Open string "A" buzz

[Shibby!]

i recently put new strings on my bass and whenever i play the open a it gives a rattling buzzing sound it doesn't do this with a fretted note on the a string only open...help?

[Shibby!]

BUMP!

[fullrangebass]

It's either a setup issue or a bad a string (the latter is less probable). Are the strings the same (I mean brand and model)?

[JLS]

Originally Posted by Shibby!

i recently put new strings on my bass and whenever i play the open a it gives a rattling buzzing sound it doesn't do this with a fretted note on the a string only open...help?

Probably not enough winds on the tuner.

[Shibby!]

explain...

[GeoffByrne]

This is a well-known problem with J & P-type headstocks.

The path from the nut to the tuner has little, if any break-angle, allowing the string to rattle in the nut slot.

One way to get round this is to allow a bit more length on the A string than you would normally. This allows you to put a couple of extra turns round the capstan of the tuner, so pushing the winds of the string down the shaft and so creating the necessary break angle to keep the string tight down on the slot.

Another way is to put some kind of string tree on. Gotoh make nice 2- and 3-string trees.