The late guitar maker and restore guru Frank Ford did a lot to boost the bar on lutherie practices together with his deep experience and generosity of spirit. Within the first decade of the 2000s, Ford wrote a Q&A recommendation column for AG, which armed readers with primary data and ideas for troubleshooting and fixing issues with their devices. The next is an excerpt from the December 2009 challenge.
— Adam Perlmutter

Generally it’s the little issues that preserve you from having fun with your guitar. Listed here are 13 widespread issues and their typical options. 

1. Arduous-to-Flip Open-Geared Tuners.
Lubricate all of the shifting gear elements with mild oil, resembling 3-in-One. 

2. String Instantly Slips out of Tune.
Make sure that the string is securely wrapped on the tuner put up. Lap one flip of the string over the others to tighten the windings.

3. Tuneup “Ping.”
Do you hear a “ping” as you tune up, with the string leaping in pitch? It’s not the tuner’s fault—the string is probably going binding within the nut slot. Submitting the slot easy might maintain this, however it’s normally a job for a luthier, who can do it with out decreasing the string top an excessive amount of.

4. Excessive Motion in First Place.
In case your guitar is difficult to stress in first place however not farther up the fretboard, examine the nut-slot top at every string by urgent the string down between the second and third frets. Look carefully for clearance on the first fret. There must be simply sufficient area to slide a bit of a phonebook web page below the string. Changes are made by decreasing the person nut slots, however as soon as once more, that is greatest left to a luthier.

5. Open-String Buzz.
A buzz solely within the open place might point out that your nut is simply too low, requiring you to both exchange or shim the nut. Nevertheless it is also brought on by a truss rod that’s too tight or a free first fret that must be stabilized and leveled to the aircraft of the opposite frets. 

6. Muffled Open String.
A string that sounds muffled solely in open place could also be sitting in a badly fashioned nut slot or one contaminated by overseas materials. This may normally be mounted by cleansing or recutting the string slot with an appropriately gauged nut file.

7. Buzzing Beneath Fifth Place.
Are you getting buzzes solely in low fret positions, from open place to the fifth fret? This may very well be the results of a truss rod that’s too tight and inflicting a “again bow” within the neck, which may simply be corrected with a truss-rod adjustment. Fixing a again bow in an instrument with out an adjustable truss rod would possibly require a whole fret alternative and neck leveling.

8. Buzzing Solely on Larger Frets.
In case your guitar buzzes at frets seven to 12 or so, you might have a mix of a free truss rod and a low saddle. To appropriate this, the truss rod must be tightened and the motion raised on the bridge by shimming or changing the saddle.

9. Buzzes Solely on One Fret or in Remoted Areas.
Search for uneven, worn, or free frets. Correcting uneven frets could also be a easy operation resembling leveling and rounding the frets, or it might require a whole refret.

10. Poor Intonation.
Examine the pitch of the harmonic on the twelfth fret to the fretted observe in that place. If they don’t seem to be the identical, your saddle might have extra compensation. In excessive instances, the bridge could also be mounted incorrectly. Minor intonation difficulties can typically be remedied by recontouring the highest of the saddle, whereas severe issues would possibly should be addressed by relocating the saddle within the bridge or changing the whole bridge.

11. Buzzing on the Saddle.
The highest of the saddle could also be too flat. Ideally, every string ought to contact the highest of the saddle at a single level. A flat saddle will trigger a lightweight sitar-like buzz up and down the neck. A easy rounding of the saddle prime (utilizing high quality sandpaper) normally corrects this drawback with out affecting the playability or motion of the guitar.

12. Pickup Distortion.
Exchange your pickup’s battery. Marking your calendar for an annual battery alternative may also help you keep away from this drawback sooner or later.

13. Pickup Doesn’t Work.
The very first thing to examine is whether or not a cable has come free on the output jack. Subsequent, attempt one other cable. They typically fail as a result of they’re subjected to lots of bending. And it’s attainable the jack itself might should be changed if it has damaged internally.

This text initially appeared within the December 2009 challenge of Acoustic Guitar.