epiphone thunderbird

[damien karras]

recently bought a secondhand epi thunderbird in excellent condition,good frets,no warps or twists etc.problem is no matter how i set this bass up i cant get rid of a lot of buzz at the first fret on the E,and sometimes on open E if i play hard.ive tried as much relief as the neck will allow,vice versa and everything in between with various action heights,and also new strings.still buzzes!more relief puts buzz in further up the neck,so the best overall position seems having very little relief.as you can imagine this makes that first fret a nightmare!
any suggestions greatly appreciated

damien karras

PS dont do jokes about the power of christ compelling it!!!!!!if only that would work!!!!!

[loinmute]

Does it buzz thru your amp at a "garage jam" volume?
Could you give me some sorta rational number that represents the measured relief?

You say good frets; did you actually check how plumb they are? (levelness)

[bassplayer8953]

Nut filed down too far? Sounds like a touch higher action right there might do the trick.

[stiles72]

Originally Posted by bassplayer8953

Nut filed down too far? Sounds like a touch higher action right there might do the trick.

+1 Maybe try bringing the E string side of the bridge up maybe a turn or two. Be sure to loosen the strings before you make the adjustment.

[DMHolman]

Not more than 10 mins ago I took care of a similar problem on a Thunderbird Goth. I had buzz on the open E and on 1st fret of the G string. After a couple tries, I went to Aquateen's excellent tutorial: Epiphone blackbird action adjustment??

I started by loosening the strings and bringing the bridge to what looked like a good starting position by eye and then made sure the bridge was level. I then started with Aquateen's steps. A couple minutes later, I made two adjustments to the truss rod (1/4 turn and then 1/8th turn) and no more buzz anywhere.

-=>D

[darkstorm]

Sounds like either nut slot to low for that string or the fret needs filed down a little for that string. Can you see or feel any sign of a little raised spot on the fret wear string crosses it?