I have a 1987 G & L SB1 bass that I had the frets leveled. Well now it is unplayable. I am going to bring it to a master luthier for him to look at. I talked to him on the phone and told him what the problem was and I thought I needed new frets. He told he wanted to look at it first to make that decision. Just thought I would post to see what you guys think. It might just need a good setup. The problem is that I need pretty high action to avoid fret buzz - about 1/4 inch off the frets. When I do that, I have to press the string so much, I get fret clack. When I lower the strings so it is playable, I have so much string buzz, even at the first fret and also when I am at the 12th fret, the strings hit all the frets after that. I have tried a straight neck & relief and nothing works. When I look at the neck from the side, it looks a little back bowed. But when I look down the neck, I have a little relief. I am stumped.
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Getting repairs
- Thread starter tramp
- Start date
I think you really need to let the pro give you an answer. Not much we can do here....aside from the fact that your setup is really messed up (which I'm sure you know) I can't tell a thing.
Agreed. Sounds like the bass needs a setup from square one, Best let a pro tech look at it.
Could be anything from nut sitting too low/slots need to be filled with graphite, could need neck adjustment, saddle height adjustment, neck shim, string gauge, or any combination. I've worked on some acoustics with that problem and we had to adjust the pitch of the neck with shims.
I talked to the luthier on the phone last night and he said to bring it Saturday morning. It is a 260 mile round trip to his shop. I will post here as soon as I find out something.
+1
If you are a do it yourself guy, maybe a couple more tries with neck adjustment and saddle height would do the trick.
I'd add; new strings, pickup height, and intonation. Use the specs for setting up your bass from the Fender website. Also, as you set it up, compare it with your other basses for sight and measurements. Could save you a long ride and a few bucks.
Not the best way to do it but I understand your plight. Once your tech assesses and corrects any structural issues, you may want to ask for some quick hands-on setup tips.
Riis
Easy part: let's see what the luthier says.
For my own curiosity:
Who did the fret leveling?
"I have to press the string so much, I get fret clack" What do you mean here? I think of fret clack as the sound I get when I'm digging into the strings aggressively and am bouncing them off the higher frets -- it's not something I associate with my fretting.
First fret buzz suggests (as noted above) nut issue. bottomed out strings after the 12th fret suggests more setup work needed (relief and action)...
"When I look at the neck from the side, it looks a little back bowed. But when I look down the neck, I have a little relief." Should serve as a reminder to measure relief with a straight-edge or the strings, not just eyesight.
But for me it all comes back to the fret leveling -- who did it, and how did they do a fret level without re-setting up the bass, and how playable was it when you got it back right after the fretwork?
For my own curiosity:
Who did the fret leveling?
"I have to press the string so much, I get fret clack" What do you mean here? I think of fret clack as the sound I get when I'm digging into the strings aggressively and am bouncing them off the higher frets -- it's not something I associate with my fretting.
First fret buzz suggests (as noted above) nut issue. bottomed out strings after the 12th fret suggests more setup work needed (relief and action)...
"When I look at the neck from the side, it looks a little back bowed. But when I look down the neck, I have a little relief." Should serve as a reminder to measure relief with a straight-edge or the strings, not just eyesight.
But for me it all comes back to the fret leveling -- who did it, and how did they do a fret level without re-setting up the bass, and how playable was it when you got it back right after the fretwork?
The guy that did the fret leveling had been working on my basses for 20+ years. Recently, he has been sick & getting up in age and I think he just lost his focus. He has always done a good job. The fret clack (as I call it) is when you press the string and the string hits the fret. The higher up the string, the harder you press and the louder the clack.
I have 3 basses so I did not play the bass for a month or so after I got it back. He has always done a great job so there was no need for concern. Now his health is worse so I will take to someone else.
I think with a really good setup, everything will be ok. The bass has been my #1 player all these years, until I got the new G & L - L2000 a couple of years ago. So it is more or less my backup bass and my outside gig bass now.
I have 3 basses so I did not play the bass for a month or so after I got it back. He has always done a great job so there was no need for concern. Now his health is worse so I will take to someone else.
I think with a really good setup, everything will be ok. The bass has been my #1 player all these years, until I got the new G & L - L2000 a couple of years ago. So it is more or less my backup bass and my outside gig bass now.
This happens to everybody at some point. I recently found a tech that I like a lot who was a lot younger than my old tech which was all well and fine up until he injured his back. Curses!
I just got back with my bass from the luthiers. He set the neck, string height and pickup height. My G string was bad even though is was a new set of strings. He put another one on and it sounded better. Don't know what brand name is was but I will go the music store Monday and get one of the same brand. It sounds great now. He said the fret leveling was ok, it just needed a good setup.
