| Do you mean buzz as in an electronic noise, you do you mean buzz as in the physical sound of a string or something else vibrating?
If you are not sure, unplug the bass and play it with your ear against the body. Still here it? If not, is likely electronic. If yes, it is certainly mechanical.
If you believe it to electronic, it can be a simple as the cable you are using is bad to as complex as preamp failure. (Unless it is a passive bass) Typically any electronic buzz comes from a compromised signal path of some sort, including but not limited to a bad ground. It could be the amp as easily as the guitar.
Unless you have a decent understanding of guitar electronics, you may want to have a tech look at it. There are just too many possibilities. Most of which wouldn't be apparant just by opening it up. Of course that never hurts, if you do open the back and see a wire nearly detached, that would be a likely culprit. But if it isn't obvious, have a tech look at it.
If it is mechanical, then you probably have something loose somewhere. Strings can rattle against a variety of things.
1. Against the pickup.
2. In the Nut.
3. Any part of the bridge.
4. A fret.
A fret is most common, but also typically the most obvious. To fix that, properly adjust the action. OR have someone else do it.
One buzz problem I see a lot is on basses where someone has attempted to get really low action without setting the neck relief properly. I have seen and repaired many basses where the saddles were lowered to the point that there was not enough downforce to keep them firmly seated against the bridge. This can cause the feet of the saddles to buzz on the bridge plate.
I also see many basses that have the saddles are tilted. This is bad. If all of the downforce is on one saddle foot, the other can buzz.
While the strings should follow the radius of the neck, this does not mean that the actual saddles should be tilted.
Remember that the string rests in the center of the saddle, so the strings height doesn't change with the saddle sitting lop-sided. In order to get maximum performance out of the bridge, each both feet should have the same length extended from the bridge.
In other words, each saddle should be exactly parrallel with the board. This is so that each saddle gets maximum downforce on the bridge.
This may not be your problem, but I have seen about six pawn shop basses in the last few weeks set up like this and it is bugging me, so I thought I would rant.
Also in loud situation, it can be very tough to isolate noises. I have worrying over a buzzing bass for ten minutes before discovering it was the grill of the speaker cabinet.
You just have to remove one element at a time until you isolate the problem.
Chas
Last edited by Chasarms : 03-04-2002 at 10:08 AM.
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