Yet another buzzing problem - Humidity to blame?

YTFC2010 · #1 02-19-2010, 02:56 PM

Hey everyone,

I live in Kent, South-East England, UK, am no more than an intermediate upright bass player & have been playing for a couple of years now, but I have a pretty important gig in 23 hours & have literally come home from work & discovered a buzz!

It sounds like it's coming from just below the E string side 'f' hole. It is occuring not so much on the open notes, but virutally all notes on all four strings!!

I monitor my room humidity & it settles at between 45% & 50%. I don't have any Dampits. Do I need them?

The only gap on the bass that I can find is about 1cm wide a a fraction of a millimeter open, & I found at the very bottom near the endpin, between the body 'top' & the 'side'. It's only a slight gap but there is slight movement of the body top (when forced). I don't know if this is a contributing factor?
My bridge looks fine, & I had the Bass set up by the rather well renowned Malcolm Healey in Sutton, South London, England UK in the Autumn 2009. I guess a lot can change over the seasons though.

Does anyone have any advice, recommendations or explanations? I unfortunately don't have time to get it over to Malcolm (my luthier) before the gig tomorrow. Please help!

Many thanks!

fdeck · #2 02-19-2010, 08:16 PM

I'd wonder if anything has worked loose inside, including the bass bar. Another problem is the portion of the peg that is inside the bass. Does the problem persist if the peg is out of there? It could be a new problem if the lining of the end pin has deteriorated with time. I had that problem and fixed it by simply cutting a few inches off the peg.

Eric Rene Roy · #3 02-20-2010, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fdeck

I'd wonder if anything has worked loose inside, including the bass bar.

Although I can't rule it out (anything is possible)...this is always a players fear that the bass bar is loose and it almost never is the culprit...and honestly I have only seen two basses to date where the bass bar was to blame. One on an early Kay and it sounded more like a diving board and the other on an old American Standard where the whole bar fell off due to being left in a hot car in July.

fdeck · #4 02-20-2010, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Rene Roy

Although I can't rule it out (anything is possible)...this is always a players fear that the bass bar is loose and it almost never is the culprit...and honestly I have only seen two basses to date where the bass bar was to blame. One on an early Kay and it sounded more like a diving board and the other on an old American Standard where the whole bar fell off due to being left in a hot car in July.

I admit to that fear. My Kay had a loose bar, but honestly the bass was not in playable condition at all when I got it. I'm glad to hear that it's not a likely scenario.

Square Bear · #5 02-21-2010, 07:41 AM

its probably the open seam you mentioned. fold a small piece of paper in half a couple times until you can just get it into the gap but it won't fall out. sometimes that keeps it from buzzing if you have a gig and don't have time to get it fixed.

also, if you're keeping your house at 45-50, that is not a concern. actually that's ideal. maybe the seam opened when you last took the bass out.