Std Jazz Buzzes On Open A But Only On Downstroke

[DoesThisBassLookBigOnMe]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2009 model fender standard jazz bass which I bought new and which has been trouble free up until now. I decided to give flatwounds a chance and ordered myself some d'addario chromes in the same gauge as the roundwounds that were on it previously. I did this specifically to avoid any problems with the fit at the nut. I installed the new strings so that they come off the tuning pegs as close to the headstock as possible before they go to the nut and did not cut the strings short at all to maximise this effect. I know that this helps create a good break angle over the nut.

Unfortunately my precautions about the nut haven't kept the problems at bay. When I strike the open A string in a downstroke it buzzes. If I hold light pressure on it behind the nut and strike it with a downstroke I can prevent it from buzzing. Funny thing is I can strike it with an upstroke as much as I like and get no buzz.

Investigating this on the web it seems to be quite a common problem but usually comes down to people cutting their strings too short to give adequate windings on the tuning peg which leaves them without a good break angle over the nut. In my case I used the entire string. It could still be the break angle I guess since this seems to be a common weakpoint of the fender headstock design and I see that hipshot make a 3 string retainer which might be a solution albeit not in any way inkeeping with the original fender look.

The other culprit might be the nut itself, though I'm confused as to how it works just fine with roundwounds of the same gauge but has trouble only with the flatwound A string. Having said that I would be happiest if it was as simple as a new nut because this won't be change the look of the bass.

Thanks in advance for any tips

Edited January 11, 2012 by DoesThisBassLookBigOnMe

[Ancient Mariner]

IIRC there was an unrelated thread about the authenticity of a Fender bass up for sale that had 2 string trees on the headstock. The reason suggested was to deal with buzz on the A string. It might therefore be solved by fitting a string tree for the A.

[DoesThisBassLookBigOnMe]

Hmm. OK Thanks for that anecdote. Unfortunately it kind of backs up the route I least want to take. I think I'll be best off having it checked out at a luthier but in the meanwhile I've unwound the A string and put just the smallest amount of it into the hole in the string post so that I can have even more of a wind on the tuning post. This has quietened the buzz slightly but not completely eliminated it. I'll probably try put the roundwounds back on and see what happens before I give up and take it to someone who knows what they're doing and might be able to cut a new nut or install a retainer for me though if it's the case that the bass dislikes flatwounds then I'd rather go back to rounds before defacing it. A good excuse to get a bass that can handle the flats I think!

Edited January 11, 2012 by DoesThisBassLookBigOnMe

[steve-bbb]

could be a duff string too - i have similar problem with an open D and nothing wrong with winding or break angle (even swapped it on a different bass and it causeded the exact same problem on a different bass

[DoesThisBassLookBigOnMe]

Hopefully a duff string could be ruled out by me swapping in different strings. Unfortunately I only have the one bass so can't try the strings on another. To add to the body of knowledge on this problem I have felt for vibration behind the nut on each of the strings and the A string vibrates very noticeably behind the nut. Not visibly like it does between nut and bridge, of course, but certainly quite strongly to touch. No other string vibrates nearly as much. If they do it's barely perceptable to touch aside from the usual headstock resonance.

Edited January 11, 2012 by DoesThisBassLookBigOnMe

[LawrenceH]

Rubber band around the headstock is my cheapskate, bodge suggestion!

[DoesThisBassLookBigOnMe]

Heh, I was leaning toward the same solution. Thanks for the input, Lawrence.

As an update to this I was out visiting a few music stores on the weekend and noticed the Sandberg basses make use of Hipshot's triple string tree gizmos thereby overcoming this problem straight out of the factory. Fender really ought to update their current crop of guitars or at least put out a thoroughly modern rethink of their basses as an option. By modern I'm not talking about fancy figured woods just embuing their products with some actual science that improves the standard instead of perpetuating silly falsehoods and then charging extra for them - such as the nitrocellulose vs poly finish story. I guess I'll have to look to Sandberg and others to lead the charge instead for now.

Edited January 16, 2012 by DoesThisBassLookBigOnMe