Fretless Buzz problem

[amfmsb]

I recently bought a Squire Vintage Modified Jazz fretless to begin my journey into the frettless realm. After reading positive reviews here, and playing one in the store, I got it. It sounds great except for one issue I'm having with it. There is a very noticable string buzz when I "fret" on the D string at the 5th fret area. It's just in that one spot and is very bad. I've loosened the truss rod, to add some relief, but altough the strings are higher, this one spot still buzzes. I've also tried raising the string height, with similar results. I'm thinking I just got a bad one- maybe theres a flaw in the smoothness of the ffingerboard in that particular area. Does anyone else with more fretless experience have any ideas. I bought it about a week ago at GC, and am going to try to exchange it if I cant figure this out. Thanks in advance for your ideas.

To clarify- its not the type of buzz thats normal for a fretless instrument- it sounds similar to bad fretted buzzing- where the note is overwhelmed by a high pitch buzz.

[odin70]

Did you put on new strings?

[amfmsb]

I haven't tried new strings- it came with round wounds and I know thats a bit odd for fretless, but I do like the brightness. I'll try different set strings that I may have lying a round- of course I only have rounds.

[pacojas]

maybe that frequency resonates with something on/in your bass. are you able to pin-point the exact spot that vibrates? is there a screw loose, is the nut snug, is the string...
hmmm,.. i'm guessing the truss rod is dancing to that note. i would exchange it, NOW!!! gl.

[amfmsb]

The buzz is happening on the fret board right where I am fretting. Like I said earlier, it buzzes if the strings are low or high. Thanks for the responses!

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by amfmsb

The buzz is happening on the fret board right where I am fretting. Like I said earlier, it buzzes if the strings are low or high. Thanks for the responses!

The first things I would look for would be a kinked string and a hump in the fingerboard. The kinked string is a little harder to spot, so I would start by looking at the fingerboard. A six-inch ruler laid along the fingerboard should be able to find a hump if there is one.

[odin70]

You could try another string. Ive had bad strings that have caused problems like you have described. Rounds are perfect for fretless.

[killersdude]

I've had similar problems on my fretless American J-Bass. Check your action, it might just be to low. Is D your only trouble note? Is there any buzz/rattle (even faintly) when you play the open string? If it's not your action, check your neck. Though it seems less likely to be an issue on a fretless, I wouldn't rule it out completely.

[CannyBusDriver]

String kinks can really affect this buzz, ive had two sets of nickle roundwounds that started to kink like this, even on a fretless. I advise buying some stainless steel strings because they are harder. I personally buy circle k strings whoch are hybrid strings of nickel and steel, sounded great on my fretless before i sent it in to get epoxy'ed. I have no doubt they will sound good when i get my freshly epoxyed bass back.

[plainman]

I have the same problem, only it is on the A string around the 7th fret. It went away when I adjusted the truss rod, but of course now the action is a bit high (I had to adjust it a lot before the buzz vanished).

[plainman]

I should make an update on my bass. When I adjusted the truss rod the neck curved quite a bit, the buzz vanished, but the strings were way too high to play comfortably. I finally did what I should have done in the first place, which is take the thing to a luthier. I took it to Greg at Classic Ax here in Nashville and he found a problem with the neck and got Fender to replace it under warranty. It was just a little bit past the warranty period, so kudos to Fender for making it right and to Greg for advocating for me.