Weird buzz.

[jonypaul]

Greetings!

I recently ( a week or so ) bought a cheap bass guitar and amp, and it sounded pretty good unplugged or with low volume.
However, when I turn the volume up I get a weird buzzing sound on some frets.
It sounds exactly like when the string is too loose on the nut. It's definitely not fret buzz, because I got that on some higher frets and it sound completely different.

Here's a video. It sounds bad everywhere but that's because of camera quality. But the sound it makes is pretty much that.

MOV00747 - YouTube


I also tried plugging the bass to my guitar amp and it doesn't buzz at all, but I set the volume pretty low...
Any thoughts?

[john grey]

First of all, that is the way to ask about an issue: to present a video or sound recording so that people can understand clearly what you are talking about. Thank you for being so professional in your query.

It appears that the issue is generated from the amp in that the pickups might be so close that you are bottoming your speaker cone. Try pulling the pick-ups back down and see if this helps.
There is a possibility that the pickup system has some fault. If it's a simple passive system, cut your tone pot and see if there is a difference. If the distorted sound goes away there might be foreign matter in the tone pot or volume knob.
I don't know what amp you have so it's neck and neck between the pup wiring and speaker cone. I tend to think it's the amp.
Good luck!

[jonypaul]

Thanks for the reply, I also think it's an amp problem... Though cutting the tone helps a bit.

In any of these cases, should I try to fix it myself? And how?

[john grey]

IF....we believe it's an issue with the amp is very likely is the voice coil of the speaker. In that case we can only replace the speaker. If the amp is so poorly designed that it does not allow reproduction of sound below a certain frequency it simply doesn't make sense to attempt to find the design flaw.
If we cannot eliminate the problem at the pickup end then the likelihood swings deeply in favor of the amp. A speaker designed for bass reproduction has a much longer cone travel length. However in a speaker designed for musical instruments the flexibility is NOT as soft as one used as a sub-woofer or bass speaker in a home stereo system It must have resilient cone surround mating. So the speaker must be one that is DESIGNED for a BASS AMP.

Since I am offering suggestions obviously I am not 100% sure; yet I feel confident that is the issue. To replace the speaker you simply buy a decent one with the same level of resistance (4 ohms, 8 ohms, whatever....). Price the speaker out and make a choice based on price of a new proper amp. IF the amp is fairly decent a new higher quality speaker will make a world of difference. I replaced a speaker in a small Roland Cube and it was a very good investment. but if you have an amp that is of low quality, consider buying another. AND MAKE SURE IT'S A BASS AMP! If the amp you have been using IS a proper Bass amp this all is appropriate. but IF you've been using a guitar amp - it's simply not designed for lower frequency reproduction. Choose wisely.

Good luck.

[dmusic148]

Probably blown speaker. Take the grill cover off and gently push the cone in, and release. Listen for a scratchy sound as the speaker moves. If you hear it (sometimes you can even FEEL it), you've found the problem.

[jonypaul]

I got new strings for the electric guitar so I let the bass rest for a few days.
Today I picked it up again and plugged my headphones to the amp. No buzz whatsoever!
So I should definitely assume the problem is the speaker? How can I fix this without buying a new amp?

[mcnach]

It could be a damaged speaker...
But I once had a similar issue with a small practice amp I got with a trade. I opened the amp to access the back of the speaker an noticed that of the two cables connected to it, one was actually touching the speaker cone!
When the cone moves as you play, the cable rattles against it and sounds just like the buzz of a damaged speaker.
I just pulled the cable away from the cone and secured it with tape. No more buzz.

Worth checking!

Sometimes other things can rattle... the grill, a logo, a loose speaker screw... always worth checking for this line of thing.