Annoying little fret buzz is driving me wild.

[laboitenoire]

At least, I'm pretty sure it's fret buzz. I didn't really notice it before, but when I recently restrung my bass with D'Addario EPS220 strings (.055-.110 stainless), I noticed that all of the sudden I was getting tremendous fret buzz across the neck. I figured I should do a setup on it, and it's now pretty much perfect. However, if I play an open note on the A string, it buzzes quite noticeably. It's not the clatter you get when your action is too low, it's more of a high-pitched zing. The minute I fret any note on the string it goes away. At first I thought it was a resonant frequency problem, as I swear I can hear a similar sound when I play an A on other strings or an octave up on the A string (it's faint, though). However, I still get the noise even if I tune the string down as far as F#. So, I'm guessing I now have a slight high spot on the fret.

Is this a repair I can easily do myself, or should I take it to be professionally setup?

[puddin tame]

is the string sitting ok in the nut?

[laboitenoire]

Looking at it I don't see anything out of the ordinary.

[laboitenoire]

I'd say I've probably got somewhere between 2-3 wraps right now (bass is in the case at the moment as I'm about to hit the sack for the night). However, I'd think if it was an angle problem all Fender-style basses would have the same issue? I tried pressing down on the string behind the nut and didn't notice an improvement.

[laboitenoire]

Bump. Still haven't figured it out.

[laboitenoire]

Bump.

[laboitenoire]

Bump. I see one of the replies was deleted...

[lethargytartare]

If it's a high spot on a fret, you should be able to isolate it -- play the string, one fret at a time, and if it suddenly goes away, that may be the bad fret.

I try to mute all the other hardware in cases like this to see if it's a loose spring or screw -- get some foam and wrap it around the headstock, put something over the bridge.

Try swapping in your old string and see if it goes away -- could be an irregularity in the string.

And mute the other strings while testing -- could be another string hitting a fret.

Try some more stuff, and let us know what you find.

ltt

[laboitenoire]

That's why I'm thinking it's a bad fret: the minute I fret any note on the string it's fine. It's only the open string that buzzes. I tried pressing on various parts of the bass to mute it, but it didn't help.

I threw out the old strings already, as they were beyond dead. It wasn't until after I'd set it up that I noticed the buzz was still there. I've got another set of strings, though, which I could try.

Actually, looking at the string, it looks like the winding is irregular right where it sits in the nut. I couldn't see this making that big of an impact, though, could it?

[lethargytartare]

It's a weird spot for it to be the fret, but not impossible. If the fret popped up, you'd expect the E to buzz worse. And the A-range wouldn't be the spot of the fret to get poorly leveled or crowned.

This might be goofy, but try flipping the string -- mark the current "top" of the string with a marker, then restring it with that mark down towards the fret...I wouldn't call that a high-probability solution hahaha

But do make sure the fret is seated and in place firmly.

Oh, and you said that it buzzes a bit when other A notes are played -- see if you can play the A on the D or E, get the buzz, then lightly rest your finger on the A string -- if that kills it, you can probably rule out the random hardware and other stuff. If the octave A on the A can create the buzz, try fretting the 12th fret with your pinkey, and let your index finger lightly rest on the string -- if that mutes it, I would keep leaning towards a high first fret.

Finally, you can measure the height of your strings at the first fret -- search this forum and you'll find a few methods. Check all 4 strings, and you might find that the A is closer than the rest.

You (or a tech) can carefully sand down a high spot on a fret -- a full treatment of all the frets is better, but sometimes more than you might want to commit to the issue.

[laboitenoire]

Okay, I'll take a look at that in the next day or two... A little bit late for me to do anything tonight. Thanks for the help!

[laboitenoire]

Alright, I think I've found the problems. First off, the string was definitely defective. I switched it from string-thru to top-load which moved the messed up part of the winding past the nut, and that helped things considerably. So, I just replaced the string completely, and it's pretty well behaved.

However, if I really dig in it can still buzz a little bit, so I poked around a little more and figured out that the buzzing is happening entirely behind the nut. If I place some pressure right where the string goes through the nut or place additional tension behind the nut to increase the angle, it goes away. So, I think what I probably need to do is replace the string tree with one that works on the three top strings so I can get a sharper angle.

[Evil Undead]

Maybe you need to just raise the nut a millimetre or so?

[lethargytartare]

Originally Posted by laboitenoire

... If I place some pressure right where the string goes through the nut or place additional tension behind the nut to increase the angle, it goes away. So, I think what I probably need to do is replace the string tree with one that works on the three top strings so I can get a sharper angle.

Good job! Don't forget, if you have any extra string length, you can also add windings on the post to force the string downward a bit more.

[Evil Undead]

Along this topic, I have a really annoying fret buzz on my E and A strings... I've set it up pretty well, got the right relief on the neck, decent action (a little higher than I'd like actually)

The strings are the ones that arrived with the bass (only got it today) and are lighter than my usual gauge. Would a heavier gauge help with this problem?