Barre Chords Clearer on Acoustic than Electric?

Hey there,

Bit of context on this one: I played guitar pretty much everyday aged 11-18, then fell out of it and picked it back up again on and off throughout the years. I've taken the opportunity (I think like a lot of people :) ) in recent months to skill up and fill in gaps in my knowledge with GuitarTricks.

Never really struggled with barre chords (from what I can remember - although it was a long time ago that I was 11!), but I've noticed a weird quirk that might be gear related rather than technique - or maybe both.

I have a few guitars I play with, a Hofner 173, a Fender 3/4 Sonoran and also get to play my dad's Squire Telecaster occasionally.

When I play the C# barre at the 9th fret on the Hofner, there's sometimes a bit of buzz on the B string - as if I'm not applying enough pressure. I don't have this issue of buzz on the Sonoran or the Telecaster. The Hofner is really hit and miss, sometimes it's fine and sometimes it sounds like I'm just not barreing right - but on the other guitars, the same amount of pressure is fine consistently.

The Hofner is a lot older (mid 1960s) and probably isn't the best guitar for small hands, unlike the Sonoran and arguably the Squire where the strings are SUPER close to the frets.

Would welcome any thoughts. If it is action related - I might have a measurement tool knocking around so can give a read if someone can help decode.

Hey Holly,

It could just be the action is too low (or the higher frets are uneven) and the string is buzzing against the frets. If you just hold down that single note on the B string with one finger, do you get the buzz?

This could just be an issue of neck / truss rod adjustment, or a fret could be too high. (Or a fret below it could be dented).

Try using just one finger, and go play every note up the B string, from the 1st fret, all the way up and see if you hear any buzzing or notes getting choked. If so it's not your technique, and it just needs an adjustment from a music store or tech.

By the way, this is a totally normal phenomenon if your action is too low (we have this often here when there are seasonal changes), and it could be a simple tweak of the bridge.

-Carl.

Hey Carl,

This was great advice - it's a little buzzy even on single notes too!

Also worth noting we've had a huge weather change in the UK in the past week or so.

Do you have any tips for taking vintage guitars in for looking at these kind of issues? Been really hesistant to take my guitar in for a clean up because I'm worried it will open a can of worms that i won't be able to get fixed.

Hey Holly,

I would bet you could easily solve this by simply raising the action a little bit on the bridge.

I'm using this one as a reference:

https://reverb.com/item/830093-1964-hofner-173-vintage-electric-guitar-red-croc-selmer-super-3-w-510-pickups

Assuming this is what your guitar has, if you turn those slightly (the little nut with ridges) it will raise and lower the bridge. All you would need to do is right the one on the right up slightly (the one under the higher strings). They might be pretty hard to turn without loosening the strings since there's so much tension down there. The Les Paul here also has these. I'll post more about it in a bit, but this might point you in the right direction...

-Carl.

This video talks about it at about the 6:26 mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaGtLOdGVJM

Looks like you would need to screw it clockwise to get the string to go higher.

It shouldn't take much adjustment to get rid of that buzzing. Maybe try it half of a turn at a time.

-Carl.