Notes on the 4th-10th frets buzz when sustained

lonestarwings · #1 05-19-2008, 07:23 PM

First off, I'm fairly inexperienced, I've been playing about 5 months and am just now starting to experiment with the setup of my bass.

I have an '07 MIA standard p-bass that I bought from a local guitar center about 6 months ago. It had fairly low action when I bough and I played it that way for a while, but recently I raised the action on all the strings a bit and feel that it gave my tone a nice improvment (no more clicking after each note is plucked).

The problem I have now is that I get a buzz during the sustain in the 4th-10th fret range when I pluck a note with normal force. On the frest outside of that range I do not get any buzz unless I pluck significantly harder. It's not a big deal, I just try to be conscious of the buzz and use a lighter touch with my right hand in that area (which usually eliminates any buzz), but it's something I'd like to reduce if possible.

Would a truss rod adjustment fix this? If so, I assume I should "tighten" the truss rod? I have read the fender guide to setup so I know to be careful and turn the truss rode no more than 1/4 turn at a time, but I haven't messed with it yet. I have "sighted" my neck to the best of my ability and it appears to be fairly flat (no curvature). It seems like the neck should be angled "up" slightly (toward the strings) but I'm not really sure.

Also, now that I have raised the action on my strings, should I raise the pickups as well? I really didn't notice a significant change in the volume of the strings after adjusting the action, but I don't know if adjusting the pickups when the action is changed is customary or not.

Thanks for the help, and if this is all in one of the FAQ's, I apologize.

**Joshua** · #2 05-19-2008, 07:38 PM

Were I you, I'd start by measuring the relief. Do this:

1) Tune the bass to pitch.
2) Capo at the first fret. If you don't own a capo, use your left hand (assuming your righty) and you'll just have to stretch more when we get to...
3) With your right hand fret at the point where the neck meets the body.

You have now turned the string into a straightedge and can see at the mid point approximately how much relief is in the neck. At the closest fret to the mid point, the goal (as a starting point) might be about a business card's thickness of relief.

Let us know how much you have and we'll guide you from there. Remember, this step is measuring only, no adjusting yet...

PilbaraBass · #3 05-19-2008, 07:44 PM

actually, you're right...most of this info is in the FAQ stickies...

when checking relief, make sure that you have at least some (the fender setup guide is good). I go with the slightest detectable gap @ the 8th fret with the 1st and 15th fret depressed

eyeballing the neck is also good, if you know what you're looking for (otherwise doesn't do a lot of good)...

I think, but I can't be positive, that your relief may not be enough (in which case a slight LOOSENING of the truss rod is in order)...just do a little bit 1/8th turn (not because of damage, but because you don't want to overshoot your mark).

three clues indicate to me a most-likely, "too straight" neck...
1) you raised the action and the buzz is present
2) the buzz is in the middle range of your fretboard
3) the notes buzz on sustain (not enough room for the string to "blossom" as the node travels down the string.)

lonestarwings · #4 05-19-2008, 07:54 PM

Thanks for your helpful replies!

I did my best to measure the relief at the 10t fret (my fender has 20), and it appeared to be pretty close to 3/128ths of an inch on both the E and G strings (from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string). My business card slightly lifted up the E string at the 10th fret and lifted up a little more the 8th. At the 8th fret the relief looked closer to 1/64th of an inch.

I tried to measure by fretting at the 1st and 20th frets then using a tape measure to eyeball the distance, but slipping things of known thickness through there and seeing if they touch or not seems to be a more accurate method.

Solarmist · #5 05-19-2008, 08:03 PM

Post number 2 & 3 are absolutely correct. I like about .75 the thickness of a credit card.

lonestarwings · #6 05-19-2008, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solarmist

Post number 2 & 3 are absolutely correct. I like about .75 the thickness of a credit card.

Well, a credit card defintely won't fit through the 8th fret on mine without pushing the string up....my credit card seems to be 1/32nd of an inch thick so I guess my relief at fret #8 is definitely less than that, probably pretty close to 1/64th. I revised my meaurements in my previous post little bit to reflect these new discoveries.

BurningSkies · #7 05-19-2008, 08:32 PM

You need more relief. You need to loosen your truss rod a bit to get enough relief for the strings to move and not buzz.

Widdershins · #8 05-19-2008, 08:46 PM

Do yourself a favor and get one of these

and also one of these.

These will allow you to make consistent/repeatable setups.

These are inexpensive and both can be had for less than $10 (try surplus type stores if you can).

Your measurement 1/64 is ~0.015", which is on the high side according to Fender's idea of the optimal setup, but there should theoretically be less fret buzz.

Which leads us to: what do you have your string height set to?

edit: Sorry I just re-read your post and you said you raised your strings... again, theoretically less buzz.

If loosening (lefty loosey) the rod doesn't work; did you ever remove the neck since you have owned it?
I say this, because I ALWAYS do this when getting to know a new instrument for no other reason than 'just because'. However I got myself into a situation like yours because the neck wasn't seated properly when I reassembled. Took a lot of head scratching before I figured out what the problem was.

lonestarwings · #9 05-19-2008, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Widdershins

Do yourself a favor and get one of these

and also one of these.

These will allow you to make consistent/repeatable setups.

These are inexpensive and both can be had for less than $10 (try surplus type stores if you can).

Your measurement 1/64 is ~0.015", which is on the high side according to Fender's idea of the optimal setup, but there should theoretically be less fret buzz.

Which leads us to: what do you have your string height set to?

edit: Sorry I just re-read your post and you said you raised your strings... again, theoretically less buzz.

If loosening (lefty loosey) the rod doesn't work; did you ever remove the neck since you have owned it?
I say this, because I ALWAYS do this when getting to know a new instrument for no other reason than 'just because'. However I got myself into a situation like yours because the neck wasn't seated properly when I reassembled. Took a lot of head scratching before I figured out what the problem was.

My string height appears to be on the high side, again though, my measurements may be slightly off but I'm getting about 7/64ths on the treble side and 8/64ths on the bass side, when measured at the 17th fret. I have never taken the neck off, but I'm discovering I might need to do so in order to adjust my truss rod....I cannot get an angle on it with an alan wrench as it is.

Widdershins · #10 05-19-2008, 09:22 PM

Try removing the pickguard first.
Should be a rout in the wood to allow access to the nut.

lonestarwings · #11 05-19-2008, 10:21 PM

Well, I loosened the truss rod 1/8th a turn and voila, no more buzzing on the sustains

. It's sort of a PITA to remove the pick guard for that but hey, I guess you only need to do it once in a blue moon.

It's so much better now. Thanks to everyone for walking me through this procedure. Hopefully this will give me a good setup for now! Let me know if there's anything else I should do.

-E

PilbaraBass · #12 05-19-2008, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonestarwings

...
Let me know if there's anything else I should do.

-E

two things:

1) Practice
2) Have fun

Solarmist · #13 05-20-2008, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonestarwings

Well, I loosened the truss rod 1/8th a turn and voila, no more buzzing on the sustains

. It's sort of a PITA to remove the pick guard for that but hey, I guess you only need to do it once in a blue moon.

It's so much better now. Thanks to everyone for walking me through this procedure. Hopefully this will give me a good setup for now! Let me know if there's anything else I should do.

-E

An 1/8 turn goes a long way - let it settle in now.

I broke down, and got one of these for $19 + $5.50 S&H.

$24.50 for a piece of sheet metal, but it works perfectly, and accurate for string action height which is what I got it for being I insist on perfection.