Hope someone can help.
When I down pick the open Hi E string on my Tele I get a sort of buzzy sound from the string. When I up pick the open Hi E string it sounds fine. I have tried raising the Hi E string action, but it has not helped.
Bad set of strings?
Something else?
Any help would be appreciated.
The buzz has to come from vibrations against something else, most likely the nut. I had something similar with an old acoustic. I’m certainly not an expert on repairs. Someone else might be able to suggest a workaround otherwise I’d take it to your local store and ask for some help.
Now that I think of it, you specified it’s the open string. It’s definitely a nut issue.
I agree it sounds very like a nut issue.It can happen that the nut wears and the strings sits a bit lower that it can vibrate against a fret or frets. It can also be caused if you have changed to a lighter gauge of strings as the string will just be that little bit lower.
Since it only happens on the down pick, is it possible when you down pick you are angling away from the guitar causing the string to vibrate more horizontally and thus touching a fret?
I had the same issue on an acoustic. It was wear in the slot of the nut. It may not even be visible to the naked eye. The strings don’t have to touch the fret to cause the buzz. I’m sure from the original post description it’s vibration against the nut.
You all were right, it was a nut slot issue. Filled in the nut slot recut it and the issue went away. Probably my picking style that only caused it to happen on the down pick. Thanks for sending me in the right direction everyone!