Home >> Hobbies >> Other Hobbies

How to Fix Muted Frets on an Acoustic Guitar

Older acoustic guitars can often develop fret buzz, which causes the string to mute on a specific note. This occurs if the fret is slightly off center or if the saddle and bridge are not aligned properly, causing the strings to sit too close to the neck. When a musician puts her finger in front of the fret to play a note, it is muted and a buzzing sound could follow from the string hitting the fret in front of the intended fret.

Things You'll Need

Tinfoil or paper

Instructions

- 1
  Loosen the string that is muted by turning the corresponding tuning peg until you can pull the string from the frets by about 1 cm. Grab the string that is muted.
- 2
  Roll up a small piece of tinfoil to approximately 1 cm. Place the tinfoil under the loose string and over the front part of the fret and slightly in front of the fret.
- 3
  Tighten the string and allow it to lock the tinfoil in place over the fret. The string will pull the tinfoil over the fret as you tighten it.
- 4
  Retune the string. If you still hear a buzz or mute, make a slightly larger square with the rolled-up tinfoil

Other Hobbies