A Few Questions

[bassist15]

I bought a MIM Jazz off of ebay about a month ago . They came with a huge string gauge on it and the nut was filed down to fit them. I put a regular guage of strings on and i have had a bit of problems. When i play accousticly i can hear a slight buzz when i fret a note and then go to a different fret , if you get what i mean. Let i could fret a note then release and there will be a slight buzz. I can barley hear it when im playing through my amp. I tried to put the action as high up as i could and it isnt very high at all. I was wondering what I coudl do to fix my situation. Do i need a new nut? How much would it cost me to get a new nut put on my bass?

[bigd4207]

http://www.guitarstop.com/Graph%20Tech/tremnut.htm#Jazz 10 bucks, I would suggest just buying a new one instead of a "quick fix".

[bassist15]

Do I nessisarily have to replace it? How hard would it be to replace it?

[bigd4207]

It's nothing to replace, just pry your old one up with a smooth sided knife or something, sand it clean to get all the old glue off, then glue the new one in place and clamp it with a D clamp or vise, etc. No, you don't necessarily HAVE to do it, but if you are planning on sticking with those gauges for a while, I would. If you really don't want to you can wrap a small peice of fabric around the string or, as Paul McCartney did, use matches to lay under or the sides of the strings. It all comes down to how you want your instrument to be.

[MarkMyWordsXx]

try to email fender. when my warwick nut broke they sent me a new one for free.

[ampeg66]

Sorry in advance for the long post...

So...is the only problem a little fret buzz on fretted notes (not open strings), that’s barely heard through the amp? Or is there more? How hard do you play? Where on the neck does it buzz? On which strings? Are they brand-new roundwounds (which can sound rattly until they’re broken in a bit)? Did your previous bass have absolutely zero buzz?

I'm not super-clear on when/where the buzzing is happening, but if it's only on fretted notes, that has nothing to do with the nut; fretting a note takes the nut out of the equation. And I'd say a little fret buzz is normal for most people.

A new nut installed by a pro should probably run $40-50. Along with an overall setup, maybe $75-100. You don’t want to replace the nut yourself, for a couple of reasons; based on my understanding of your description, I don’t think you need to replace it at all.

First, do you do your own basic setups (neck/truss rod adjustment, intonation, action/string height), and understand how each of these affects the other? Nut replacement is NOT the place to start when learning DIY instrument setup. I’ve done my own setups for a while now; once you understand it, a basic setup isn’t rocket surgery, but cutting a new nut (along with performing fretwork or major neck work) is something I would still take to a pro.

Second, do you have the proper tools to cut the nut slots to the correct size, shape and depth? Do you even know what those measurements are? Those precut nuts have ZERO chance of being just right for your bass straight out of the box. It would be hard to get it right, or even know where to start, without having some idea of what you’re aiming for, and the tools to get there.

Third, and most importantly, it doesn't even sound like a nut problem to me. The slightly wider nut slots should have zero effect on fret buzz; same with any bridge saddle modifications that may have been done. The only issue with the bass previously being tuned down is that it may need a basic setup due to the different string tension.

Not sure what to tell you about the action...if the bridge pieces are up as high as they will go, your bass should be almost unplayable. You may need a truss rod adjustment, as too much or too little neck relief could be a cause of string buzz. It also affects the action.

I hate to tell you to spend more money, but It might be worth it to let a pro look at it. It could be a matter of a couple of simple adjustments.