Need some second opinions on bridge buzz

[SquierJazz72]

Here's the situation:

Both my Squier basses, Jazz and Precision, have bad buzzes on the D and G strings.

The setup is good, neck relief, intonation, action. I know it's not the strings hitting the frets. They are perfectly clear of it.

Neither bass did this before, when they had heavier strings. The P had thick flats and the Jazz had Roto 77 SS, heavy gauge.

Now they both have medium gauge D'Addario nickles, and both buzz at the D and G saddles.

I've never had to mess with the bridges in this manner. Is this possibly a problem suddenly exposed by lighter strings, and if so, what's the best way to correct it?

 

[bumperbass]

Are you sure it's your bridge? Sometimes when a smaller gauge string is used, there is too much play in the NUT. It happened to me one time. I had to file the nut a bit to make a small 'V' so the string wouldn't bottom out enough and rattle. Put a finger on the string at the nut slot to see if the buzz goes away when plucked. Let us know.

 

[Bobster]

I agree with bumperbass. It's likely nut slots. You can put a little index card into the nut slot as a test/temp fix.

All the best,

Bob

 

[deeptubes]

Check your saddle height screws. If they aren't even, most of the downward force will be on the taller saddle causing the shorter one to vibrate against the bridge base. The heavier gauge strings pushed down harder and held the saddles firm against the bridge base. The reduced tension of the lighter strings may have made this buzz noticeable.

 

[pkazzo]

I recently changed strings from pressurewounds to flats and was going insane trying to figure out why I had fret buzz on the A string. Raised the action adjusted the truss rod, all to no avail. After reading this post i put some pressure at the nut - and no buzz.
This site gave me back my sanity!
So now my question is, I did the temp fix with a tiny piece of cardstock paper. What would be a permanent fix? New Nut?

 

[JLS]

I recently changed strings from pressurewounds to flats and was going insane trying to figure out why I had fret buzz on the A string. Raised the action adjusted the truss rod, all to no avail. After reading this post i put some pressure at the nut - and no buzz.
This site gave me back my sanity!
So now my question is, I did the temp fix with a tiny piece of cardstock paper. What would be a permanent fix? New Nut?

I'd suggest more wraps on the tuner post, and/or a string tree.

 

[SquierJazz72]

Thanks everyone. My problem was at the bridge. Had to do a bit of readjusting. Kind of overlooked it, as I did start at the nut end as my first thought.

 

[deeptubes]

Well, what was it?

WE DEMAND INFO!!!!!!!

 

[curbowkid]

It could have just been the reduced tension on the strings causing them to hit the frets when plucked. Which makes sense because it wouldnt happen with slightly more tension if it was set up just right. I had the same thing happen when i tried lighter strings on my ibanez 6. I left the set up as it was and tossed on a lighter gauge and pow buzz all over the place. Thats just my .02

 

[bumperbass]

I recently changed strings from pressurewounds to flats and was going insane trying to figure out why I had fret buzz on the A string. Raised the action adjusted the truss rod, all to no avail. After reading this post i put some pressure at the nut - and no buzz.
This site gave me back my sanity!
So now my question is, I did the temp fix with a tiny piece of cardstock paper. What would be a permanent fix? New Nut?

I didn't buy a new nut. Luckily, my nut wasn't cut very low to begin with, so as I said in my first post above, I used a jeweler's file and cut the (E string, in my case) slot smaller so the string would have an edge to sit on, rather than the too wide U (that was OK for the larger string gauge).
Best of luck. FWIW, it drove me crazy too.