Fretless buzzing at first fret.

[MMcC]

What does this mean. I'm new to fretless bass but I'm not new to setups. Is it a neck relief thing, or maybe a nut thing? Are fretless necks supposed to be straight?

[xqusemuah]

I set mine dead flat for max "muah"

[Magneto]

Usually , fret buzz at the 1st fret is an indicator that the neck needs a touch of relief. It sometimes happens when the neck is pulled into a backbow when the truss is too tight..

Mag...

[xqusemuah]

also, what strings are you using? Different gauges / mfgrs have different tensions that could affect the relief also.

[MMcC]

Factory D'addarios flats are on there right now. The neck looks like it's OK on relief. There's even the slightest gap at the 7th fret when I hold down the A string at both ends of the fretboard. Should I loosen it a little anyway?

[xqusemuah]

what kind of bass is this and what style you play?

[MMcC]

It's an SX. Those dirt cheap budget knock off models. (Should I just stop there?) It's my first fretless. I just wanted an introduction to get started and learn. I've been playing bass for a decade, but always fretted. As far as style, I guess basically just fingerstyle on the bridge pickup preferably, but I've been playing around with different positions since getting the fretless.

[Triclops]

Trust these guys! they helped me out with the same baffling problem! I gave my trussrod a bit of a loosening, and VIOLA!

[MMcC]

Back again. I loosened the neck and got rid of the first fret buzz mostly. It's still there on the E a little. The thing is though, the action is pretty high. I keep hearing that you can get away with pretty low action on a fretless. Some say they keep the neck straight. Any insight?

[fretlessrock]

Until you take a straightedge to that neck you won't know for sure what is causing it. You could have a high spot in the fingerboard up near the 1st fret. My experience with 2 different fretless SX J basses was that the necks needed a levelling. They had some pretty nasty dips and humps.

[MMcC]

In regards to measuring the relief: no feeler guages but with the A fretted at both ends of the fretboard I eyeballed 1/16 of an inch. Less than what i've got on my fretted basses. Should I aim higher? Haven't checked for the shim. Open strings seem to be fine. I'm still looking for less buzz and lower action. What's next? PS. I appreciate the help. Really.

[greenboy]

As, the man said: measure. Or have a luthier-type do it. You can have scads of relief and if there is a sufficient high spot it'll continue to cause problems.

[xqusemuah]

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

[greenboy]

I see Gary still isn't consistent on how he spells it ; }