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Buzz Feiten Tuning System...?


DRMc

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Anyone tried the Buzz Feinten Tuning System on their Heritage? I have a H-140 that I would like to try it on.Any comments...

 

I haven't used one, but can I ask why you want to try one. I believe you need a special tuner and we have played guitar for decades with out the BF system.

 

Not knocking your question, just curious why you want to try one.

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I've owned severl guitars with the BFTS, in fact my current number one guitar a Tom Anderson Hollow Drop Top Classic featutes the BFTS. 

There are three components to the BFTS:

1. Moving the nut slightly.

2. Intonating the guitar in a special manner.

3. Tuning the guitar in a special manner.

The good news is any one of the three is an improvement over stock.  The other good news is you can still tune it normally, or intonate it normally, or both and it will still perform as well as or better than stock. 

 

The bad news is, it's still a compromise.  A guitar will never play perfectly in tune up and down the neck due to our temperment system.  The BFTS is just a very, very, very good way to compensate for this. 

 

That said it can all be lost on technique.  I can easily bend strings a few cents sharp just be pressing harder.  If you play with 8s and have a bear grip, the BFTS will be lost to you.  But if you play with 10s (or heavier) and a light touch and play lots of complex chords up and down the neck and have a good ear you will most likely notice a marked improvement. 

 

The list of users/endorsers should speak for itself.

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I've owned severl guitars with the BFTS, in fact my current number one guitar a Tom Anderson Hollow Drop Top Classic featutes the BFTS. 

There are three components to the BFTS:

1. Moving the nut slightly.

2. Intonating the guitar in a special manner.

3. Tuning the guitar in a special manner.

The good news is any one of the three is an improvement over stock.  The other good news is you can still tune it normally, or intonate it normally, or both and it will still perform as well as or better than stock. 

 

The bad news is, it's still a compromise.  A guitar will never play perfectly in tune up and down the neck due to our temperment system.  The BFTS is just a very, very, very good way to compensate for this. 

 

That said it can all be lost on technique.  I can easily bend strings a few cents sharp just be pressing harder.  If you play with 8s and have a bear grip, the BFTS will be lost to you.  But if you play with 10s (or heavier) and a light touch and play lots of complex chords up and down the neck and have a good ear you will most likely notice a marked improvement. 

 

The list of users/endorsers should speak for itself.

 

+1 for a very good hands on review. Kinda wondered about this, myself.

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I use Earvana nuts on all 3 of my Heritage guitars, and I consider that a much better way to go. It's reversable, and does very much the same thing. The thing I notice most is how much the "cowboy chords" can stay in tune, as well as stuff way up the neck. If you've never installed a nut, though, it can be tricky, as any guitar modification can be.

 

rooster.

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Hey guys, Thanks for the responses...Several months ago I bought a black 96' H-140 that I think is great except for one problem, It will not stay in tune.I have took a bit of time in setting it up.Intonation is spot on...I keep the nut lubricated(I like to use Singer sewing machine oil) but still struggle to keep it in tune.Very frustrating right in the middle of a tune.Thought about trying something like the Buzz system...I don't know?I should mention I have been playing Strats for years.I don't experince tuning problems with them.I play heavy handed at times(luv them blues) and use a 11-50 set of strings.Maybe I'm out in left field with the Buzz system.Any suggestions?

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Stretch the strings and get a good tech to fix or file a new nut. I can assure you that yout guitar will stay in tune. My 150s stay in tune as good as any guitar I own.

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Well, KUZ thats a nice suggestion.I have been playing and tweaking on guitars for 25 years and stretching the strings is not the issue, nor is the strings binding in the nut. There is definitely something squirrly going on...After thinking about it a little bit I wonder if the strings might be binding a bit in the bridge saddle.It does have a Schaller roller bridge...?Anyway,thumbs up or thumbs down on the Buzz system?

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I have been playing and tweaking on guitars for 25 years.........

 

I didn't think it really mattered, until I traded a 535 for a 150 with a fellow forum member, that a bone nut would be such a drastic improvement on keeping a guitar in tune.  I was from the pencil dust in the slots school.  I am easy with my picking hand and I don't think my non-bone nut guitars are in that bad of shape.  My gold 535 (w) Schaller roller bridge and bigsby stays in tune remarkably well.  But in the end I have to say the bone nut takes care of a lot of string problems.

 

Don't be afraid to experiment with that fine guitar.  I installed an on-board tuner in my 150.  It's as handy as a pocket on a shirt.  :)    Welcome to the forum.

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There is definitely something squirrly going on...After thinking about it a little bit I wonder if the strings might be binding a bit in the bridge saddle.It does have a Schaller roller bridge...?Anyway,thumbs up or thumbs down on the Buzz system?

 

The Feiten system is for intoning your guitar, not keeping it in tune.  It seems to me that the Buzz nut has more contact area than a standard nut.  While by itself the Feiten system solves (reduces) sins on the fretboard it should have no influence on what you wish to solve.

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The Feiten system is for intoning your guitar, not keeping it in tune.  It seems to me that the Buzz nut has more contact area than a standard nut.  While by itself the Feiten system solves (reduces) sins on the fretboard it should have no influence on what you wish to solve.

+1.

I think it is probably the bridge or nut.

Does the problem occur on all strings or just 1 or 2?

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