I’ve started playing guitar again after a 25 year hiatus. My wife bought me a Epiphone Les Paul copy for Christmas. It wasn’t terribly expensive because I wasn’t sure about my commitment. I’ve been playing pretty much daily since January but there is one thing about it that’s been bugging me. When I play a B or E note on the A and D strings the notes sound dead and there is an annoying buzz (I’m not using an amp). The notes also sound dead in any chords I play. Everywhere else on the fret board sounds good. I’ve replaced my strings and raised the action but the problem is still there.Any thoughts on what might be the problem?
The bridge can be adjusted with the screwdriver and the nut with a file.
Since it's fairly new if you bought it from a guitar shop I would think it would make the adjustment at no charge.
Certainly it would be worth and ask.
You could also take it in to get professionally setup. I just paid 45 to get my strat setup and now it stays in tune and plays better than ever!
But if it's one of the more upscale models the other poster is right, a basic setup should fix it.
Problem #1 right there. Are you Amish or something?
I don't think it was mentioned, but it may just be a poor leveling/dressing of the frets by the manufacturer and may only require a slight leveling on a fret or two (of the ones mentioned above). Steel wool or something a bit stronger like sand paper, and then steel wool to smooth, will easily fix it.
One easy way to tell, is to place the guitar as flat and level as possible on a work bench, and use a 4-inch or even smaller (a few frets at a time) straight edge metal object. i have inexpensive tools for this, but you can improvise. You test 3 frets at a time. If you can wiggle the right or left sides up and down, you have a problem. You can easily see if the frets are not level.
The below video explains this really well starting at 2:22.
Lemme know if you need any help.
Link - ( New Window )
Gibson Les Paul Setup - ( New Window )
this, avoid trial and error. and if you are near annapolis I have a name for you. Lights out, pro's use him. One thing to consider though is if the guitar is pretty good quality to work with as it can be improved up to a point, then all bets are off without upgrades to critical components.