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Double Bass D & G strings buzzing

G

guillermo

Oct 1, 2004
49
37
#1
Hi:

After playing fretless (electric) bass for 20 years , I got an UB. It's a Chineese bass and it is really cheap. Probably I shoud have saved more, say 3 times the money, and should have bougth something better, but...

I'm now stuck with this one for a while.

After 2 months the D and G string are buzzing, not the beautyfull "growl" we all like, but a nasty ugly buzz.
A month ago it was buzzing only when F# on D string
was payed (pizz)

How can I get rid of the buzzing, I dont really want to go to a luthier at this point in time.

Thanks a lot
Guillermo
 
#3
guillermo said:
Hi:

After playing fretless (electric) bass for 20 years , I got an UB. It's a Chineese bass and it is really cheap. Probably I shoud have saved more, say 3 times the money, and should have bougth something better, but...

I'm now stuck with this one for a while.

After 2 months the D and G string are buzzing, not the beautyfull "growl" we all like, but a nasty ugly buzz.
A month ago it was buzzing only when F# on D string
was payed (pizz)

How can I get rid of the buzzing, I dont really want to go to a luthier at this point in time.

Thanks a lot
Guillermo
Click to expand...
Welcome to TBDB man....Adrian Is right on...being new to the DB, you owe it to yourself to dig around in the Newbie links and the Archives. Or just start paging through all the threads and posts in the sections you're most interested in. In your case, reading as much as you can in the Basses section will give you the knowledge you need to learn more about your bass. Good luck!
 
#4
Hi again:

I read the newby posts, they are great, I still have
another

Funny but the buzzing went away...almost all of it
I think it is now clear that my bass is super cheap I.E. climate/humidiry changes make the crapy wood move, expand, shrink in all directions.
In relation to that, here goes a question:

Where should I keep the bass in the house ?

- Away from the kitchen ?
- Far from windows ?
- In the basement ?
- far from heating or air conditioning ?

I'll also mention that I live in Canada,
here we go from 10 C (50 F) to minus something
( lower than 32 F) in just 24 hours.
The temperatures in winter can reach -30 C (-22 F),
but the summer it goes up to 32 C (90 F) with lot's of
humidity

Thanks
Guillermo
 
#5
I live in Canada too, and I don't have much problem. Just keep the bass in a humidified room during the winter when you aren't playing it. The most I have to do is raise the stings in the winter. I haven't had any problems yet.
 
#6
do the same buzzes happen with arco? IF not then it is a set-up issue.

I keep my bass away from drafts, heaters, air conditionors. Also, make sure if you are using a corner as the resting place that these are not outside walls.

Also, you bass can be so fresh (not aged wood) that the adjustment period is going to take some time.

Good Luck.
 
#7
My Chinese Bass also has a buzz on the D & G string after some investigating we found that it was just my tail piece. A quick way to "mask" the issue is to stuff a cloth down by the cables as they come over the edge, I have to ajust mine off and on and I think it effects the sound a little. Really, the thing to do is replaice the tail piece with a good one. There is a thread up the list a little about a buzzing tail piece I suggest reading through that. By the way, I found my buzz by playing the strings and haveing another person grab areas on the bass like every seam you can think off and grabing the tail piece. Hope that is helpfull, My buzz went on for about 6 months before I figured it out!! very frustrating!!
 

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