Nylon tapewounds causing fret buzz?

[Jaycat]

Hey troops. I have a newish Ibanez Talman bass. Picked it up to play yesterday and encountered serious fret buzz on frets 1-3, mostly on the D and G strings.

Took it to my friendly neighborhood music shop (where I bought it) and they tweaked the truss rod and things seem better now. No charge. They are good guys.

One of the guys suggested that my La Bella nylon tapewounds possibly weren't exerting enough tension and thus could cause the fret buzz? (Of course, it could also be the New England winter weather, much as I try to humidify the joint.) I've had the nylons on there for at least three months.

Your thoughts? Again, these are good guys but possibly with less bass than guitar experience.

 

[charlie monroe]

It’s a good idea to perform a setup when you change the brand or type of strings.

Subtle change can sometimes have not so subtle effect.

 

[Bodeanly]

Chalk it up to weather. I go through the same thing twice a year.

 

[Jaycat]

Chalk it up to weather. I go through the same thing twice a year.

Is a bass more susceptible than a guitar? I never seem to have this issue with my guitars.

 

[Bodeanly]

Is a bass more susceptible than a guitar? I never seem to have this issue with my guitars.

I think it depends more on the quality of the wood and the finish. It's the amount of moisture in the air that the neck either absorbs or not, causing it to shrink or expand.

 

[Aidil]

Is a bass more susceptible than a guitar? I never seem to have this issue with my guitars.

The total string tension is far greater on bass, i.e. with D'Addario Regular Light Gauge 10-46 EXL110 string set, a guitar neck would face a total tension of 102.52 lbs, while a typical long scale bass neck would have to stand against a total tension of 165.64 lbs when D'Addario Regular Light Gauge 45-100 EXL170 string set is put on it. The widely used 45-105 EXL165 string set has even more total tension of 174.29 lbs. And in the case of there are 5 or more strings on the bass, the total tension would become much higher.

And as mentioned above, the quality of the wood used might varies. Not to mention bass has a far longer neck which makes it more susceptible to climate changes than a guitar neck. Also, whether additional reinforcement is used inside the neck or not would make it different in the case of climate changes.

What you were having in the first place wasn't extraordinary in the bass world. We have to inspect the neck/truss rod when changing strings. More so because you were replacing regular round wound strings (the Talman bass were likely to have come with 45-105 gauge rounds) with nylon tape wound strings which usually have quite a low total tension. If I were to assume the stock strings had comparable tension to D'Addario EXL165 of 174.29 lbs and the La Bella Nylon tapes currently on the baaa had comparable tension to D'Addario Nylon Tapes ETB92 of 146.16 lbs, then we could count the difference of both total tensions which were quite far, thus truss rod adjustment was definitely necessary.

 

[Jaycat]

The total string tension is far greater on bass, i.e. with D'Addario Regular Light Gauge 10-46 EXL110 string set, a guitar neck would face a total tension of 102.52 lbs, while a typical long scale bass neck would have to stand against a total tension of 165.64 lbs when D'Addario Regular Light Gauge 45-100 EXL170 string set is put on it. The widely used 45-105 EXL165 string set has even more total tension of 174.29 lbs. And in the case of there are 5 or more strings on the bass, the total tension would become much higher.

And as mentioned above, the quality of the wood used might varies. Not to mention bass has a far longer neck which makes it more susceptible to climate changes than a guitar neck. Also, whether additional reinforcement is used inside the neck or not would make it different in the case of climate changes.

What you were having in the first place wasn't extraordinary in the bass world. We have to inspect the neck/truss rod when changing strings. More so because you were replacing regular round wound strings (the Talman bass were likely to have come with 45-105 gauge) with nylon tape wound strings which usually have quite a low total tension. If I were to assume the stock strings had comparable tension to D'Addario EXL165 of 174.29 lbs and the La Bella Nylon tapes currently on the baaa had comparable tension to D'Addario Nylon Tapes ETB92 of 146.16 lbs, then we could count the difference of both total tensions which were quite far, thus truss rod adjustment was definitely necessary.

Thank you. Very knowledgable reply. I still wonder why it took 3 months though for the buzz to appear.

 

[Aidil]

Thank you. Very knowledgable reply. I still wonder why it took 3 months though for the buzz to appear.

We might have not aware when the climate changes have kicked in and affected the neck. Anyhow, don't hesitate to adjust the truss rod by yourself when fret buzz appears.