help with action adjustments

[poobone]

Just got a Warwick Rockbass Fortress 4 string. Sounds great, plays great, feels great and I got it for only $360 on ebay.

But on the A D and G strings, there's a lot of fret buzz on open notes happening around the 1st or 2nd fret. How should I adjust the bridge for this sort of behavior? Raise it.

 

[DerHoggz]

Yea, raise them. You will have to intonate them again afterwards though.

 

[scottbass]

First, make sure the neck has the right amount of relief or "bow".

Go here: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125382

If you don't feel comfortable messing with the truss rod to adjust neck relief, take it to a qualified technician and have him or her do a setup for you.

Adjusting the action height without first making sure the neck relief is correct could possibly make things worse.

 

[Eric Moesle]

Buzz on open strings, the first few frets as NOTHING to do with the height of the bridge saddles.

1. The nut slots may be cut too low, or

2. The truss rod needs adjusted for more relief.

My bet, without seeing it in person, is the nut slots being cut too low. In that case, you need to install a new nut and have it cut properly. Some people "shim" the nut, but its usually just as much work to replace the bugger and have it done properly.

 

[Jo6Pak]

Buzz on open strings, the first few frets as NOTHING to do with the height of the bridge saddles.

1. The nut slots may be cut too low, or

2. The truss rod needs adjusted for more relief.

What he said...

 

[mikezimmerman]

If the Rockbasses have the Warwick "Just-A-Nut" (I think they do), then you can raise the nut height on the G side to see if that gets rid of the buzzing.

Mike

 

[poobone]

If the Rockbasses have the Warwick "Just-A-Nut" (I think they do), then you can raise the nut height on the G side to see if that gets rid of the buzzing.

Mike

Thanks Mike, I did just that and eliminated all of the fret buzz on the open notes. However, now I get fret buzz when I play fretted notes on the G string only, on the 9th fret or higher.

Any suggestions for this?

And thanks a lot for all the help and suggestions guys.

 

[David Jayne]

Thanks Mike, I did just that and eliminated all of the fret buzz on the open notes. However, now I get fret buzz when I play fretted notes on the G string only, on the 9th fret or higher.

Any suggestions for this?

For that I would suggest tightening the truss rod slightly, to flatten the neck, and raise the G string bridge saddle. If that doesn't work, you probably need some fret work.