Double Bass Buzzing G string Help!

[jordan2]

Hi guys, I have a 1940s German Laminated bass. This morning I was adjusting the bridge lowering the G string side a little because the action was really high and when I stopped I noticed a buzz when I played the open G string as well as the G# and Gb around it. I tried to reset the adjustable bridge to where it was but it kept on going.

Here are some details about the buzz and things that I have found.

-Its not a fingerboard buzz/rattle (that you would get from low action)

-It only happens when I pluck the note and doesn't happen playing arco.

-It seems like its coming from inside the bass and not from the bridge or outside. I have put my hand on everything I have thought of to see if it would deaden it and the only thing that did anything at all was putting light pressure under the fingerboard.

I plan on bringing it in to my luthier as soon as I can but I have a gig tomorrow that I need it for. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm a little bit lost.

Thank you guys.

 

[jordan2]

Messing around with it more, I have figured out that putting pressure on the back of the bass with my leg or something helps cut the buzz. Does anyone have ideas of what this could be?

 

[Andrew McGregor]

End pin! Try adjusting the end pin to a different height... if the note changes, it's definitely that.

 

[uprightben]

Buzzes like that can be tough to diagnose. Putting your leg on the back mutes the whole bass and doesn't necessarily mean that the problem is in the back. What Andrew suggested about the end pin is a good thing to try without going to a luthier, but if that doesn't do it, you're going to have to take it in.

 

[turf3]

You do have the option of ignoring it and seeing if it goes away. (Often, sounds that are so loud and annoying next to the instrument are inaudible a few feet away.) I get a few buzzes now and then - in my case it usually seems to be in the pegbox - and then the next day they are gone. I would second the end-pin theory too. I had this one time, and it was just the luck of how I had set the pin and tightened the screw. I just loosened the thing and reset it to the same height, and noise was gone.

 

[notabene]

If you can get someone else to play it, while you listen at different spots, you may be able to pinpoint the source.

Steven