I bought some spikes from the General Store, and just finished installing them on 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12
Frets 7 and 8 now have a buzz to them when using the spikes. 9, 10 and 12 sound clean.
Why would 7 and 8 buzz, but not the others?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Mike it is very possible the 5th string is a shade too close to one of the frets or spikes at the 9th 10th 11th or 12th. Does the buzz occur when the string is not hooked ?
No buzz when it’s not hooked. Slight buzz on the 8th, more noticeable on the 7th.
I wonder if the neck needs a hair more curve. I get buzzing occasionally across the middle strings when playing open, but not when capo’d.
Before you go about adjusting the neck. Try to locate the source of the buzz with a thin piece of tissue paper. My guess is one or more spikes might be sitting a little high and could be shortened with a a few file strokes.
Often that is caused by one of two things…
Either the spike is too high, and not pulling down on the string firmly enough to keep it from buzzing on the fret, or more likely, the spikes above it are slightly too high which can cause the string to touch them while pulled down at a lower spike. I try to offset them just the slightest bit to keep that from happening, or make sure they’re low enough.
Sounds like your 9th spike may be a touch too high.
Thanks everyone! I’ll do some more checking after work today and report back.
Tapped the 9th down, and the 8th a hair. Now the 7th is clean, but the 8th still buzzes a tiny bit, and the 9th is too low (hard to get the string under) and it has a tiny buzz to it. I’m going to leave it alone for now. There’s only a couple songs I need the 7th for so far. So, until I get more advanced and actually start needing the others, it’s kind of a non-issue (other than my perfectionism wanting to be perfect).
Hi Mike, If you are uncomfortable about carrying out further adjustments seek out a Luthier they will fix it in no time and it shouldn’t cost a lot. When fitting spikes it’s best to use a feeler gauge under the lip so as not to push the pin in too far. There is always ample metal on the head of the spike to allow the top to be dressed a little. As you say, you will mostly fret the 5th string at the 7th fret. I don’t recall @BanjoBen having any lessons where the 5th string is capo’ed any higher than the 7th.
Under the double eagle has it capoed at the 10th…
Hi Gunnar I haven’t tried @BanjoBen 's Arr but I did record Alan Munde’s Arr six years ago I think that was in open G tuning
Ben’s is in C
Yes I had a look, I think Alan’s arrangement is in the Key of C just played in open G tuning.
Well it could the 10th fret spike or 12th that’s too high, but they don’t come into play except when noting certain frets. The key of course is to find out what’s causing that buzz, which I know you’re trying to do.
I was… I gave up since the 7th is buzz free. 
I’ll revisit the others when I need them