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Lowering action without buzzing

J

jimmeyer176

Guest
Oct 2, 2012
80
5
#1
Heya,

I recently picked up an Aria DMB 380 bass, it's a Mosrite Copy with some Jazz Bass similarities, I really like it. I already have a Fender Jazz so it's a nice fit for me.

It's a cheap bass, but love the Mosrite body, and the fact that it's 34 inch scale. Very cool instrument.

I had some fret buzzing so took it in, the buzzing is gone but I don't like the action, just too high, I would like to bring it down but the guy told me "it's as low as I can get without buzzing". He said something about raising the neck in the body to help alleviate this, but said to play with it first and then go from there.

The question is - how would you be able to lower the action without fret buzz, is there something I'm not thinking of?

I really like the bass so would like to make it work, even if it cost a few hundred. HELP!
 
#2
Can you isolate it to an offending fret, or area of the fingerboard? How old is the bass? Has it been long neglected? My best advice is to Google bass set up and neck relief and see it you can wrestle it back with observation and adjustment over time.
 
#4
jimmeyer176 said:
Heya,

I recently picked up an Aria DMB 380 bass, it's a Mosrite Copy with some Jazz Bass similarities, I really like it. I already have a Fender Jazz so it's a nice fit for me.

It's a cheap bass, but love the Mosrite body, and the fact that it's 34 inch scale. Very cool instrument.

I had some fret buzzing so took it in, the buzzing is gone but I don't like the action, just too high, I would like to bring it down but the guy told me "it's as low as I can get without buzzing". He said something about raising the neck in the body to help alleviate this, but said to play with it first and then go from there.

The question is - how would you be able to lower the action without fret buzz, is there something I'm not thinking of?

I really like the bass so would like to make it work, even if it cost a few hundred. HELP!
Click to expand...

The way I do my setups is:
- file the nut for the best action at the first fret (Eg. height above 1st fret is at least the same as the height above 2nd fret when fretting at 1st fret). Get a good set of nutfiles from Stewmac or other luthier tools place for this, they're worth it.
- set the action at the heel as low as I can get it. Eg. around the 15-18th fret or so.
- now start adjusting the relief of the neck - if action is too high in the middle of the board, remove relief (tighten truss rod). If it's already too buzzy or fretting out somewhere on the board, add relief (loosen truss rod).
- stop when you find a place on the board (varies from instrument to instrument) where it's too buzzy. Back off the truss rod a hair bit until that buzzy spot is acceptable.

That'll basically get you really close to spot on. You may still have to monkey with the action and relief a little bit to really dial it in the way you want, but you're typically pretty close after this.

This works for all my instruments, even my cheapie but lovable modern player Jazz bass has silky smooth, low action all up and down the board...

So that'd be where I'd start...

LS
 
#5
It's also likely that the tech you took it to meant that it is as low as the action will go without buzz, without crowning/leveling the frets themselves.
Especially if the bass is old, it may require some fret attention. In a sense the tech was doing you a favor by not just doing the fret job and then hitting you with the bill (which can get expensive)
 
#8
Sorry, this is a brand new bass, it's a retro looking bass but it's not old. I guess the problem is that I don't really know much about setups, so have to go by what others tell me. I'm curious to what unclejane said, but it's still a tad confusing

Any other ideas?
 
#9
mellowgerman said:
It's also likely that the tech you took it to meant that it is as low as the action will go without buzz, without crowning/leveling the frets themselves.
Especially if the bass is old, it may require some fret attention. In a sense the tech was doing you a favor by not just doing the fret job and then hitting you with the bill (which can get expensive)
Click to expand...

This was my first thought.

However, my tech does a fret level/dress/full set up (including fret edges, nut, relief, intonation, the works) for around $100.00. Since I prefer low action and I realize this step must be taken no matter what else you do, I gladly pay for a fret leveling.
 
#10
I agree that the frets may need some attention (leveling) possable truss rod adjustments, along with the string nut modification. It's probably a combination of issues. Look into the all and I'm sure you will come up with an answer. Good luck to ya, I'm sure it'll be okay. Thiers a lot of knowlageable people 'round here. :bassist:
 
#12
Pimmsley said:
My guess is your tech is talking about adding a shim to the neck to change the angle of the neck to the body, thus allowing for a lower action... in some cases this is needed to allow for lower action.
Click to expand...

This is only true if your bridge saddles are bottomed out and the strings are still too high.

I would read up on the stickies for how to do a set up, or better yet someone posted this video earlier on another thread.



He does a setup the most common way. Truss rod, string height at the saddles, then intonation. If only then your still not happy, then look at other options like fret level, filing the nut, shimming etc....
 
#14
Fret levelling is making the frets level by filing them down to a common level. Fret dressing is the work that is needed after that to shape and smooth the frets.

There are several very good stickies on this forum you should read first before going any further. They explain most of the basics of setup very well.

There are too many variables that influence setup for us to give you a good answer over the web. Try to explain as good as possible how en where the buzzing occurs. That is a first step in diagnosing why it buzzes and wether or not there's room for improvement.
 
#15
It would be in your best interest to learn how to setup the bass yourself since you probably will need to do it from time to time. For example, if you try a different gauge of strings (which changes the overall tension on the neck) then you’ll need to adjust the truss rod. It really isn’t difficult.
 
#16
Ok got someone good to look at it, it needed a fret level and dress, the bridge was a little loose and the nut needed to be filed in places, he took most of the relief out of the neck and the thing now plays super fast and very clean, no buzzing, I'm happy!!!
 
#18
I don't know...I had an el cheapo bass that did the same thing. It was a 5 string and it buzzed REALLY bad on the low string! I really had no intention on keep that bass, so I traded it for my Ibanez. My husband did what he could to keep it from buzzing, but it was a no-go. It was a pretty cool looking bass...it was a BC Rich look-alike! That's about all it had going for it.
 

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