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Options to eliminate pickup induced fret buzz

#101
Video is coming.
I used a VU meter and spectrum analyzer so you guys could see exactly how hard I'm playing and not try to say I'm playing harder or softer. I also put a tuner on the screen to show that it was tuned back up to EADG.
 
#102
Can we look at something else for a moment? Taking all the strings off can cause the now untensioned and possibly unstable neck to go into back bow. What may have been minimal relief is now not. It may take a while to settle down. Even restrung. Perhaps the frequent truss rod adjustments may have caused the wood of the neck to become emotionally dependent :) and less stable on its own.

Some folks replace one string at a time.

Bass gets strung up and has fret buzz. New pickups or not.

I'd recommend a skilled luthier do a setup. A setup is a balance of many different parameters. You can't do one thing in isolation. When the luthier knows your preferred string height he will always give it to you. If your tone changes then change your bass's eq or amp's. You did change pickups so you were after some change in tone.

Again if you ask this rowdy and polite bunch of enthusiasts for help let them help. Remember the story of the truck stuck under the bridge?
 
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#103
4a50b27b40a7d249ff465e819e8ec61d32ccb5979bb5cbc59fff698af95e3154.jpg


I'm kidding. I am wondering what the buzz issue is tho.
 
#105
when you say " I believe the Barts use a less aggressive magnet " ... that means you really don't know ..!! hense , the phrase ' I believe ' as in, you're not sure ... so you're assuming that as a Fact ... ??

but , there is more involved in maker a better pickup than stronger magnets ...

even different types of magnets have different tonal colors , as does the type of wire , it's coating , it's gauge , how it's wound , and on and on ...

arguing won't help resolve your issue ... fact
 
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#106
chadds said:
Can we look at something else for a moment? Taking all the strings off can cause the now untensioned and possibly unstable neck to go into back bow. What may have been minimal relief is now not. It may take a while to settle down. Even restrung. Perhaps the frequent truss rod adjustments may have caused the wood of the neck to become emotionally dependent :) and less stable on its own.

Bass gets strung up and has fret buzz.

I'd recommend a skilled luthier do a setup. A setup is a balance of many different parameters. You can't do one thing in isolation. When the luthier knows your preferred string height he will always give it to you. If your tone changes then change your bass's eq or amp's. You did change pickups so you were after some change in tone.

Again if you ask this rowdy and polite bunch of enthusiasts for help let them help. Remember the story of the truck stuck under the bridge?
Click to expand...
Yes to all that- but note that he restrung and played with no pick ups in the bass, with no fret buzz there, then he puts the pups in, and buzz was there. One of the things making him angry is people are not noting this fact, the buzz is there with the new pups in ONLY. The buzz is not there with no pups in, the buzz is not there with the old pups in, the buzz IS there with the Nords.
 
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#108
Garret Graves said:
Yes to all that- but note that he restrung and played with no pick ups in the bass, with no fret buzz was there, then he puts the pups in, and buzz was there.
Click to expand...

Thanks I believe the pickups could be the issue and also now we've added additional stress to the neck by another restringing. They could be exposing another issue.

How can you add stronger magnets and keep everything else the same?
 
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#109
Honkey tonk said:
So your saying that not only does the string have to be running the same frequency as the strobe but the camera also has to running the same frame rate as the string and strobe frequency?
Click to expand...

I'm not saying anything since I know ditz about cameras. :laugh: I'm just rephrasing what this woman is talking about here.




This is more in depth with other examples too.

 
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#110
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.
Click to expand...
Interesting thread, a lot to consider and a leap of faith to point directly at a single symptom to solution. As several others have suggested, I'd start with the strings and string height. 4mm would be unsatisfactory to me also, but lowering strong pups is understandable. I replaced some MK1's with Bartolini's with very good results FWIW. After changing strings (if you're using nickels, try steel or vice-versa) to kind of rule that out. If the relief was correct already I wouldn't be looking there, but contacting Nordstrand is a very good idea maybe with a link to this thread. They might even want to swap out your pups for you. Not sure if its possible, but perhaps that set are not properly magnetized and something for Nordstrand to consider. Cary is REALLY good! I had a very strange pickup replacement / buzzing noise problem resolved by changing strings (after a lot of other heartache first) so start at the bottom and engage the pros if you need to. Keep us posted and any pics/vids would be nice to see/hear the situation.
 
#111
Garret Graves said:
Yes to all that- but note that he restrung and played with no pick ups in the bass, with no fret buzz there, then he puts the pups in, and buzz was there. One of the things making him angry is people are not noting this fact, the buzz is there with the new pups in ONLY. The buzz is not there with no pups in, the buzz is not there with the old pups in, the buzz IS there with the Nords.
Click to expand...

I'm not angry. Not with you guys at least. Frustrated with the instrument only.
I'm used to this. I was a founding member of a DJ forum and a vendor member of a car audio forum since 2004. I'm used to the ribbing. Its typical of predominantly Male forums. I can give as good as I take and understand the "join date" and "post count" mentalities. Any time you link anonymity with ego there is going to be ass hats trolling. Typical egotistical Male behaviours. I am not innocent of it either though I try to be.
But if you look past the ********, forums are the ultimate resource. Hundreds of thousands of hours of real life user experience,l. Its invaluable.
My goal isn't to prove anything if I can keep my own ego out of it. Ideally this will be a learning experience for everyone and may help others to understand why some basses just wont get a low action when there doesnt seem to be a logical explanation why it wont.
I said it earlier in the thread. I believe many have experienced this and not even known it. If you didnt change the pickups, youd just set it up not to buzz, not even knowing you could actually use a much lower action. I have a feeling some of these guys use p basses only. Their pickups sit further from the neck and are much smaller. I don't believe a normal jazz pickup would do it either.
At the end of the day I just want to be a useful member of this community. I came here to learn and to help where I could. I have an extensive history with audio in all formats, and an eye for solving problems. So in the end, if they want to blast me its fine. Maybe this post will help someone else out in the future. That's why I'm here. I'm just a dumb hick anyway so whats it matter.
 
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#112
Drop1 said:
I'm not angry. Not with you guys at least. Frustrated with the instrument only.
I'm used to this. I was a founding member of a DJ forum and a vendor member of a car audio forum since 2004. I'm used to the ribbing. Its typical of predominantly Male forums. I can give as good as I take and understand the "join date" and "post count" mentalities. Any time you link anonymity with ego there is going to be ass hats trolling. Typical egotistical Male behaviours. I am not innocent of it either though I try to be.
But if you look past the ********, forums are the ultimate resource. Hundreds of thousands of hours of real life user experience,l. Its invaluable.
My goal isn't to prove anything if I can keep my own ego out of it. Ideally this will be a learning experience for everyone and may help others to understand why some basses just wont get a low action when there doesnt seem to be a logical explanation why it wont.
I said it earlier in the thread. I believe many have experienced this and not even known it. If you didnt change the pickups, youd just set it up not to buzz, not even knowing you could actually use a much lower action. I have a feeling some of these guys use p basses only. Their pickups sit further from the neck and are much smaller. I don't believe a normal jazz pickup would do it either.
At the end of the day I just want to be a useful member of this community. I came here to learn and to help where I could. I have an extensive history with audio in all formats, and an eye for solving problems. So in the end, if they want to blast me its fine. Maybe this post will help someone else out in the future. That's why I'm here. I'm just a dumb hick anyway so whats it matter.
Click to expand...

Dude don't self deprecate. You're not the dumbest hick to come along here. :):):)
Seriously the lesson is in your expression on the inter web of humility.
 
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#117
I accidentally posted this on another of my threads in the late hours last night.
The text below should have been here on page 3.


Ok. Another update. One I can live with.
Pickups out, no buzz.
Barts in, boomer 40 to 95 no buzz.
Nords in, boomer 40 to 95 buuzzzzzzz so bad its choking the notes. Buzz on every fret.
Nords in , boomer 45 to 105, tolerable buzz. Not choking the notes off. Not buzzing on every note. Tolerable.

The messed up part is you guys actually had me second guessing myself and I've spent the last couple hours going back and forth between pickups. It is absoluty without a doubt the Nords. Pickups im and out for the 10th time and results are perfectly consistent.
 
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#118
Drop1 said:
I accidentally posted this on another of my threads in the late hours last night.
The text below should have been here on page 3.


Ok. Another update. One I can live with.
Pickups out, no buzz.
Barts in, boomer 40 to 95 no buzz.
Nords in, boomer 40 to 95 buuzzzzzzz so bad its choking the notes. Buzz on every fret.
Nords in , boomer 45 to 105, tolerable buzz. Not choking the notes off. Not buzzing on every note. Tolerable.

The messed up part is you guys actually had me second guessing myself and I've spent the last couple hours going back and forth between pickups. It is absoluty without a doubt the Nords. Pickups im and out for the 10th time and results are perfectly consistent.
Click to expand...

What did Carey say when you asked him.
 
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