Weird String Buzzing

[mcramer]

Hi all,

I've recently been getting this weird buzzing on all the strings of my two basses (a Warwick Corvette $$ 5 string and a Yamaha BB605 5 string which i've de-fretted).

It isn't a fret buzz problem (especially on the yamaha, there are no frets!), it occurs on open notes as well, and seems more prominent in the low end. At first i thought it might be a problem with my amp or something as it could be heard on both basses, but you can hear it on the bass itself.

The neck relief is set right, with about .5 mm gap at the 8th fret, the action isn't too high or too low, the intonation is tuned correctly. I've tried everything but can't get rid of this annoying buzzing sound. The B string is especially flappy aswell.

Any suggestion as to what it might be? I have never even heard of this being a problem on basses before.

Thanks,
Mike

[mcramer]

Nevermind, i think i just worked out that i have the wrong string gauges on the bass which means the nut is wrong! If i press down just above the nut the buzzing seems to go completely!

[dmusic148]

Yes, it might be the nut/gauges, but maybe not- when you press on the strings behind the nut, they tend to lift a bit from the fretboard. So a better test would be to fret notes in the lower range, and see if that eliminates it. If so, and it only happens on open strings, you are correct. If NOT, you probably need to add relief.

[ByF]

Maybe your pickups are too close to the strings? The magnetic field of the p'ups interferes with the motion of the strings, causing strange harmonics.

Ed

[mcramer]

Thanks for the advice, indeed the buzzing does go away when i fret notes in the lower range so its probably a nut/gauge problem.