I just switched to stainless steel strings and i love the sound they produce but my bass buzzes when i play it acoustically. I'm wondering if it's because my nuts are worn down since my bass have some wear and tear on it or if it's just the strings. Does anybody have any input on this?
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My bass buzzes
- Thread starter cubano1147
- Start date
As long as you don't hear it through the amp I don't think it's that big of a problem. Don't think it's the nut. Most likely bridge or neck or a combo of the two. Most basses will have a little buzz at some point in the neck, because nothing is perfectly straight. Some steps you can do to prevent fret buzz are as follows.
1) make sure your neck is straight or ever so slightly bowed. (and i mean ever so slightly). Good way to check the neck straightness is to fret the first and last fret on the E string and check the gap around the 7th fret. You want there to be a tiny tiny little gap in between. By tiny i mean 1/32nd of an inch.
2) Set the string heights to a point where you play at your normal attack and you don't get a buzz. (there may be a point on your neck where the is a buzz. You can tweak all day and maybe never get it completely out. You must compromise somewhere either by raising the action or dealing with the buzz)
you're probably getting a buzz because you're over compensating, because you're playing without an amp.
Just my 2 cents.
1) make sure your neck is straight or ever so slightly bowed. (and i mean ever so slightly). Good way to check the neck straightness is to fret the first and last fret on the E string and check the gap around the 7th fret. You want there to be a tiny tiny little gap in between. By tiny i mean 1/32nd of an inch.
2) Set the string heights to a point where you play at your normal attack and you don't get a buzz. (there may be a point on your neck where the is a buzz. You can tweak all day and maybe never get it completely out. You must compromise somewhere either by raising the action or dealing with the buzz)
you're probably getting a buzz because you're over compensating, because you're playing without an amp.
Just my 2 cents.
Also, a set up may be all you need. Read jaco's post and try playing with your truss (nuts?). Make small turns (no more than 1/8 revolution at a time is standard advice), and you should be able to take care of a lot (maybe not all) of that acoustic buzzing.
Wait are you playing an acoustic bass or an electric without an amp? That would make a big difference.
I'm assuming he meant electric without an amp. "When I play it acoustically" implies that it can be played electrically.
thanks everybody. I'm gonna do that. See if i can get rid of the majority of the buzzing causes it annoys the living hell out of me. lol.
I get a small amount of buzzing through a couple of my basses when I play unplugged, but it never shows up through my amp. I don't worry too much about it.
