The Yamaha Acoustic That Stumped Two Luthiers — And the Fix That Cost Nothing Extra

By David Aitken · The Complete Guitar · Dundee, Scotland

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Not all guitar buzzes live in the neck. I was recently approached by a guitarist who had bought a new Yamaha acoustic and was frustrated by a persistent buzz — mainly on the B string, but cropping up "all over the place" depending on how hard he attacked the strings. Two separate luthiers had already inspected the guitar and made adjustments. Neither had solved it.

He came to me. I offered to fix it for £65 — the same price as my Deep Clean and Hydrate service — and told him I'd charge nothing if I failed.

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First Inspection: Ruling Out the Usual Suspects

Sure enough, the buzz was there. Most prominent on the B string, but it could appear on pretty much any string when attacked with any force, at any position on the fretboard. That "anywhere on the neck" behaviour is an important diagnostic clue — fret buzz from a poorly dressed fret or a badly set action tends to be position-specific. When a buzz appears all over, you start thinking elsewhere.

I ran through the standard checks:

• Fret level — Yamaha generally have very good build quality, and this guitar was no exception. The frets were level across the board.
• Truss rod / neck relief — the rod had no engagement at all, so I dialled in a small amount of relief. A truss rod with zero tension can itself be a buzz source, as the rod has room to rattle inside the channel.
• String action — I raised it slightly to rule out any remaining fretboard contact, though it was already at an acceptable height.

Everything external looked fine. That pointed me toward the interior of the guitar: either cables rattling, or a loose X-brace. If a brace had come unglued, that would be a warranty job — the guitar was still new. Before going down that road, I reached in with some fabric electrical tape and secured the battery terminal cables. I also wrapped a short section of tape around the pickup cable, which was running across one of the braces.

The buzzing stopped. Guitar returned. Client happy.

For about a week.

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The Comeback — and the Real Culprit

He texted me to say the buzz was back, now on both the B and D strings. Weird — a new string pairing. I genuinely love a challenge like this. I refuse to be defeated by a guitar.

I brought it back to the bench for a full internal inspection. First thing I did was revisit the neck: I reduced the relief back to stock, because at this point I was confident the buzz wasn't coming from the strings contacting the frets — the behaviour was too inconsistent and too widespread for that. With the neck ruled out properly, I turned my attention inside.

The bracing looked solid — nothing to worry about there. But as I worked around the interior with a mirror and a torch, I noticed something Yamaha had done during assembly. The output cable running to the jack socket had been looped and left sitting awkwardly behind a brace, right next to the upper bout. That loop — with its hard plastic outer sheathing — was resting directly against the guitar's soundboard.

A cable pressed against the top of a guitar. The top vibrates. The cable vibrates with it. That's your buzz.

Getting to it required more contortion than I'd care to repeat — three places on my forearm made contact with the guitar rim in increasingly creative angles, and I was essentially reverse-fitting my fingers — but I wrapped the same fabric electrical tape around the plastic cable jacket, isolating the hard outer casing from the spruce soundboard.

That was it. No new parts. No re-fretting. No expensive repair. A cable hiding in a corner, rubbing quietly against the guitar.

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What This Case Teaches Us About Acoustic Guitar Buzz

This kind of internal rattle is more common than most players realise — and it's almost impossible to diagnose without looking inside. Here's what makes it tricky:

1. The buzz sounds like fret buzz. It's sympathetic vibration, so it responds to string movement and fret position in a way that mimics fret buzz convincingly.
2. Standard external checks won't find it. Action adjustments, fret levelling, nut work — none of those will touch an internal cable rattle.
3. Electronics-equipped acoustics are especially vulnerable. Any cable, battery, or connector inside the body that isn't secured is a potential buzz source.

If you've had your guitar's action raised, your frets levelled, and you've been told the neck is fine — but the buzz is still there and it happens "all over" — this is worth investigating. Onboard electronics are often the overlooked suspect.

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Related Reading on Guitar Buzz

If you're dealing with buzz and want to understand all the potential causes before booking a repair, these guides cover the full picture:

• How to Fix Fret Buzz Without a Luthier — the external causes: neck relief, string action, and nut slot depth, in the correct adjustment sequence.
• How to Know If Your Guitar Needs Fret Levelling — distinguishing between a setup issue and genuine fret wear.
• Guitar Setup Dundee: Workshop Services — what a full bench setup includes and what it costs.

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Is Your Guitar Doing Something Similar?

If your guitar has a buzz you've been told is "fixed" — but it keeps coming back — there's often something else going on. Sometimes it's a cable. Sometimes it's a loose brace. Sometimes it's a sympathetic rattle from a poorly seated strap button or a vibrating truss rod cover.

Whatever it is, I won't charge you if I can't find it. That's the guarantee I extended to this client, and it's the standard I hold every job to.

Book a guitar inspection at The Complete Guitar — I offer complimentary doorstep collection and return across Dundee, so you don't need to go anywhere. Evening and weekend appointments available.

Or if you prefer to diagnose things yourself first, download LuthierScan Pro free on Google Play — strobe-grade tuning accuracy and step-by-step setup guides, right on your phone.

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