I just bought a new Seagull S6+GT. It's a great guitar and sounds wonderful. What I am curious about is after a couple of days of playing I noticed when I hit the low E string with any kind of force it is starting to buzz a little bit. Do I need to take this thing in to get adjusted?
One other question; I live in MN. Do I need to get a humidifier for the guitar? It's pretty dry around here this time of year.
You don't necessarily need to have it set up. If you're happy with the action etc., you should be fine. I wouldn't worry about it.
I also don't know that you need a humidifier. I seem to recall reading that Taylor on their website suggested that keeping a guitar in its case alone was a good hedge against humidification problems. The humidification question comes up from time to time. Unless you live in a really arid climate, I don't think it should be a problem. I'm in Ohio and have not yet had to worry about humidification. I keep my guitars in the case when I'm not playing them. But I could be tragically wrong! :)
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
Thanks for the reply.
Its the buzzing that is throwing me off though. Do most guitars buzz on the low e string when you strike it?
No, but the problem could be the player's technique. You might be digging too deep on the strum or not fretting the chord as precisely as you might. Or it could be the guitar.
Take a look at Fret.com's Buzz Diagnosis Page. There's a lot of information there.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
No, it should not buzz. Sometimes with a new guitar it will settle in after a little use and require a "setup".
Before you run off and have it set up check 2 things.
1) the distance between the bottom of the string and top of the 6th fret wire with the string fretted at the 1st and 14th fret. For starters just do the low and high E strings. This should be in thousandths with approximately 5 to 15 thousandths being about right.
If it is off the truss rod needs adjustment.
2) Measure the distance between the bottom of the strings and the 12th fret wire without the strings being fretted. This is in inches and should be around 5/64 for the low E and 3/64's for the high e.
If this is off the action needs adjustments.
My guess right now the way you described it the truss rod may need adjustment.
Since it is new I would take it back to the shop and have them make it right.
If you bought it from your local walk in store (not online) then a free setup may be available to you. Out of the two I bought locally, they came with a free setup, the tech even called me to ask me my playing style, how I liked my action, etc... He did a helluva good job too.
I'll let my instructor play it tonight and give me his opinion.
BTW, how do you measure the distances?
Automotive feeler gages work well for the thousandths and a ruler in 1/64 graduation's work well for the inches.
