do you guys like to have some buzzing?

[black.rose1402]

jusr try to see if many of us like to have some buzz.

if yes or no tell us why!!!!

(for an example marcus miller likes to have some buzz, he says it's a part of his sound)

[ZolkoW]

Originally Posted by black.rose1402

jusr try to see if many of us like to have some buzz.

if yes or no tell us why!!!!

(for an example marcus miller likes to have some buzz, he says it's a part of his sound)

yeah, it's a part of the JB sound, I think...
great for rock songs. or for anything

[Brian D]

No, I prefer my basses to be buzz free or with as little buzz as possible.

[orgmorg]

I definitely prefer to have a good buzz while playing.

[CraigG]

I can go either way. However, I no longer view a little fret buzz as a bad thing. In fact, I think it adds character once you allow it to work to your advantage.

[Lebowsky]

a little bit is almost impossible not to have, but otherwise I hate it

[Pennydreadful]

Do I want it? No. Have I got some? Yeah, I kinda suck.

[oli@bass]

I would prefer to have a clean buzz free tone, but I even more like to have very low action... and I dig in way too hard, especially live. However, in a band context, some buzz can even add to the sound, while it can sound awful when you hear the bass solo. Also depends on the line and style: in a punk rock line, I love to have string buzz all over, while in a smooth jazz funk dub line, there should be as little as possible.

[GeoffByrne]

A couple of years ago I saw Guy Pratt (Google him if you don't know) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - he was doing his storytelling thing. He's a funny guy (pun intended) with some great stories about Madonna, Pink Floyd, Jimmy Page et al.

I was sitting about 6 feet in front of him & he was playing his '64 Jazz through an Ashdown 2x10.

What struck me was the amount of fret-clatter coming from the neck - I could hear it plainly being that close, but not a *trace* of it was coming over the amp.

I learned from that.

[chris.gotfunk]

This is going to sound bad, but I go both ways on the question at hand. For my j-bass I have the action super low and it buzzes a little bit. I also have a P-bass that has no buzz no matter how hard I play. The great thing about that bass is the action is really low too. I am pretty lucky with my instruments.
I agree with what people said above in that a little buzz can be a good thing. Especially on j-basses that are used for funk or really aggressive digging lines.
Both the buzz and no buzz have their place in this world.

[Jeff K]

Originally Posted by orgmorg

I definitely prefer to have a good buzz while playing.

Nice. I saw that one coming...

[mjolnir]

Depends on the style of music I'm playing. Most of my basses are set up to only have buzz with nothing short of violent playing, and I play rather violently for harder rock stuff. The jazz and funk stuff doesn't usually get any buzz.

[Munjibunga]

No buzzing for me, thank you.

[Gegatso]

Mine all have just the slightest amount of buzz, but it is something that can be used/utilized by how I play. Same way with all of the neck clatter noise (like mentioned above in a previous post) I have tons of it because I really dig in and bang into the strings, but it doesn't come out of the amps.

[ga_edwards]

I think sometimes the choice is made for you by the quality and design of the instrument, particularly the fingerboard.

My Warwick Thumb BO 5 has a wide nearly flat fingerboard (some rediculously high radius, 20"?). I have quite a low action and it hardly buzzes at all, no matter how much I dig in, or bend string. I occasionaly get buzz if I play the low B past the 12 fret, but that I rarely do that anyway.

My other basses are somewhat cheaper, and have smaller radius fingerboard profiles. I simply can't get the action as low without some buzz somewhere, or string choking out when bending notes high up the neck.

I think maybe fret levelling may help out on one of them, as it is a particularly cheap Tokai Thunderbird I aquired a few days ago, but the neck is still settling in with new srtings before I make that decision.

Whether I like buzz. Not sure, it certainly add character to playing, but can get annoying if you've got one high fret or a bend chokes out.

But for fretless, I think buzz is an essential part of the fretless tone. Without it, it doen't sound quite right.

[black.rose1402]

I noticed that my jazz basses have all fret buzz, even when they were adjusted by a fine luthier, and my precision doesn't have one buzz all over its neck.

but I admit to play slap style having fret buzzing is pretty cool for the sound

[JMDT]

Originally Posted by GeoffByrne

A couple of years ago I saw Guy Pratt (Google him if you don't know) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - he was doing his storytelling thing. He's a funny guy (pun intended) with some great stories about Madonna, Pink Floyd, Jimmy Page et al.

I was sitting about 6 feet in front of him & he was playing his '64 Jazz through an Ashdown 2x10.

What struck me was the amount of fret-clatter coming from the neck - I could hear it plainly being that close, but not a *trace* of it was coming over the amp.

I learned from that.

+1

If I cannot hear it buzzing plugged in, its not buzzing IMHO. My dad absolutely hates buzzing though and will adjust a guitar until it is out or he won't play it.

[Jim Carr]

Originally Posted by JMDT

+1

If I cannot hear it buzzing plugged in, its not buzzing IMHO. My dad absolutely hates buzzing though and will afdjust a guitar untill it is out or he won't play it.

+1
I'm with your dad.
Btw, it is spelled "amateur," not "amature."

[kayakbass]

Gotta have a bit of buzz in order to get the action where I like it. I just put a bit of bow back into the neck when recording finger style to reduce buzzing. Recording slap or playing live? Let'er buzz baby!

[Lo end PUNCH]

I like to have a teeny weeny bit and even then I know how to play it and get none at all. For slap its pretty cool so I dont worry about a little buzzing then.