Just angry...(MIA P Bass content)

[Gougedeye]

Interesting. I hope you get this figured out. Here's my $.02. It could be that you need to have your frets dressed. Or a block plane. It also could be that the A string saddle is just too low. take it to another tech, as suggested earlier. Hopefully it is something simple. If it does turn out to be a bad neck, Fender sells them direct. You could go to the Fender website and purchase a new one delivered to your door. Best of luck.
Invalid Link Removed

 

[rootbill]

The one and only time I ever had a problem with a poorly cut (too low) nut slot, was with a Am Standard Jazz Bass. It was amazing how much it sounded like the truss rod was loose / broken. It was also the "A" string. As an attempt to trouble shoot. I put cardboard shim in the "A" string nut slot. I reset the string height at bridge, to manufacturer spec. , along with neck relief. and , shazam , no buzz. Good News: truss rod fine Bad News: I had to replace the Nut and refile it. This was pretty tricky, I broke the first nut. Perfect on second try. Good Luck

 

[elBandito]

It's not possible for fender style single action truss rod to be loose inside the neck. Its design does not allow this.

Check if there is resistance on the truss rod nut, and it's not spinning freely. As long as the truss rod didn't snap, bad setups can be reversed.

 

[FunkHead]

If he put new string on and cut the A string too short then its not winding down far enough on the post. That would definitely create the situation we are having.

 

[UncleDan]

Greetings from the states (well the good part of the states at least ), something about this doesn't add up, if "the truss rod is loose inside the neck" then the neck should have a major noticeable bow, like the Bently I once owned....

Or the truss rod could be broken, or the nut screwed completely off, or too tight past the point of stress fracture. Anyone who's worked in a music shop for very long has seen customers who 'adjusted' their truss rod past the breaking point. If it's really snapped it can rattle around in there like an egg shaker.

 

[Hopkins]

Here's the solution: Slap some higher tension strings on it so there is a bit more pressure on the truss rod. I have actually seen this problem with lower tension strings. The neck may be "Holding its' own" and the truss is just loose enough to rattle a bit. Tenser strings should make a positive improvement.
Of course I am not holding the bass in my hands so It could be something else but it sounds exactly like a situation I had once and the strings fixed it.

Or he can properly check the relief, and adjust the neck to the strings he likes.

OP

Your problem is most likely very simple, and you most likely do not need a new neck. Since its buzzing on the lower strings it sounds like the guy doesn't know what he is doing and adjusted the neck into a back bow. This happens a lot with people that try and sight the neck down the headstock instead of actually checking relief properly.

The nut is also most likely fine. If the nut slot was to low it would buzz out on the open string only. The problem would go away when a note is fretted.

Before you do anything else, tune the bass to pitch, capo the first fret, fret the 20th fret and check and see if you have any gap between the E string and the 8th fret. I would be willing to bet that that the string will be sitting on the fret. If this is the case, back off on the truss rod until you have a gap about the thickness of a business card.

 

[singlemalt]

We should start a betting pool.

I bet the OP can put things right after a couple YouTube videos and a beer or two.

But yeah, the single string has me wondering about the nut, the saddle height, and maybe even just a bad string.

I start my set up process with the truss rod and neck relief, since this will most likely need some adjustment, especially if I'm changing to different strings.

Then saddles for intonation and height. Then pickups.

Was a new set of strings installed during this set up?

 

[ofajen]

Or he can properly check the relief, and adjust the neck to the strings he likes.

OP

Your problem is most likely very simple, and you most likely do not need a new neck. Since its buzzing on the lower strings it sounds like the guy doesn't know what he is doing and adjusted the neck into a back bow. This happens a lot with people that try and sight the neck down the headstock instead of actually checking relief properly.

The nut is also most likely fine. If the nut slot was to low it would buzz out on the open string only. The problem would go away when a note is fretted.

Before you do anything else, tune the bass to pitch, capo the first fret, fret the 20th fret and check and see if you have any gap between the E string and the 8th fret. I would be willing to bet that that the string will be sitting on the fret. If this is the case, back off on the truss rod until you have a gap about the thickness of a business card.

This. Typical relief is in the range of .3 to 1 mm. You can do as mentioned and check with feeler gauges if you have them.

Otto

 

[Zooberwerx]

Or he can properly check the relief, and adjust the neck to the strings he likes.

OP

Your problem is most likely very simple, and you most likely do not need a new neck. Since its buzzing on the lower strings it sounds like the guy doesn't know what he is doing and adjusted the neck into a back bow. This happens a lot with people that try and sight the neck down the headstock instead of actually checking relief properly.

The nut is also most likely fine. If the nut slot was to low it would buzz out on the open string only. The problem would go away when a note is fretted.

Before you do anything else, tune the bass to pitch, capo the first fret, fret the 20th fret and check and see if you have any gap between the E string and the 8th fret. I would be willing to bet that that the string will be sitting on the fret. If this is the case, back off on the truss rod until you have a gap about the thickness of a business card.

Not necessarily. A too-low nut slot can create a god awful buzz between a fretted note and the nut itself...I call it "back buzz". Not saying that's the problem but there is something amiss along the string path which has escaped detection up to this point.

Riis

 

[Hopkins]

Not necessarily. A too-low nut slot can create a god awful buzz between a fretted note and the nut itself...I call it "back buzz". Not saying that's the problem but there is something amiss along the string path which has escaped detection up to this point.

Riis

Not on every fret between the nut and 9th fret, and it wont be audible in the amp because it won't be produced in the speaking length of the string. Also if it were cut low enough to cause a back buzz, as you call it, it would be completely dead on the open string.

 

[BboogieXVII]

Just get it to a real tech before you proceed any further.

 

[ofajen]

Not necessarily. A too-low nut slot can create a god awful buzz between a fretted note and the nut itself...I call it "back buzz". Not saying that's the problem but there is something amiss along the string path which has escaped detection up to this point.

Riis

Yes, you do want to make sure the nut is slotted properly. Even when properly slotted, some relief is usually necessary to avoid that buzz below (and above) the fingered note. If the nut is filed too low, it may require excessive relief to mitigate on that string or be unavoidable.

Either way, first thing is to measure the relief.

Otto

 

[BobKos]

It is the A string. It's either a bad string or it's not wound around the tuner properly. The strings have to break over the nut and drop towards the top of the headstock. That's why the D & G have the retainer. The E naturally winds down due to its close proximity to the nut. The A needs special attention. It has to be wound so that it comes off the tuner close to the headstock. If it comes off high and skims across the nut, it will rattle as you are experiencing. Just loosen it up and rewind it lower on the tuner.

 

[MattyBass]

I got a free neck replacement from fender some years back on an american deluxe fretless, years after I bought it. I believe it's a 5 year warranty call fender, ask the tech if he is an authorized fender repair location, if he is he can submit for a new neck for for you, if he's not. Explain to him that you want to keep it a all fender for obvious reasons, and that you need to take it to an authorized fender repair place. That should eliminate the problems. It seems strange that he would put a new neck on your bass for free(even if it is a war mouth, which leads me to believe he might of accidentally damaged the truss rod. Even still, try going the fender warranty route. Before you do anything else.

 

[Jeema]

Or he can properly check the relief, and adjust the neck to the strings he likes.
Your problem is most likely very simple, and you most likely do not need a new neck. Since its buzzing on the lower strings it sounds like the guy doesn't know what he is doing and adjusted the neck into a back bow. This happens a lot with people that try and sight the neck down the headstock instead of actually checking relief properly.

Yep, probably just need to loosen the truss rod a little bit. This tech sounds like a noob.

Fret the 'A' string at the 1st fret and where it joins the neck, then see how much clearance there is between the bottom of the string and top of the fret right around the 7th-9th frets. If the answer is 'none whatsoever', then that's the problem.

 

[jetbike]

I just spoke to a tech recommended in this thread who'll happily look at it. I spoke with him about this issue and he reckons its very fixable and feels it is very unlikely I'll need to get a new neck. He said he hasn't seen a problem like this on a US Fender for over 30 years.

Thanks for all the advice. I'm particularly happy with all the beer I'm going to have to drink. I'm not sure how it enhances my technical abilities, but it seems very important to the overall process.

Becoming more tech-savvy is somewhere on the to-do list. Right now completing my thesis on Heidegger's model of authenticity and its application in psychotherapy is top of that particular list.

I'm planning to see the tech in about 10 days, will let you know how it goes.

 

[jetbike]

Ps. I'll get the bass back from the original guy tomorrow.

 

[Iridescentone]

Well that's good, then. Fortunately, bass tech stuff is not as deep as Heidegger. lol

 

[narud]

Not on every fret between the nut and 9th fret, and it wont be audible in the amp because it won't be produced in the speaking length of the string. Also if it were cut low enough to cause a back buzz, as you call it, it would be completely dead on the open string.

as someone whos had back buzz/rattle, its audible through an amp and the nut slot isnt so low that the open string is dead.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Not on every fret between the nut and 9th fret, and it wont be audible in the amp because it won't be produced in the speaking length of the string. Also if it were cut low enough to cause a back buzz, as you call it, it would be completely dead on the open string.

True that...it's obvious I've not read the entire thread. I've never had it kill the open string, though. This is a situation where an aluminum foil slug placed in the nut slot will tell all. Technically interesting but a non-issue given the complaint / description and pending measurements of the critical parameters. Heck, even the "ping" test would quickly and easily remove nut slot height from contention.

Riis