I need help , I’m lost (STRING RATTLE)

[Colin60spbass]

I changed my strings, The correct way, 1 by one, not removing the old ones all at once, But one at a time.NOT A DEAD STRING! I’ve never messed with my truss rod or action, but it seemed like one string was giving me a sitar effect when strummed to hard open, and on frets higher up the neck, I looked into this issue, thought it was the action, so I slightly raised the string, didn’t go away. Then I heard that it may be the nut, so I slid a small piece of paper in and the buzzing went away, however, it seems like I’m getting the same effect on other strings now when fretting certain areas on the neck, do I need to adjust the truss rod now? I’m at a loss, and if I do, it is a slight loosening or a tightening? I know how meticulous these things can be. I can provide more info if necessary, I just want to fix the problem, I’m getting bummed out

 

[dwizum]

Is it only happening on open strings? What happens if you mute all strings but one and play it open, versus fretted?

How are your nut slots cut? Are they nice and tight to the gauge of the string (side to side)? Does the string break along the FRONT of the nut?

In my experience this is often nut related. Sometimes the nut can be buzzing against the neck (your paper shim may or may not cure that). If that's the case, I find that a smear of weak glue (like, white elmer's school glue) under the nut will do enough to fill gaps and dampen the vibrations. You don't want to use real strong glue or else removing the nut for future maintenance will be a pain. Also, while you're doing this, check for obvious problems under the nut. If the nut isn't sitting against a clean flat surface, it can be difficult to fix problems like this. If there is old glue residue, or anything else mucking up the interface between the nut and the ledge it sits on, clean it off carefully with a file before proceeding.

Other times, this can be caused by sloppy nut slots. If the string isn't a good fit in the slot, it can vibrate against the slot. And sometimes, if the slot is dead flat, or worse if it slopes down towards the fretboard (instead of down towards the head), the string will not have a clean break on the front edge of the nut. If the string is making good contact against the back edge of the nut but not the front, it can vibrate against the front of the slot when played open.

These things are hard to diagnose remotely but often easy to diagnose in person if you're methodical and you know what to look for. Worst case, you can try replacing the nut and see what happens.

 

[dwizum]

Also - this may be obvious, but I'm assuming you've ruled out anything simple like a pickup that's so high the strings are hitting it, or an obvious issue with other hardware (loose nut or screw on a tuner that's vibrating, loose string retainer, etc).

You mentioned your truss rod - don't touch it unless you know that you need to adjust relief. You may or may not have correct relief, but this doesn't sound like a relief issue (extremely bad relief setup can cause fret buzz, but fret buzz is usually easy to identify as it'll be obvious that when you play X note it buzzes against Y fret).

 

[Colin60spbass]

Well, the reason I was thinking it may be relief related is because it’s not consistent, the rattling sitar sounds goes away sometimes, and I just changed my strings yesterday, after changing them everything sounded fine, great actually! Rotosound 66, I even tried to get strings that were the same Gauge as before. picked my bass up later on that day, and started hearing rattling sounds, so the neck may have changed a little after restringing it But that what I’m not entirely sure of

 

[Colin60spbass]

It may be that one of the strings in the set is a slight different gauge that the set that cane stock on it.

 

[Colin60spbass]

It may be that one of the strings in the set is a slight different gauge that the set that cane stock on it.

The new strings and last strings were both 45-105

 

[Colin60spbass]

Fretting the g string when making a chord mid neck causes my e string to rattle

 

[Colin60spbass]

Fretting the g string when making a chord mid neck causes my e string to rattle

Let me be more specific, if I’m fettung the e and g on the 7th fret, I get buzzing on my e

 

[dwizum]

Can you tell where the buzz is coming from? Usually if a string is buzzing against a fret, it sounds pretty obvious that the buzz is coming from that specific fret, just by holding it up to your ear (do this unplugged, no amp). Also, try fretting with different levels of pressure. Sometimes, on a fret buzz, if you fret really hard (like, clamp the string right down to the fretboard with your finger) the extra tension on the string will lift it high enough that it stops buzzing. I'm mentioning this because of your description that fretting the E and G strings on the 7th fret suddenly causes a buzz on the E. Sometimes, when you fret more than one string at a time, your hand naturally applies less (or more) pressure than what you typically do when fretting a single note - which can lead to people assuming that the buzz is from fretting two specific strings, when in reailty, the buzz is all related to one string, but fretting the second string causes them to fret that buzzing string with slightly less pressure.

Sometimes if a nut is causing a buzz you can put a capo right on the nut - or pluck a string and then immediately squeeze the nut with your fingers on your plucking hand - if that makes the buzz go away, it's a sign that it's nut related.

If you're not sure about the relief being set correctly, you should search on here or just google "set relief on a bass" or similar terms, and I'm sure you'll find plenty of reading. The good news is, it's a pretty straightforward and well documented procedure. It would make sense to rule that out if you are totally unsure. It's easy to check if you have two capos - put one on the 1st fret, and one right where the neck joins the body, and measure the gap between the strings and the middlemost fret. If there is no gap - if the strings are touching any frets at all, actually - you will need to set relief.

 

[Beej]

A few other things to carefully rule out, cuz they an sound like string related noise:

Truss rod nut should be tight against the rod; total slack can lead to the rod buzzing inside the neck.

Loose pickguard screws, pickups, hard bits of wiring vibrating against things - if something is vibrating with harmonic resonance, it can be amplified at specific frequencies.

Seating of the string over the saddle, should be smooth to the witness point.

Seating of the string in the nut; should witness at the front edge, a high point deeper in the slot can lead to buzzing sounds.

That's all I got.

 

[Gary_M]

A few other things to carefully rule out, cuz they an sound like string related noise:

Truss rod nut should be tight against the rod; total slack can lead to the rod buzzing inside the neck.

Loose pickguard screws, pickups, hard bits of wiring vibrating against things - if something is vibrating with harmonic resonance, it can be amplified at specific frequencies.

Seating of the string over the saddle, should be smooth to the witness point.

Seating of the string in the nut; should witness at the front edge, a high point deeper in the slot can lead to buzzing sounds.

That's all I got.

^^^ THIS

Truss rod nut should be tight against the rod; total slack can lead to the rod buzzing inside the neck.

 

[Claymore]

If you have the big Fender cloverleaf-style tuners, check those individually. I couldn't locate a rattle and finally found that the rivet holding the turning part to the shaft wasn't tight. If one of them feels loose, you may have located your problem. A very thin strip of superglue will fix it or else you might have to buy a single replacement tuner.

 

[Beej]

Haha how many of us bass players have OCD?!

 

[JeroB666]

What's the height of the strings at the 12th fret?

 

[Dan_reeves]

I don't think this is it, but just because I'll add that sometimes the bridge springs will vibrate at certain frequencies if they are not tight. You can rule it out by just putting a piece of tape over the springs across the bridge to see if they are vibrating.

 

[TreySonagras]

Have you checked for "back buzz"? Sometimes a fretted string will buzz against a fret between the fret and the nut. Usually a couple of frets behind the fingered fret. I had this issue (took me a year to figure it out) and fixed it with a truss rod tweak.

 

[TreySonagras]

Let me be more specific, if I’m fettung the e and g on the 7th fret, I get buzzing on my e

Exactly what mine did. Back buzz is likely the culprit.

 

[JimmyM]

Have you checked for "back buzz"? Sometimes a fretted string will buzz against a fret between the fret and the nut. Usually a couple of frets behind the fingered fret. I had this issue (took me a year to figure it out) and fixed it with a truss rod tweak.

Was going to suggest this very thing. Sounds like classic back buzz. The good news is it almost never gets amplified unless you have very microphonic pickups.

 

[dan1952]

Even though the OP put on new strings that were the same gauge, string tension can vary a lot from brand to brand. Before trying all these other "fixes," the OP could try loosening the truss rod a quarter turn and see if the buzz goes away.

 

[JimmyM]

Even though the OP put on new strings that were the same gauge, string tension can vary a lot from brand to brand. Before trying all these other "fixes," the OP could try loosening the truss rod a quarter turn and see if the buzz goes away.

That'll make the action higher. I think my fix is the best...forget about it But I'm a serious low action junkie and I hate low action. As long as it's not amplified, that's all I care.