Weird problem with G string

[EnGl]

My buddy bought guitar, he is a drummer so he gave me guitar for proper setup. Pretty simple things like intonation , height etc... This is Gibson Flying V Ebony(with rosewood fingerboard). Guitar is brand new. Pickups were changed to EMG 81 and 60.
First obvious thing - new strings. He bought few packs of 10-46 EB. So I use them on his guitar.
String height . inonation , pickup height, tuning - done. All was perfect but I noticed something strange with G string.
From 5-19 fret on g string sustain is very short , about 3-4 second and fades away. In adiition to this I can hear strange harmonics(?), I mean sustain is very wavy. And when I hit open string(G) it sounds like a banjo ...
I used bridge pickup , on neck pickup the situation is better and the sustain is longer but also i "wavy way"
My first thought was that string is dead. I always have a spare single strings so I used my string. Everything was the same. On other frets in the same same frets all was ok. It's also not the magnetic pull - EMG pickups , so ...
I don't know what's really going on. Help guys

 

[chunktone]

There are not many things it could be. Tuned to what ever pitch it will be used for, check the truss rod adjustment. You want little or no relief. Assuming the action is not set too low, it will likely be poor fret dressing. They(Gibson) are notorious for that. It's not an issue on the higher end ones they PLEK from the factory. It may also be that the G string nut slot is cut too low. The material they use from the factory is crap anyway, so I would replace the nut, or have it done by a reputable luthier.

 

[EnGl]

There are not many things it could be. Tuned to what ever pitch it will be used for, check the truss rod adjustment. You want little or no relief. Assuming the action is not set too low, it will likely be poor fret dressing. They(Gibson) are notorious for that. It's not an issue on the higher end ones they PLEK from the factory. It may also be that the G string nut slot is cut too low. The material they use from the factory is crap anyway, so I would replace the nut, or have it done by a reputable luthier.

This Gibson plays great( noy as beefy like my explo) , If I will have enough cash I will bought it
I checked the truss rod , relief was minimal. I achieved constant minimal buzz but it's not audible from amp - so it's ok.
But for experiment I set action ridicolously high - about 2.5mm and situation was the same.
Action(regular) was about 1mm over plain E and 1.4mm over wound E so medium height.
Poor dressing ? Over one string ? And guitar is new so how it can be poor fret dressing ? Nut slot was also on proper height , no buzz at open string and playing on first positons was also comfortable - so it's not too high.

AFAIK the nut is from corian so probably not to bad ? Not as like richlite fretboard

 

[lessthan12]

easiest thing, did you try a new g string yet? I literally just had this issue last night with a brand new set of ernie ball cobalts. Same thing plus I couldnt get it to intonate. Turned out to be a bum string from the factory.

 

[EnGl]

My buddy bought guitar, he is a drummer so he gave me guitar for proper setup. Pretty simple things like intonation , height etc... This is Gibson Flying V Ebony(with rosewood fingerboard). Guitar is brand new. Pickups were changed to EMG 81 and 60.
First obvious thing - new strings. He bought few packs of 10-46 EB. So I use them on his guitar.
String height . inonation , pickup height, tuning - done. All was perfect but I noticed something strange with G string.
From 5-19 fret on g string sustain is very short , about 3-4 second and fades away. In adiition to this I can hear strange harmonics(?), I mean sustain is very wavy. And when I hit open string(G) it sounds like a banjo ...
I used bridge pickup , on neck pickup the situation is better and the sustain is longer but also i "wavy way"
My first thought was that string is dead. I always have a spare single strings so I used my string. Everything was the same. On other frets in the same same frets all was ok. It's also not the magnetic pull - EMG pickups , so ...
I don't know what's really going on. Help guys

 

[ripleyripley]

If you put a little pressure behind the nut does it go away? If so, the string hole on the post may be the exact same height as the nut. You could wrap the shit out of it to put more down pressure on it, get staggered tuners or maybe a string tree...

 

[EnGl]

If you put a little pressure behind the nut does it go away? If so, the string hole on the post may be the exact same height as the nut. You could wrap the shit out of it to put more down pressure on it, get staggered tuners or maybe a string tree...

I know what is "staggered tuners" , but string tree ? They are mostly mounted in tele or starts ...

 

[ripleyripley]

If you put a little pressure behind the nut does it go away? If so, the string hole on the post may be the exact same height as the nut. You could wrap the shit out of it to put more down pressure on it, get staggered tuners or maybe a string tree...

I know what is "staggered tuners" , but string tree ? They are mostly mounted in tele or starts ...

Yeah, won't find those on a flying v, lol... Just saying the idea is to get downward pressure on the g string (if that is actually what is causing your issue)

 

[souldigger]

Try running a folded piece of 400 grit sandpaper thru the g slot on the nut. Should help with the banjo/sitar sound. Usually an uneven slot that causes that sound.

-JD

 

[EnGl]

If you put a little pressure behind the nut does it go away? If so, the string hole on the post may be the exact same height as the nut. You could wrap the shit out of it to put more down pressure on it, get staggered tuners or maybe a string tree...

I know what is "staggered tuners" , but string tree ? They are mostly mounted in tele or starts ...

Yeah, won't find those on a flying v, lol... Just saying the idea is to get downward pressure on the g string (if that is actually what is causing your issue)

Explorer has already angeled headstock so ...

 

[moronmountain]

Gibson cuts their nuts like ass IMO. The nuts themselves are too short to begin with, so the cuts end up being very slight, and won't hold onto strings any heavier than 10-46 without them popping out of place. I'm gonna guess that the problem lies somewhere in the nut region. Having said all that, 75% of my guitars are USA made Gibsons, and I love them, but I pretty much always take them straight to the luthier to have a proper nut (bone is my current favorite) installed on them.

 

[EnGl]

Gibson cuts their nuts like ass IMO. The nuts themselves are too short to begin with, so the cuts end up being very slight, and won't hold onto strings any heavier than 10-46 without them popping out of place. I'm gonna guess that the problem lies somewhere in the nut region. Having said all that, 75% of my guitars are USA made Gibsons, and I love them, but I pretty much always take them straight to the luthier to have a proper nut (bone is my current favorite) installed on them.

You know what ? I just checked my explorer and the problem is the same as my buddy guitar ... Not as noticeable , only minimal. Also I was at shop few momments ago , I grabbed another Gibson ( LP traditional solidbody) - similar problem. Nut looked the same as my guitar and my buddy V. How funny


Too short nut slots can be the culprit ? It can be true , on my other guitar (Dean VMNT) nut slots are much longer ...
On my axe I use 12-60 in C standard , zero problem with the nut (G string sometimes stuck in the nut but lubricating with pencil solved problem)
This V guitar is great and it will be so easy if the problem will be nut ...

 

[ChadVanHalen]

Is it when it rides up on you and gets stuck way in th-

Oh, you're talking about guitar strings...

 

[vchizzle]

Is it when it rides up on you and gets stuck way in th-

Oh, you're talking about guitar strings...

Can't believe it took this long, I was expecting 2nd or 3rd response

Nothin' worse than a shitty nut, bad nuts?

 

[chunktone]

Gibson cuts their nuts like ass IMO. The nuts themselves are too short to begin with, so the cuts end up being very slight, and won't hold onto strings any heavier than 10-46 without them popping out of place. I'm gonna guess that the problem lies somewhere in the nut region. Having said all that, 75% of my guitars are USA made Gibsons, and I love them, but I pretty much always take them straight to the luthier to have a proper nut (bone is my current favorite) installed on them.

You know what ? I just checked my explorer and the problem is the same as my buddy guitar ... Not as noticeable , only minimal. Also I was at shop few momments ago , I grabbed another Gibson ( LP traditional solidbody) - similar problem. Nut looked the same as my guitar and my buddy V. How funny


Too short nut slots can be the culprit ? It can be true , on my other guitar (Dean VMNT) nut slots are much longer ...
On my axe I use 12-60 in C standard , zero problem with the nut (G string sometimes stuck in the nut but lubricating with pencil solved problem)
This V guitar is great and it will be so easy if the problem will be nut ...

The nut slots being too shallow will not cause this problem you're describing, but a nut slot cut level with the fingerboard will. I would just replace the nut as it's not that expensive. I prefer bone. I does not wear as fast as corian and imo give you a better tone on open strings. It is possible that a poor fret dressing could cause this. I used to work for Gibson, and saw many new guitars leave the factory needing fretwork.

 

[Black Sabbath]

From 5-19 fret on g string sustain is very short , about 3-4 second and fades away.

Help guys

This is typical of electric guitars. We don’t have this problem with well made acoustic guitars (and this goes with intonation too).

You haven’t the proper concavity (bowing) in your neck. A simple truss rod adjustment, saddle unit leveling and some fret dressing will fix this problem nicely. It makes no difference what gauge of strings you are using unless you have a tremolo system in place. That would add a completely different variable to this problem and raise its complexity.

Also be aware that all nuts wear over time. No matter what material they are made from; cow bone, whale bone, ivory, ebony, carbon fiber and some steel, etc. It will feel and sound like a new guitar once this is done properly.

Good Luck.

 

[Bloodrock]

How would a nut cause this type of problem when the nut is only in play when the string is open/not fretted? That sounds totally illogical to me...
I could see a bridge problem maybe, but the nut???

 

[Black Sabbath]

How would a nut cause this type of problem when the nut is only in play when the string is open/not fretted? That sounds totally illogical to me...
I could see a bridge problem maybe, but the nut???

Because you've never had to correct this type of problem, I have.

Spiraling in the neck, warped fret board, sinusoidal fret, etc. In this case the nut and saddle unit would need attention unless you replace the neck. There are a few other ways to approach this problem.

In the end it's hard to completely diagnose without having the instrument.

Information . . .

 

[EnGl]

How would a nut cause this type of problem when the nut is only in play when the string is open/not fretted? That sounds totally illogical to me...
I could see a bridge problem maybe, but the nut???

Because you've never had to correct this type of problem, I have.

Spiraling in the neck, warped fret board, sinusoidal fret, etc. In this case the nut and saddle unit would need attention unless you replace the neck. There are a few other ways to approach this problem.

In the end it's hard to completely diagnose without having the instrument.

Information . . .

Thanks for all replies guys

For me it's also illogical that nut can cause this problem if my problem is only on frets. Fretted notes inculdes only fret and saddle (for me m it's logic).
But well , nut replacement is cheap fix , worth every money