my case of buzz (despite forum searches)

[toobuy]

greetings people,
I have a HH stingray5, bought it just a couple of months ago, been playing since then. today i realized there were buzz, which didnt disturb me on the stage. i was recording on ACID PRO and realized it was very disturbing.

started to make searches on the forums and went my way from musicman FAQ to fender basic setup. I tried every possible position on the truss rod and it didnt help.

MM FAQ says, if buzz is in 1st-5th, give relief
if after 5th, straighten more

this just doesnt make sense. also tried it but didnt help.
right now i have super high action but still after the 7th fret the A string is so disturbing! especially each note after 12th fret.

no matter how i adjust the trust rod, i cannot get rid of it.

Then something came to my mind that A string may be seddled lower than usual. I ordered it internationnaly from musiciansfriend so i hadnt chance to try it.
I tried the incresase its saddle height but I dont have that small ALLEN wrench.
this came to my mind because somwhere in the MMFAQ, it says the strings should be aligned as the fretboard radius and they should hide each other.
in light of this knowledge, when i slowly rotate the bass, E string comes first behind the B string BUT behind the E, A and D strings come together.
A should come BEFORE the D, shouldnt it?

i need some help about this.

[Comrade Kiwi]

I'm not an expert, but you might be right about the A string being too low. I'm not quite sure if I understand what you're saying about the strings lining up, but if it's too low, that could be your problem. Other than that, the only thing that comes to mind is a bad fret, but that doesn't seem right considering where you're getting the buzz.

Is it just the A string that's buzzing?

[toobuy]

to be honest, i was using the trust rod to adjust my string height. but now i was reading a website and it tells that trust rod adjustment is to keep the relief constant, but string height is adjusted by the saddle height.

is that correct? i have never changed the saddle height before on any of my basses? is that a common way to adjust string height?

[fenderhutz]

Originally Posted by toobuy

to be honest, i was using the trust rod to adjust my string height. but now i was reading a website and it tells that trust rod adjustment is to keep the relief constant, but string height is adjusted by the saddle height.

is that correct? i have never changed the saddle height before on any of my basses? is that a common way to adjust string height?

Yeah you shouldn't being cranking on the truss rod like that. Get the relief where you want and then adjust the saddles for height and intonation. I might move the truss rod a 1/4 turn MAYBE 1/2 turn in a 24 hour period. Sounds like you were trying to start a Ford Model T.

Just by the nature of your questions however, I would say take it to get it setup and make sure the truss rod is still functioning ok and the neck isn't warped.

[jbednarski]

I had a similar problem with an expensive bass I bought without playing it and it turned out that the problem was the neck need to be planed down as it had two high spots, one on each side. So for an extra $350. I have a great playing bass. I'll never make that mistake again. I went through exactly what you're going through with truss rods, saddles, etc. Take it to a good repair person and have them identify the problem.

[toobuy]

@jbednarski
i understand but i want to ask, how did you find out that your guitar needed to be repaired. because i dont think there is something wrong with my bass' neck. I only messed with the trust rod today.

intonations are perfect now and just the A string is lower according to the eclipsing method.

i am afraid of guitar reparimans because i live in Turkey and i just cannot trust them i think they are not educated enough.

[PazzoBasso]

Getting rid of unwanted buzz is a combination of truss rod & saddle adjustments. So you'll need the tiny allen key.

Hopefully you can find a local guitar tech to help.

Don't do too much truss rod cranking & give the neck time to settle.

It's also possible that a neck shim is required - especially if the neck relief looks ok.

[toobuy]

thank you very much for your inputs.

trying to adjust saddles but one of the hex screws of A string wouldnt rotate by my hex screw. *patience*

i can only adjust one of them. very well, i will be trying

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by toobuy

@jbednarski
i understand but i want to ask, how did you find out that your guitar needed to be repaired. because i dont think there is something wrong with my bass' neck. I only messed with the trust rod today.

intonations are perfect now and just the A string is lower according to the eclipsing method.

i am afraid of guitar reparimans because i live in Turkey and i just cannot trust them i think they are not educated enough.

Finding knowledgeable repair people is a problem no matter where you live!

I would urge you to search online for some of the videos on how to do a setup on a bass. Figure out what the various adjustments do. Generally speaking the truss rod sets "relief". What that means is the curvature of the neck. The quick way to examine that is to press a string (say the D string) down at the first fret and also at a high fret. As you look under the strings you should see a gap between the string you are pressing and the frets in the center of the string. This gap should only be the thickness of a couple of business cards in most cases. You loosen the truss rod to increase the gap (string tension pulls neck forward) and tighten truss rod to reduce the gap (truss rod pulls neck back). Once the relief is set THEN you adjust the "action" using saddle height adjustments. All the strings should be about the same height from the fingerboard at the highest frets. Or sometimes you make the low strings a bit higher because they vibrate more and need a bit more room. But the point is that ONE string should not be really low and another really high. This is where buzzes on a given string can come from. And finally, if after going through all this there are still some buzzes, then you have to look for high and low single frets. You can search for these with a short straightedge that will reveal a high fret (ruler will tip back and forth like a see-saw) or a low fret (a gap will be seen between ruler and low fret between two others.) IF the problem is a bad fret then it's time to look for a knowledgeable repairman. A fret leveling is a fairly advanced repair for a beginner.

And by the way, just to mention the last thing, it is the saddle position (back and forward) that sets "intonation". What that means is if you have a bass tuner. you want both open string and the note when fingered on the 12th fret to be in tune. It is the saddle position that does this. Note that for bass strings the saddle positions will not be the same for all strings and will tend to form a slight angle instead of the theoretical right angle to the strings.

Good luck.

[alexgeddy]

hi .... i would take it to a luthier u know or trust..I had the same prob with a fender... turned out it was a bad fret job...especialy on the top end. I had mine fixed and it worked wonders