fretless 1st fret buzz/rattle

[JPrinos]

Hello all,

I've recently bought an SX 5 string jazz with fretlines.

I took most of the relief out of the neck and lowered the action.

Last night while playing around, I notice that the middle 3 strings seemed to have a fairly pronounced rattle/buzz AT the 1st fretmark. not before it or after it but right at the first fret marker. I added a 1/4 turn of relief but it still seems to be there.

Anyone ever experience something like this?

John

[T. B. Player]

Could it be because you lowered the action?

Is the buzz coming from the board (since it has no frets it's not rattling on a high fret) where there might be a high spot in the wood (like a knot underneath the board)? You're nut might be cut too low as well, meaning you'd have to raise your saddles to compensate.

SX/Brice/Agile are nice starters, but they all have to have some tweaks.

Z

[JPrinos]

The buzz does seem to be coming from the board at the first fret.
I'm going to be changing to lighter gauge strings soon so I'll inspect the area and will hopefully see something obvious.

Originally Posted by T. B. Player

Could it be because you lowered the action?

Is the buzz coming from the board (since it has no frets it's not rattling on a high fret) where there might be a high spot in the wood (like a knot underneath the board)? You're nut might be cut too low as well, meaning you'd have to raise your saddles to compensate.

SX/Brice/Agile are nice starters, but they all have to have some tweaks.

Z

[HogieWan]

you need to raise the action a bit or add more relief. The bridge saddles should have an overall curve to them to match the curve of the board

[HooBass]

I experienced something that might have been *exactly* this issue.

I.e., SX 5 string Jazz fretless with fret lines, and buzzing when I play a note with a string depressed at the first fret.

In my case, I could visually see a tiny "divot", i.e., a little depression, below the offending string (in my case if memory serves only one string buzzed at the first fret). It was between the nut and the first fret marker. I had to take the strings off and look down the neck with a light shining on it, and then move the neck to 'move' the reflection, making the divot apparent.

I had my luthier work on the neck -- not 100% sure of the tools he used, but I asked him if he could "level" the fretboard, and he did just that. I.e., I suspect he figured out what radius it is, and then "planed" it to that, taking a tiny bit of the fretboard wood off and thus removing the divot.

He apparently is really good at it -- fixed it right up, and there are no marks from this work. I.e. it CAN be fixed. He charged me $40 for it, too.

IF this is your problem I’d be careful in who I pick to do the work. I think I was lucky to have someone skilled enough to do it very well.

HooBass

[JPrinos]

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely check that.

Originally Posted by HooBass

I experienced something that might have been *exactly* this issue.

I.e., SX 5 string Jazz fretless with fret lines, and buzzing when I play a note with a string depressed at the first fret.

In my case, I could visually see a tiny "divot", i.e., a little depression, below the offending string (in my case if memory serves only one string buzzed at the first fret). It was between the nut and the first fret marker. I had to take the strings off and look down the neck with a light shining on it, and then move the neck to 'move' the reflection, making the divot apparent.

I had my luthier work on the neck -- not 100% sure of the tools he used, but I asked him if he could "level" the fretboard, and he did just that. I.e., I suspect he figured out what radius it is, and then "planed" it to that, taking a tiny bit of the fretboard wood off and thus removing the divot.

He apparently is really good at it -- fixed it right up, and there are no marks from this work. I.e. it CAN be fixed. He charged me $40 for it, too.

IF this is your problem I’d be careful in who I pick to do the work. I think I was lucky to have someone skilled enough to do it very well.

HooBass

[squashedOpossum]

Interesting to know others have experienced the same issue. I'm experiencing the same problem with my 5-string fretless SX. Until I can get someone to look at it, I'm taking advantage of the low B and anchoring at the 5th fret.

Can anyone receommend a good fretless luthier in Nashville?

[slap_happy]

I've been having the exact same problem. Same bass. Same fret marker. Don't really have anything to offer other than to say if your having the same problem too, your definitely not alone, judging by the previous posters. I plan on doing some very minor sanding on the bridge side of the 1st fret marker and see if this helps things at all. I'm experiencing buzzing mostly on the E string, but on the A string as well, and the B is so crappy to begin with it pretty much rattles all over the neck. Perhaps the do-it-yourself method isn't the best but that's in my nature and this bass costs about as much as a nice pair of boots.

[slap_happy]

This alleaviated the problem somewhat. Bought a Squire VM fretless the next day though. Much nicer bass IMO. Worth the $170 extra.