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Options to eliminate pickup induced fret buzz

#41
Andy Daventry said:
A very interesting thread. It is possible for powerful pickups which are too close to the strings to pull the strings into fret buzz. If this is happening, then lowering the pickups, perhaps quite a lot, WILL solve the problem. If you lower the pickups and the buzz does not stop, then it's something else. I do think that lots of people do have their pickups too high.
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Not impossible, but unlikely at the distances that the OP is mentioning, especially when you consider how the field drops with the square of the distance.

I don't doubt a word of what the OP says, I' just not sure we found the reason for the effects he's reporting. A video would be very useful. Sometimes one person reports something, and another is able to see something else that the original person didn't notice, or we describe noises differently, or...

I thought I knew my car relatively well, years ago, and one day I thought there was something rattling and it felt like one of the middle sections of the exhaust pipe was loose. I was pretty sure. I went to my mechanic with it, had a listen... put it on the lift, looked at me, smiled... and a minute later it was fixed: the heat shield had come loose.
It's wise to keep an open mind.
 
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#42
What do you use under your pickups? Foam? Springs?
Maybe something is rattling under there. Or maybe something inside the pickup?

You could test your theory about magnetic field pulling the strings by measuring your action with various pickup heights.
Or you could remove the pickup and moving it closer and farther on top of your strings and see if they move under the pickup magnetic field influence.
 
#43
mcnach said:
Not impossible, but unlikely at the distances that the OP is mentioning, especially when you consider how the field drops with the square of the distance.

I don't doubt a word of what the OP says, I' just not sure we found the reason for the effects he's reporting. A video would be very useful. Sometimes one person reports something, and another is able to see something else that the original person didn't notice, or we describe noises differently, or...

I thought I knew my car relatively well, years ago, and one day I thought there was something rattling and it felt like one of the middle sections of the exhaust pipe was loose. I was pretty sure. I went to my mechanic with it, had a listen... put it on the lift, looked at me, smiled... and a minute later it was fixed: the heat shield had come loose.
It's wise to keep an open mind.
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Ha! That reminds me of the time my gears kept slipping on a roadbike I had. This was when gearshifts were always mounted on the downtube - many years ago. I took it to the bike shop and the guy looked at it and said there's nothing wrong. He told me to get on it. So I did, and he stopped me and said that I was knocking the lever with my knee as I got on....
 
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#44
PJsaure said:
What do you use under your pickups? Foam? Springs?
Maybe something is rattling under there. Or maybe something inside the pickup?

You could test your theory about magnetic field pulling the strings by measuring your action with various pickup heights.
Or you could remove the pickup and moving it closer and farther on top of your strings and see if they move under the pickup magnetic field influence.
Click to expand...

If you read through, lowering the pickups drastically does reduce it. Anything within 1/4"
PJsaure said:
What do you use under your pickups? Foam? Springs?
Maybe something is rattling under there. Or maybe something inside the pickup?

You could test your theory about magnetic field pulling the strings by measuring your action with various pickup heights.
Or you could remove the pickup and moving it closer and farther on top of your strings and see if they move under the pickup magnetic field influence.
Click to expand...

Lowing the pickups absoluty reduces it. But we are talking 1/2" from fretted at the 24th fret. This is far from ideal for tone.
I find it frustratingly hilarious that you guys dont think I can hear the difference between fret buzz on the fret directly under the note I'm playing and a random noise on the bass. I am not exaggerating in any way when I say every single note buzzes like the crappy basses at guiter center that have never seen a setup. It's so bad it actually kills the notes off. Lowering the pickups makes the sustain normal but the buzz creeps in about mid note. Not even on the attack. Removing the pickups removes the buzzing. This stuff ain't rocket science. I build homes for a living. Setting up a bass is a joke. Beyond fret leveling I find it odd that people pay for action setups.
I believe more than anything this thread is falling into the typical, prominently Male, forum black hole where everyone directly treats your join date as a measure of your intelligence. I'm not new to forums, or bass for that matter. I dont get offended easily but for so many to tell me what is happening isn't possible when it's happening right in front of my face is something else.
 
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#45
Drop1 said:
If you read through, lowering the pickups drastically does reduce it. Anything within 1/4"


Lowing the pickups absoluty reduces it. But we are talking 1/2" from fretted at the 24th fret. This is far from ideal for tone.
I find it frustratingly hilarious that you guys dont think I can hear the difference between fret buzz on the fret directly under the note I'm playing and a random noise on the bass. I am not exaggerating in any way when I say every single note buzzes like the crappy basses at guiter center that have never seen a setup. It's so bad it actually kills the notes off. Lowering the pickups makes the sustain normal but the buzz creeps in about mid note. Not even on the attack. Removing the pickups removes the buzzing. This stuff ain't rocket science. I build homes for a living. Setting up a bass is a joke. Beyond fret leveling I find it odd that people pay for action setups.
I believe more than anything this thread is falling into the typical, prominently Male, forum black hole where everyone directly treats your join date as a measure of your intelligence. I'm not new to forums, or bass for that matter. I dont get offended easily but for so many to tell me what is happening isn't possible when it's happening right in front of my face is something else.
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I understand your point of view, I also find Talkbass to be rude sometimes, some kind of " I know better than you. " .
But no need to start an "intelligence" kind of competition.

Best thing to do seems to do a video or sound sample to let them ear.
Not very convenient to talk about noises and make other understand with only words.
Words and communication often generates conflicts !
 
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#46
If the magnets are strong enough to cause fret buzz, they should also be severely damping the sustain of an open string. Can you test that?

If you don't want to use YouTube, you can create an account on Vimeo or Imgur and post there. Or, for audio-only you can use SoundCloud. If you click the "Media" icon in the comment box here, the pop-up provides a list of supported hosts with links to them all.
 
#47
Drop1 said:
Put some nord dual coils in and had to raise my action quite a bit. I've lowered the pickups a lot but it still causes buzz.

Do the dual coils use a really powerful magnet ? Do single coils pull this much?

I can play a touch lighter but really prefer to play with a medium touch so I can go lighter or harder on demand for more dynamics.
There is a sweet I try to stay in for maximum usable range.

Any advice would be well received.
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That is new.:D
 
#50
Drop1 said:
Its absoluty the pickups. I had it set up for no buzz at all. Installed, restrung and checked everything over. I have relief, about 3 mm at the 12th fret and 4 mm at the 24th. Every was buzzing. I raised the saddles, gave more relief and lowered the pups to over 1/4" away when fretted at the 24th. As I changed the the pickup height it got better but it's still there. I can eliminate it but I have to raise the action quite high. Its already higher than I'd like.
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I can't believe some of the experts who have responded here haven't called you on this, but what you are calling relief is not relief. It may be string height, but I am not going to say for sure because that would mean assuming you know how to measure that. "Guitar setups are a joke," why, because you build houses? That is really hilarious! Let me know when your tape measure can measure in thousandth of an inch...lets face it, you barely need any increment less than one inch.

Please, please post a video, the shaming will be epic.
 
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#51
Drop1 said:
If you read through, lowering the pickups drastically does reduce it. Anything within 1/4"
Click to expand...

I didn't mean adjust and measure the action with different pickup height, I meant just moving the pickup and measuring if this has any effect on the strings action.
If the magnetic field is so strong that it causes fret buzz, that means it pulls and lowers the strings to a point they rattle on the frets, and not only when vibrating.
So you should be able to measure it. Raise the pickup to a normal height, measure your action at the 12th fret or whatever, then lower the pickup all the way, and measure your action again.

For the record, I'm not saying what you say is impossible. I am just trying to help and find a measurable way to prove your theory. That would end the painful debate about whether what you tell us is true or false.
I am also interested as I just ordered a custom set of Nordstrand Big Splits, so I sorry a bit.

Drop1 said:
I build homes for a living. Setting up a bass is a joke.
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That is just disrespectful. I build software for a living, I could argue that's way more complicated than building and setting up instruments or houses, but I won't.
I have built a few guitars and basses and tons of software, I respect both. Different skill sets, and no superiority in one vs the other.
 
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#52
Drop1 said:
I believe the Barts use a less aggressive magnet, but more importantly , the poles were covered. I dont think the plastic hinders the magnetic field but it does keep the metal poles further away from the strings. The Nords have exposed poles and dont have the extra distance due to the plastic cover. They also have many more poles. I believe it's the combination of more metal, closer.
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Interesting. I have the Nord Dual Coils in a 5 string with quite low action and haven't noticed the issue though those are housed in plain covers without the exposed polepieces so there's some built in additional distance. How is it when playing single harmonics? They usually warble if the magnets are too close. I can see how a strong magnetic pull could alter the string vibration in a downward direction.
 
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#56
20190429_150204.jpg
 
#57
Between the bridge and pickup is a PFM or NEO it does pull hard down on the strings
Prety sure it messed with the action a little .
I was working on a passive string brake / pickup thing? and thought I needed a powerful magnet
 
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