Bass setup advice?
poachedeggs
got a bit of buzz on the top string at the low frets.
I'm guessing this is about the frets being a bit skew-whiff themselves
and not action or truss rod stuff. As harebrained as it might sound,
in the past on guitars I've sanded and smoothed a bit of the trouble
frets to put paid to this, maybe that's what i'm needing ot do now?
I've raised the action all round a little bit, first to get rid of
some buzzing on the bottom string, again at the low frets; the action
is still comfortable. I can get a credit card under the 7th fret with
the first and body fret held down so it shouldn't be a truss rod
issue, should it?
I'm not massively bothered as I'll hardly touch that string and I've
just bought this bass to do slightly more elaborate, purely hobbyist
home recordings, but if there's something simple to do I'll do it.
Lastly, I did lower the nuts slots a bit as they were madly high.
I've set them a bit higher than I would my acoustic guitars, assuming
that to be normal for the arc of vibration of the thicker strings, but
I would think I shouldn't put them any lower as then I'd get all that
ting ting noise from behind the fret I'm fretting.
Thanks in advance.
eadg
news:ba45e51e-faa0-42b4...@s6g2000vbp.googlegroups.com...
Thanks in advance.
==========
I fear you may have lowered the nut slot a tad too much. Try
packing the nut slot with some thick tin foil.
I should also add that to gain a bass player's union card I'd
keep quiet about 'hardly touching' the 'E' string...
--
SR
RichL
That might be the case if just the open string buzzed. However, he said
it was buzzing "at the low frets".
poachedeggs
> eadg <don'...@it.com> wrote:
> > "poachedeggs" <poachede...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
And it's the G string I'm referring to.
RichL
I assume that you tried raising the bridge a little bit on that side and
it didn't help?
poachedeggs
Yes. I've got a terrible feeling the neck is slightly twisted, so
that the treble side is further back a little, though I can't quite
see how this might be involved if the saddles pretty much correct this
effectively. The top string does feel tighter even though it's the
slimmest and lowest action-wise, though maybe this is normal. The
bass is from a little local shop where I can't expect any input. I
think as it's the cheap string hopefully i might just get a thicker
gauge, as I'm hoping to tune a semitone down anyway in line with my
guitars.
thanks for all help so far, any further thoughts welcome.
Benj
> That might be the case if just the open string buzzed. However, he said
> it was buzzing "at the low frets".
I agree. And since it's just the G string doing this, one has to
suspect high fret(s) on the G side or a slight twist at the top of the
neck. I'd put a straight edge up there to examine the frets and the
need for leveling. And if it were my bass as a quick and dirty if all
else fails loosen the truss rod back to say two credit card clearance.
If there is a slight bend in the neck the lower tension and higher
relief may let it spring back. But if you are a fan of really low
action it may mean a new neck or bass eventually. Which is why I love
carbon fibre necks: Start perfect...stay perfect!
eadg
========
My mistake, I call a string by what it's tuned to usually, or
by it's number ('top or bottom' I always associate with
guitar terminology...the dark side of the moon).
Does the open string buzz?
--
SR
RichL
Yeah, from what he's posted since I suspect a bit of a neck twist. I've
got two Rickenbackers with that issue (one bass, one guitar) -- in that
case it's an easily understood instability associated with the double
truss rod. But I can tolerate high action, and raising the action makes
the associated buzz go away.
Brian Running
> I've just bought a bass, a �150 Johnson. Sounds good to me, but I've
> got a bit of buzz on the top string at the low frets.
Question -- buzz at the low frets when you pluck the open string, or
when you finger notes at those low frets?
poachedeggs
When I play, say, a note by fretting 2nd or third frets of the top, G,
string of this four-string bass (how about that for belated
clarity...) is when the buzz is worse. Not so bad further up the
neck, and no buzz at all when playing the open string - the nut is
entirely fine. My 12th fret action is currently about 3.2 mm on the
low side, 3 mm on the other. When I bought it it was 3mm on the low,
2.6mm on the other side.
Well if someone's Rickenbacker has a slightly twisted neck I'll stop
cursing this Johnson. It's tricky to find an truss rod alun key with
a long enough short end for the job but I expect I will eventually
solve this with a little bit more relief. Just as long as that won't
encourage a proper warping. (Would no professional bass person loosen
the neck and slide a bit of paper or something under the plate on the
guitar's back to put the twist right? Is that not done?)
Thanks.
poachedeggs
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPAGES/Luthier/Technique/Setup/BuzzDiagnosis/Relief/relief.html
This I think satisfies me that the truss rod key-hunt is tomorrow's
main task. Although there is a bit of grape trodden into my living
room carpet.
RichL
It's a bolt-on neck? Wouldn't hurt to try!
In my case (the Ric), I couldn't do that because it has a set neck. And
also in my case, the neck twists a bit as you move up the fretboard, so
if I somehow were able to cure the problem that I have on the lower
frets by resetting the neck position, I'd probably create a new problem
on the upper frets.
Brian Running
> When I play, say, a note by fretting 2nd or third frets of the top, G,
> string of this four-string bass (how about that for belated
> clarity...) is when the buzz is worse. Not so bad further up the
> neck, and no buzz at all when playing the open string - the nut is
> entirely fine.
Well, Eggs, the good news is that the nut is okay. When you get fret
buzz up at the head end of the neck, that means that you've got too
little relief in the neck. When you find that wrench for the truss rod,
loosen it just a little bit, re-tune the strings, and see if the buzz is
gone. If not, then loosen it a little bit more, re-tune, check again.
Repeat until the buzz is gone. By "loosen a little bit," I mean about
an eighth of a turn at a time. Since most truss rods have some stiction
in them, that's about the smallest increment you can adjust. It's
important to re-tune the strings after each truss rod adjustment.
Twisted necks are not real common. Try the most common, easy to fix
things first. Let us know what happens.
Benj
> (Would no professional bass person loosen
> the neck and slide a bit of paper or something under the plate on the
> guitar's back to put the twist right? Is that not done?)
Yeah that's done, but if the neck is twisted, it is not straight which
can mean if you shim the neck joint to adjust for the upper end twist,
the buzz could then move to a different spot. And yes a "professional"
bass person might do this (in fact they might do a LOT of things) and
just for the record the "traditional" pro bass player neck shim is
part of a matchbook cover from some dive bar. OK? :-)
Tim
> "poachedeggs" <poachede...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
Believe it or not, there was somebody on another discussion board
that set up a mold for filling in the nut and he swore by mixing
baking soda and super glue or other sturdy expoxy. smoothing it into
the nut, then letting it dry and then re cutting or filing it.
I dont' know if it's worthy or not..
I'm sure somebody has a solution though.
crow
>
> - Show quoted text -
I've done this many times with very satisfactory results!
jepp
Tim
Cool! that's a great second opinion. do you have certain mixture rate?
js
"Tim" <tsch...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:df6d01d8-f8b8-4109...@l2g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
js
Brian Running
> I've done this many times with very satisfactory results!
There's an epoxy filler called Supermend that works real well for that, too.
Derek Tearne
> Believe it or not, there was somebody on another discussion board
> that set up a mold for filling in the nut and he swore by mixing
> baking soda and super glue or other sturdy expoxy.
Baking soda? That doesn't sound right.
Epoxy either on its own, or with some inert powder like sawdust, or the
equivalent from sanding down plastic (plastic dust?) would be fine - but
baking soda doesn't sound like something one should sensibly be mixing
with glue.
--- derek
--
Derek Tearne - de...@url.co.nz
Vitamin S - improvisation from Aotearoa/New Zealand
http://www.vitamin-s.co.nz/
Kloka-mo'
--
-rob
O>
/(\)
^^
"Derek Tearne" <de...@url.co.nz> wrote in message
news:1j94dj1.5b5qh8146vovwN%de...@url.co.nz...
Tim
I know it doesn't sound right, Derek, but that's what I've "heard"
Tim
wrote:
> We're still talking about musicians here, yes? :-)
> --
> -rob
>
> O>
> /(\)
> ^^
>
Yes, The old adage applies. "You run what you brung"