situation then on acoustics I would usually refret up to the 14th fret for a player that gets around the board a bit, or maybe just the first few for a chord strummer like me .

[anxious_ant]

singlecoil said:

It depends. High frets (if that's what it is) are usually there because the fret has 'sprung'. Quite often you can feel them moving if you press down on them with something. If it's a low fret then the choice is to lower the others until they are level (which is ok if they are high enough to start with to leave a reasonable playing height after levelling) or to replace some or even all of the frets.

If I encounter such a situation then on acoustics I would usually refret up to the 14th fret for a player that gets around the board a bit, or maybe just the first few for a chord strummer like me .

Thanks again for the helpful advice. I am a chord strummer so probably aiming to replace first few frets if that’s the issue.
I tried pressing down on the frets and they don’t appear to have any play so perhaps it’s a low fret issue.

I suppose if it’s truss rod related all the strings should play same note on the 2nd and 3rd frets and not just the E,A and D strings?
Adjusting the truss rod does have minor impact, as I get fret buzz on first fret if I loosen. Not easy to adjust truss rod on the Ibanez with strings on as the rod is in the other end of the neck, near the body.

Edited by anxious_ant on Monday 25th July 12:22

[singlecoil]

anxious_ant said:

Thanks again for the helpful advice. I am a chord strummer so probably aiming to replace first few frets if that’s the issue.
I tried pressing down on the frets and they don’t appear to have any play so perhaps it’s a low fret issue.

I suppose if it’s truss rod related all the strings should play same note on the 2nd and 3rd frets and not just the E,A and D strings?
Adjusting the truss rod does have minor impact, as I get fret buzz on first fret if I loosen. Not easy to adjust truss rod on the Ibanez with strings on as the rod is in the other end of the neck, near the body.

It does sound as if there's something odd going on, slackening the rod should improve fret issues, due to the neck being curved forwards.

I guess you need to reach through the soundhole to get to the truss rod?

Sounds like one of these would be helpful

[anxious_ant]

singlecoil said:

It does sound as if there's something odd going on, slackening the rod should improve fret issues, due to the neck being curved forwards.

I guess you need to reach through the soundhole to get to the truss rod?

Sounds like one of these would be helpful

Yes, need to reach through sound hole.
Comes with an L shaped hex key but it’s awkward to turn it with strings on.

Those are indeed funky screwdrivers. Might check them out.