Fretless Jazz, D string buzz

[the low one]

I’ve changed the strings on my MIM fretless Jazz from Rotosound flats to Elites flats. The tension of the Elites are not so tight, though I went for the same gauge of 40 to 100. The E, A and G strings are fine with a nice low action but the D string buzzes a little around the 3rd to 5th fret area, and again more so at around the 17th fret area. In fact the D string feels a little more lively than the others all the way up, though not overly so. I’m having to set the action well over 3 mm on the D string to lose the buzz whereas the other strings work well at 2 mm

The neck looks true, I had the fingerboard plained last year, and I’ve gone through the setup guide on the Garry Willis site to make the sure I’ve got the correct truss rod adjustments.

Does anyone have any more thought or suggestions before I have to take it back in for another check up. Should I just leave it a couple of weeks for the new strings to settle in?

[lowtide]

I'll run the risk of saying your board isn't as true as you'd think it would be after just having it done. Unless your D string is defective (doesn't come to tune - aka stays floppy) I'd straighten the board via trussrod and run a 24inch straightedge on the surface. When you say it "looks true", is that by eyeball or did you check with a straightedge?

[the low one]

Originally Posted by lowtide

I'll run the risk of saying your board isn't as true as you'd think it would be after just having it done. Unless your D string is defective (doesn't come to tune - aka stays floppy) I'd straighten the board via trussrod and run a 24inch straightedge on the surface. When you say it "looks true", is that by eyeball or did you check with a straightedge?

Thanks lowtide, I'll take a closer look at the fingerboard. I think the string is OK because it doesn't buzz when played open. I had a defective E string once from Rotosound and that buzzed when hit open and this one doesn't.

The Elites flats I've installed are lower tension than the Roto flats so maybe the extra vibration is makingn the problem sound more than before. Maybe it was always there but I never noticed it before.

[the low one]

I’m pleased to say it was a setup issue in the end. I’ve set the neck with just about no relief and this seems to have cured the problem. Got a good low action too. The Elites flats have a good feel and lower tension than the Roto’s and sound great, looking forward to seeing how they sound once they’re broken in.