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Problem with OLP bass G string

H

horstenkoetter

Jan 30, 2013
7
1
#1
Hello everyone,

my OLP MM copy has a problem with the G string, at least with the Thomastik flatwounds I currently have on it.

The open string gives off a nasty buzz, which somehow has its origin at the nut. Fretted it sounds fine. Adjusting the trussrod in either direction showed no results. I presume this somehow has to do with either the pressure of the string onto the nut, or the string having too much space in it.

Little demonstration of the problem (sound's a bit out of sync and stop laughing at my German accent):

If anyone knows how to fix this, please do tell!

Cheers!
 
#2
I didn't have the facility here to listen, but; buzz near the nut, just on the G-string, disappears once fretted? Sounds to me like the nut slot for your G-string has been filed too low.

A temporary check would be to loosen the string off, place a sliver of matchstick wood in there and tune up and see if it's gone. If that is your cause, your options depend on how much you want to spend. You might be able to get away with dropping in some hard-setting glue. If the string gauge is lighter than you like, a move from, say, 40 to 45 might have it sitting higher.

The best solution is to have a tech do a good setup, part of which would involve putting in a fresh, correctly cut nut. Something around €40-50, which seems like a big chunk of the cost of an OLP but they're a nice bass and a properly set up one means more fun playing. The correct files for doing nuts are expensive, and it's easy to get it wrong, so I recommend asking a tech.

You could look at John Carruthers' excellent 4-part video on how to set up a bass on Youtube, do the other jobs and, if your frets etc are in good shape, just ask for the nut replacement to see if you're quoted a reduced price.
 
#3
Sounds like your nut is either cut too wide (not deep, this would cause fret buzz), or you don't have enough downward force past the nut. I couldn't really tell from the video if your strings were properly wound around the post, but you should have at least a couple of windings so that the string is pushed down toward the headstock.
 
#6
Thank you guys. It was indeed just a single wrap around the post. Switched the thing to LaBella tapewounds, which I always wanted to try and broke the nut in the process (has a .060 G string - one slight touch to press it in a bit and the nut broke off).

It gets a bone nut now, all my other instruments have one, too. And I'll have the service tech adjust the nut for the tapewounds, of course.
 
#7
horstenkoetter said:
Thank you guys. It was indeed just a single wrap around the post. Switched the thing to LaBella tapewounds, which I always wanted to try and broke the nut in the process (has a .060 G string - one slight touch to press it in a bit and the nut broke off).

It gets a bone nut now, all my other instruments have one, too. And I'll have the service tech adjust the nut for the tapewounds, of course.
Click to expand...

I recently acquired an OLP bass with a broken nut. There is still enough of a "groove" to prevent the E string from popping out so it's still playable. The problem is I can't find a replacement nut for an OLP bass. A search on this site and Google yielded nothing. A Fender Jazz nut looks like it will fit but it's a tad too long.
 

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