Double Bass G and E string buzzing at any reasonable height

[Bridgefinger]

My G and E strings have been buzzing badly, no matter how high I adjust my strings. I haven't tried extreme heights, but I shouldn't have to because my D and A strings never buzz. Never ever. The buzzing got really bad around 3 months ago, in the middle of winter, and I raised my bridge about 5 full turns. You'd think a height problem would occur when it's hot, right?

The problem's been happening for a while, but it's possible I didn't notice it 3 years ago because of a skill or strength improvement. I'm utilizing the full ability of the bass, and my E string attacks are becoming totally solid. This wouldn't explain the G string issues though. I've heard many people have buzzing on strong Bb's and B's, but I buzz all over.

I took the bass in to a luthier, maybe about a year ago, and I said the D and A strings seemed high. He looked down the fingerboard, eyes at the scroll, looking toward the bridge, and he agreed the D string was high. He shaved the D string slot down and took a little bit off the bridge surface to make it even. That seemed to help; I was able to raise the bridge a bit more without my hand cramping up, and I could lower the strings enough to walk at 250 bpm for 10 minutes or whatever and not die. But still, the G and E buzz easily, and it's impossible to make the A and D buzz even if I wanted to.

Shouldn't the 4 strings be about even in terms of buzzing ability? Like if your strings are low, they all buzz; if your strings are high, none buzz. For me, my strings are low, and only G and E buzz (a lot). My strings are high, and my G and E strings buzz (a little). Is there a way to measure the heights precisely? They look somewhat even. Am I looking at a fingerboard issue? What sort of repair costs am I facing?

 

[the_Ryan]

Is this arco or pizz? If it's arco it might be more of a technique issue rather than a setup issue.

 

[Bridgefinger]

Is this arco or pizz? If it's arco it might be more of a technique issue rather than a setup issue.

Ah yeah I should have mentioned. It's arco. It could be technique, but I'm doubting that because at my current height, it's almost impossible to get the D and A to buzz, but very, very easy to get the E and G to buzz.

 

[the_Ryan]

Ah yeah I should have mentioned. It's arco. It could be technique, but I'm doubting that because at my current height, it's almost impossible to get the D and A to buzz, but very, very easy to get the E and G to buzz.

The reason why I think it's technique is because if I play on the G string with the bow on the plane closer to the treble bout than the D string it starts buzzing, but if I play it as close as I can to the D string (without touching it) it doesn't buzz. Try playing as close as to the adjacent string as you can without touching it.

 

[Bridgefinger]

The reason why I think it's technique is because if I play on the G string with the bow on the plane closer to the treble bout than the D string it starts buzzing, but if I play it as close as I can to the D string (without touching it) it doesn't buzz. Try playing as close as to the adjacent string as you can without touching it.

I was puzzled about this, but now I see this could be the solution. I'll try this tomorrow and see if it helps.

 

[JoeyNaeger]

You say your D and A seem high. This leads me to think your fingerboard radius is quite a bit flatter than your bridge curve. What happens in these situations is that the path your bow is following runs the string right into the fingerboard. Even if the bridge end of your fingerboard is nicely curved, if the nut end is too flat, you can get the same problem. A simple experiment you can try - Take your left hand index finger and push the D string down at the end of the fingerboard. You should now be able to bow pretty hard on the G without much issue. Once you lift your finger off the D, you'll have to re-angle your bow and the buzzing will start again. Unfortunately, the best fix for having a flat fingerboard is to replace it. It's an expensive job, but getting a board with a nice radius at both ends of the fingerboard will make that bass a dream to play.

 

[MikeCanada]

Depending on how flat the radius is and how thick the board is, would it not be possible in some situations to dress the existing board? I understand if it is very flat there would not be enough ebony to do so, but is replacing the board always the solution?

 

[JoeyNaeger]

It depends on of course on the how much meat is on the the board and how big a change you want to make. It's pretty rare though that I see a fingerboard that was shaped really flat to begin with that will have enough meat to shape properly.

 

[MikeCanada]

I assumed it was essentially a spectrum, that you can alter to a point but eventually you just don't have enough wood to make it happen. I haven't played too many flat boards, but the majority of what I do is arco so the majority of the instruments I see are setup with that in mind.

 

[Bridgefinger]

I'm gonna try playing at lesser angles at a concert today and see if that helps. If not, it seems I'm looking at a repair cost in the neighborhood of $200 for a fingerboard fixup, or around $700 for a new fingerboard. Just when I thought my music budget was in the black from the bass gigs...