Quick neck relief question

[Linus27]

Just got my bass back from my luthier who always does an amazing job. However, it's a newish bass and the strings are just buzzing ever so slightly on a few frets on each string. I could raise the strings via the bridge but I'm wondering if a little bit of neck relief via the truss rod is a better option. I don't want to start fiddling too much as the bass plays amazing but I would like to get rid of the fret buzz. I don't have time to take back to the luthier as always gigging and I would like to sort myself if possible as it's only minor.

What do you think guys?

 

[nilebodgers]

How much relief has it got at the moment?

[gary mac]

2 hours ago, nilebodgers said:

How much relief has it got at the moment?

This, plus which frets are buzzing, first few, middle or twelve fret and  beyond?

[rmorris]

3 hours ago, gary mac said:

This, plus which frets are buzzing, first few, middle or twelve fret and  beyond?

+1

This is the important thing to know.

[Linus27]

Not sure about how much relief it has as not expert on this but it's only the 5th fret that's buzzing ever so slightly on a few strings. All the other frets are fine.

[Norris]

Maybe it's just a high fret, but a tad more relief should help as it's towards the middle of the neck. You may want to take it back to your tech when you have the opportunity to see if the fret is a little high.

[rmorris]

Sounds like a fret issue to me if it's only one fretted position showing the problem and on all strings.

Disclaimer: I tend to favour minimal relief and minimum fret buzz.

[dyerseve]

20 hours ago, Linus27 said:

Not sure about how much relief it has as not expert on this but it's only the 5th fret that's buzzing ever so slightly on a few strings. All the other frets are fine.

is it buzzing on the 5th fret or when you fret the 5th fret. the difference being it could be buzzing behind where you are fretting - to see if this is the case fret the 5th with your pinky or ring finger then use the middle and index to mute the string behind the 5th fret. if this stops the buzzing then the nut could have been cut too low. more relief will help but  it is not the correct solution to the problem IMO

[Grangur]

On 12/02/2018 at 22:49, Linus27 said:

Just got my bass back from my luthier who always does an amazing job. However, it's a newish bass and the strings are just buzzing ever so slightly on a few frets on each string. I could raise the strings via the bridge but I'm wondering if a little bit of neck relief via the truss rod is a better option. I don't want to start fiddling too much as the bass plays amazing but I would like to get rid of the fret buzz. I don't have time to take back to the luthier as always gigging and I would like to sort myself if possible as it's only minor.

What do you think guys?

Sorry Mate, but that's a contradiction.  He either does a good job, or the frets are buzzing. You can't have both.

Don't know what he had it for, but if it needs adjustment it would have taken nothing to do it. If the frets need leveling, he should have called you and got your agreement to do it while he had it.

[Marc S]

4 minutes ago, Grangur said:

Sorry Mate, but that's a contradiction.  He either does a good job, or the frets are buzzing. You can't have both.

Don't know what he had it for, but if it needs adjustment it would have taken nothing to do it. If the frets need leveling, he should have called you and got your agreement to do it while he had it.

Yes, I think I'd go back to your luthier and ask what the problem is
Perhaps get him to tweak it a little, while you wait? That way you can be sure you've got an action / set-up you're happy with
and if you both agree that a fret / one or two frets need attention - then you'll know what the problem is

[MoonBassAlpha]

It's easy enough to check if it's one fret that's high. Just use a credit card and see if it rocks on the suspected high fret and the two either side of it. It shouldn't rock even slightly. Use either the short or long side of the card depending on where the fret is you're checking, so that it only spans the two frets either side of the one you're checking.

[dyerseve]

17 hours ago, Grangur said:

Sorry Mate, but that's a contradiction.  He either does a good job, or the frets are buzzing. You can't have both.

Don't know what he had it for, but if it needs adjustment it would have taken nothing to do it. If the frets need leveling, he should have called you and got your agreement to do it while he had it.

Not necessarily IMO. The OP may play with a very heavy hand in which case the frets will buzz even though the luthier may have set the action low yet without buzz to suit most playing styles.

I set my own basses up with as low action as possible without buzz. however, if im getting really carried away and really dig in I will get fret buzz.

[Lozz196]

Yep, can def depend on the player - the luthier I take my basses to can get the action ridiculously low, and for someone who plays unlike a cave-man it must be great, but for my style both action has to be raised, neck relief put in and pickups lowered in order for me to play the way I do.

[Linus27]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Thought I would add some more details in case you wanted to keep discussing.

The bass went in for a re-string and setup and anything else that was needed. All that was required was some neck adjustment as it was bowing a little bit and saddle height adjustment. Upon collection I played the bass and it was fine with no buzzing. The buzzing only appeared the following night in the sound check at the gig I was playing. I did raise the saddles on each string a quarter turn which did improve things a little but some minor fret buzz was present and the reason for my first post. I tried the bass a few days after and some minor fret buzzing still. A week later, the buzzing has now gone completely so maybe the neck needed to settle some more but its all ok now. I did also try the credit card over the frets and they were flat so no high fret.

Thanks for all your help everyone.

[LITTLEWING]

FWIW, I had a brand new cheapy Epiphone Toby as a gigging spare and even after getting it set how I wanted there was one buzzy fret. Had a fiddle with some fine emery and wire wool and it nearly disappeared but showed up when I was digging in. I don't know what strings it came with but I chucked on a set of Rotosounds when they died and straight away the buzz had totally vanished. Could well be the brand of strings you had fitted. 

[MoonBassAlpha]

Good point - I'm sure fret buzz is more noticeable when the strings are new, as the fret rattle has more high frequency content. Nobody will hear it when the band is rockin out anyhow!

[LITTLEWING]

5 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

Good point - I'm sure fret buzz is more noticeable when the strings are new, as the fret rattle has more high frequency content. Nobody will hear it when the band is rockin out anyhow!

True dat, MBA!

[mcnach]

On 2/14/2018 at 15:46, Grangur said:

Sorry Mate, but that's a contradiction.  He either does a good job, or the frets are buzzing. You can't have both.

Don't know what he had it for, but if it needs adjustment it would have taken nothing to do it. If the frets need leveling, he should have called you and got your agreement to do it while he had it.

 

Not necessarily.

It could be set up the way the tech likes it, and he plays with a light touch... then someone comes with a harder style and it'll buzz... so it may need just a slightly higher action. If adjusting this seems complicated then it's important that the tech knows how you like it. I used to bring another instrument as an example, or find one of the ones in the workshop to say "like that"... now I do it myself, mostly because I got frustrated not having the exact setup I wanted, so I learnt.

Or it was set up in a certain environment, and then the customer at home has a very different level of humidity which changes things... This is particularly common with basses shipped from otehr countries that may be set up nicely but when they arrive they buzz or seem to have too much relief. This only requires a slight tweak of the truss rod. 

However, a later post indicating the issue is mostly on one fret seems to indicate that there's some fret levelling to be done, and if a bass was returned without it... that would not be a good job, I agree with that.

[Linus27]

Can I just add that I'm not sure it is a case of fret levelling and maybe a case of new strings or some kind of settling in process as the buzzing went away on its own after a week.