Higher fret buzz?

[bassist 4 life]

I just bought a new Ibanez ATK305, the action was really high on it, and it had a bit of upbow in the neck, so thanks to a crappy visual example from the ibanez manual, i ended up loosening the truss rod instead of tightening it. After that i lowered my strings through the saddles. I noticed horrible buzzing on frets 12-19, sometimes to the point where you cant make out the note. It happens on all strings, but mainly on the A and D strings. I had no internet at that time, i searched today.I tightened the truss rod, but i dont see any changes, i did a couple of turns today, with lots of time in between each turn. Prolly adjusted it 3 times today, maybe 1/5 turns each. I dont see any improvement, neck still bowed a bit. Should i keep turning the rod? Theres about 1.2 mm relief in the neck right now, help?

[perucci]

1. BE CAREFUL tightening that truss rod! You can damage the nut or rod. Always loosen a bit first to get the "feel" of it, then tighten maybe 1/4 turn. No more than 1/2 turn a day (it shifts over a few hours, being wood). If the nut feels "tight" (stops turning relatively easily), stop. Continuing can break the truss-rod, or strip the nut.
2. I'd guess you have too much "relief". Do a search here on "action" and "buzz", but in general, to get the best action, you want the neck ALMOST straight, with about 1mm of "relief".

Go slow. After you adjust the rod, depending on the neck, it could take hours (some say days) for the neck to settle-down.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by perucci

1. BE CAREFUL tightening that truss rod! You can damage the nut or rod. Always loosen a bit first to get the "feel" of it, then tighten maybe 1/4 turn. No more than 1/2 turn a day (it shifts over a few hours, being wood). If the nut feels "tight" (stops turning relatively easily), stop. Continuing can break the truss-rod, or strip the nut.
2. I'd guess you have too much "relief". Do a search here on "action" and "buzz", but in general, to get the best action, you want the neck ALMOST straight, with about 1mm of "relief".

Go slow. After you adjust the rod, depending on the neck, it could take hours (some say days) for the neck to settle-down.

The idea that a truss rod nut can or should only be twisted no more than one quarter to one half turn a day is incorrect. Think about it. If that were true, repair shops all over the world would be out of business by next Friday. Angry guitar players would burn them to the ground, plunder their homes, kill their families, and pour salt on their fields. Or take their guitars somewhere else. The same goes for neck "settling".

When adjusting a truss rod turn it is far as need be, using good judgment as to when the nut has bottomed out. That is easy to tell because there is usually a loud squeak. Most necks will be placed into a back bow long before this point. The novice repairman should pay more attention to using the right size tool on the truss rod nut. More damage is caused by using socket that is just a tad large for the job than anything else. As far as movement and settling goes, it is true that a few necks will continue to move after being adjusted, the overwhelming majority will adjust to a static position.

To the OP:

No one can diagnose the set up on your instrument without data. Measure the relief at the seventh fret and the string height at the twelfth fret. Post the data here and someone will help you. If you are unsure of how to do this, refer to the sticky on truss rod adjustment at the top of the page.

[perucci]

I'm a novice at setups, so I "bow" to 202dy's experience, but I did just read earlier in Dan Erlewine's "Guitar Player Repair Guide" (3rd edition, p20): "The effect of a rod adjustment can take days or weeks to be complete".

On my limited "arsenal", I've never had a neck-change after rod adjustment take more than a couple of hours.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by perucci

I'm a novice at setups, so I "bow" to 202dy's experience, but I did just read earlier in Dan Erlewine's "Guitar Player Repair Guide" (3rd edition, p20): "The effect of a rod adjustment can take days or weeks to be complete".

On my limited "arsenal", I've never had a neck-change after rod adjustment take more than a couple of hours.

Dan is right. And I said exactly that in my last post. It is the exception rather than the rule.

[debassr]

I personally believe that in addition to your truss rod being too loose, your saddles are also probably set too low.

Be careful, but tighten the truss rod a 1/4 turn, raise your saddles slightly and make sure they follow the contour of the fretboard taking into account the different thicknesses of the strings as well and check for buzzing.

My guess is that the problem is MOSTLY in the saddles but it sounds like the truss rod is out of whack too. Just keep in mind that the saddle adjustments make a far greater difference than truss rod adjustments will and you should be fine. Just take your time and make changes in small increments.

I also recommend that you keep the bass plugged into an amp so you can hear how it will actually play - sometimes when doing a setup people have a tendency to pluck much harder than they would when playing and this can exaggerate buzzing.

Lastly, if nothing seems to help - take your rig to a shop and have them do a setup - it's well worth the money to get it right.

Good luck!