Fretless bass setup

[TJmccreedy2183]

Hey guys i kinda have a problem. i just recently made a fretless bass out of my ibanez soundgear bass and i was setting up my action string hight and intonation and stuff like that but when i was setting up the string hight i couldn't get it low enough for comfort with out the strings buzzing. Any help please. Ideas Tips anything will be appreciated.

[Jiggybass]

That's scary, I just did the same with my ol' Samick Corsair. I have that problem too, all notes under the 7th "fret" buzz....and the rest of the fingerboard is high. weird.

PS> neck is straight.

I'm wondering the same thing

[fretless Bob]

well the strings is kinda the sound of freltess,

heres a link that will take you through it

http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass...tupmanual.html


Dave

[fretless Bob]

it is kinda weird, when i first got into fretless i couldnt get it not to buzz, it took me absolutely ages to get a good sound through my amp,

why dont you try getting the bass set up how you like it and then try knocking off some of the high mids and highs on your amp,that way you wont accentuate the buzzing, cos really a bit of buzz is what you are looking for, it is a different beast to a fretted bass and you will have to adjust your tone settings accordingly.

its like you are looking for that sweetspot where it buzzes all over the neck without muting any notes or just sounding annoying, listen to any Jaco, his bass buzzed all over but its controled by the right eq'ing


Dave

[Nick Ioannucci]

check out the truss rod maybe? i got my one and only bass(fretless) set up just the way i like it. but i put new strings on(rotosound flats) they sound awesome but the gauge was smaller than my last set(idk wat they were came with the bass) so now i pretty much need a new nut or need to set the action so high its hard to play. ill be ordering a new nut shortly.

[Diego]

What I would recommend is to lower the nut height (at the notches or at the base, whichever is easier for you), set up the neck dead-flat (get a straightedge) and then lower the strings. If you still have buzzes here and there you need to true your fingerboard. Did you do the fretless conversion yourself? How was it made? It may be the case that you don't have a perfectly even board surface leading to annoying buzzes. Also remember, a little buzz on the fretless is what creates the characteristic mwah sound. Just my 2 cents .

[Phil Mailloux]

I've got a feeling the two first posters did the defretting themselves and just kept the original nut intact.

Don't forget that the strings have to be lowered at the nut of the thickness of the frets.
i.e. is the fret crowns were 0.048" high than your nut slots need to be about that much lower, give or take a few thousands.

You also need to make sure your fretboard itself is flat with no bumps in it.

[Jiggybass]

Nah, I already shaved down the nut accordingly, and planed the neck, to make it nice and flat, and my neck is set up pretty straight. I'll try higher gauge strings, 'cause mine are quite floppy right now

thanks for the responses

[Jiggybass]

hah, finally got it!!!!!, just shave the nut a bit more than what you measured it out it should be, shove half a business card to tilt the neck forwards, give the neck very very *slightest* forwards bow, and lower the action by 1 mm from where it was!!, now I only buxx on the 17th, where I have a slight roughspot. I noticed that any roughspot, no matter how tiny, will give you buzz.

- Felix

edited

[Diego]

When it comes to fretless, playing with the neck relief and nut height is critical!. Also for those posters that de-fretted themselves, please take into account that "re-planing" the board, although almost the same in concept as "trueing" the board is not the same. Trueing the board requires experience, good tools, good hands and good eye to keep your fingearboard surface perfect. remember that for boards with sharp radiuses, you are playin over a cylindrical surface and since the neck with at the nut and at the body joint tends to be different in >90% of the cases, whenever you depress a string and bend you are changing the contact surface right underneath the string which could cause buzzing.

[Jiggybass]

yupyup, another reason why I totally modded the nut. with a dremel, I took about 2mm out of the grooves of the E and G strings, and now the bass plays like a dream. No buzzing, and relativly low action

It's actually prett sweet, o, and yes, I took special care with the neck, I took a week to make sure that it was near perfect. Just patience, and some luck lol

thanks for the info ^

- Felix

[TJmccreedy2183]

Thanks for the info guys i did indeed keep the old nut on. im goin to try and work with the truss rod and nut hopefully being able to fix the problem

[Spencer!]

A little buzz is what gives a fretless a growly tone.

But yeah, definately recut the nut to your preferences.

[Sonorous]

Out of my own desire to learn, how exactly does lowering the nut help get rid of buzz? I can see how a nut that was too low could cause problems, but I don't see how a nut thats too high would cause buzzing.