String advice Newtone buzz

Tone71 · April 2021

Fairly recently I picked up a very nice Martin 00015 with a really nice low action and I strung it with my usual E.B Earthwood R&B's 52-10 and it was great, no issues.

The I started thinking about lower tension strings and bought a couple of sets of Newtone's Heritage to try and put on a set of 43 - 10 and now it fret buzzes on both the A and D on the 1st and 2nd fret, I guess it's the difference between the EB's being 42/30 and the Newtones being 32/23, plus the lower tension.

So now I'll have to remove the strings and either get heavier Newtone's as they sound really good and I like to lower tension or stick with the EB's which are ok.

Am I right in thinking that once the Newtone's are unwound they will lose the tension on the inner core? Once removed they are just bin worthy?

Also if I was to get similar string gauges will there still be a chance of the buzzing due to the lower tension?

Winny_Pooh · April 2021

Loosen the truss rod a quarter to half turn to start with and see if that helps.

Roland · April 2021

Tone71 said:

Am I right in thinking that once the Newtone's are unwound they will lose the tension on the inner core? Once removed they are just bin worthy?

Also if I was to get similar string gauges will there still be a chance of the buzzing due to the lower tension?

The buzzing is probably due to lower tension, so do as @Winny_Pooh says, release the truss rod and see what happens. Leave the guitar for 24 hours after changing the tension. The neck will move immediately, and then a bit more over that time. If a quarter turn hasn’t worked then try a bit more. If that doesn’t work then your option is increasing string tension.

Newtone do different ranges of strings, some with round cores, some with hexagonal cores. The wrapping wire on round core strings tends to unwind. In the days before hex cores we used to stop unwinding by kinking the string. The method I use to attach the string to the tuner does that.

Tone71 · April 2021

Cheers both, hadn't thought of adjusting the truss rod as I really like the low action.....now to find a 125mm 5mm Allen key!!

Tannin · April 2021

10s are very, very light for an acoustic. Are you really sure you want to put 10s on a guitar designed and built for 12s or 13s?

ICBM · April 2021

10-43 is *extremely* light on a Martin, even more so with Newtones since they're specifically wound for lower tension than comparable gauges usually are.

I would start by slackening the truss rod completely - literally until you feel the nut come loose, then tighten up just enough to stop any rattling - leave it for a few days, and then see where you are...

Tone71 · April 2021

I've always used 52-10 on all my acoustics as I play mostly fingerstyle on them and don't use them as strumboxes, lesson learnt though as the Newtones have little tension in comparison with EB's which I am looking for so will order some 12 & 13's.

For now I think I'm going to swap the 10's for 11's and see if there is any difference then swap out for the 12's depending on fret buzz once they arrive, at some point I'll work out the right gauge!!

Edit: The 11's have eliminated 95% of the buzz so it's obviously a very fine line, it's now passed the "Love Me Two Times" test!

I do think that going up to Newtone 12's will be the answer and save adjusting the truss rod.

TheMadMick · April 2021

It's odd this should come up just now. I've had 2 guitars set up but not left to "settle" and:

Guitar 1: Fret buzz on the 5 - 7 fret. A quarter turn looser on the truss rod sorted it.

Guitar 2: had the nut replaced (my own silly fault - messed it up). Low E rattled from the 3rd fret and beyond. Loosened the truss rod a quarter turn but that didn't quite cut ti. Gave it another quarter turn this morning and it's better but I may have to live with it. Let's see how it goes.

Rule of thumb - top frets are governed by the nut. middle frets by the truss rod and beyond by the saddle. However, they are all interlinked. Like so many things it's what compromise suits you.

Hope it works out for you.

crunchman · May 2021

I put Newtones on my Martin last night.

They do seem to have a lot lower tension. I put Newtone 12s on where I previously had D'Addario 11s and I was getting quite a lot of buzz. I checked the relief, and the strings were pretty much flat on the frets, where there was a gap with the D'Addarios. I've loosened the truss rod and it's better. It might need another 1/8 of a turn, but I'm leaving it to settle for 24 hours.

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String advice Newtone buzz

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