Buzz Feiten

American singer songwriter, guitarist, and luthier

Howard "Buzz" Feiten II (born November 4, 1948) is an American singer songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is best known as a lead and rhythm guitarist and for having patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instruments. Feiten also manufactures and markets solid body electric guitars.

Feiten grew up in Huntington Station and Centerport, New York, where he was known by schoolmates and friends as "Buzzy". The son of a musical mother, Pauline (a classical pianist), and an airline pilot, Howard Sr., Feiten received training in classical music as a child. His older sister Paula was a flautist and fashion model in the mid 1960s. A younger brother, Jon, was also involved in music and the arts. In youth, he studied several musical instruments, settling on the French horn. As a teenager, he played in all county (Suffolk) and all state (New York) youth orchestras on the instrument. Feiten first played Carnegie Hall in 1966 on French horn in American Youth Performs. In 1966, he auditioned at the Juilliard School on French horn but was not admitted. In high school he fronted for a group called 'The Reasons Why' with Steve Beckmeier (rhythm guitar), Al Stegmeyer (drums), Danny Horton (lead guitar), and Daniel Kretzer (keyboards). The band was successful on Long Island, and two songs, "Tell Her One More Time" and "Same Old Worries", were mentioned in a Billboard 'new singles' article in the summer of 1966.

Still known as "Buzzy", in late 1968 or early 1969 Feiten was a student at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. Feiten replaced Elvin Bishop in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and recorded on the group's fifth album, Keep on Moving. Etta James, and Don McLean.

Feiten patented a tuning system for guitars, marketed as the Buzz Feiten Tuning System, which is intended to correct problems of the standard equal temperament. The system can be retrofitted by a repair shop or luthier that has paid a licensing fee and received specific training. The system consists of a compensated string nut (or "shelf nut") and a method for intonating the bridge. The system was licensed to Washburn Guitars (1995–2010) and Suhr Guitars. The tuning system is intended to create more accurate tonality of notes played on the lowest three or four frets. Some guitarists claimed to hear no difference, perhaps attributed to their particular playing style or primary musical genre. A few stated the opinion that, while a BFTS enhanced guitar was clearly superior when recording alongside electronic keyboards, it generally rendered their tone "sterile" or "thin." Others believe that despite the company's "three or four" frets claim, the system provided marked improvement in accuracy virtually everywhere on the fretboard.

In 2012, Feiten announced the founding of Buzz Feiten Guitars to manufacture and market solid body electric guitars. The firm initially offered five models, the Blues Pro, T Pro, Signature Elite, Classic Pro, and Elite Pro. In 2018, the company was renamed Buzz Feiten Guitar Research, and began offering three solid body models with the brand name 'SuperNova': the 'Classic' (two humbucker pickups), the 'Futura' (bridge humbucker and neck single coil pickup), and the 'Futura Super Trem' (three single coil pickups with synchronized vibrato). The "Buzz Feiten Tuning System" is mentioned only with regard to the Supernova Classic.