Buzz vs Relief

[wishface]

my old bass has no relief at all and yet no buzz whatsoever. How is it that some basses can have buzz while others can exist with the straightest neck and no real clearance without buzzing

[dave_bass5]

29 minutes ago, wishface said:

my old bass has no relief at all and yet no buzz whatsoever. How is it that some basses can have buzz while others can exist with the straightest neck and no real clearance without buzzing

It only takes one slightly high fret to cause a string to buzz.

[wishface]

Ignore the issue of frets for the sake of argument...

[dave_bass5]

16 minutes ago, wishface said:

Ignore the issue of frets for the sake of argument...

Ok

[wishface]

Is there an easy way to measure whether the frets are uniform that can be done at home?

[dave_bass5]

Sorry, can’t talk about them 😂

[Stub Mandrel]

Playing style has a big effect on fret buzz.

If you pluck hard near the bridge the string will vibrate with a lot of harmonics, so more vibration near the ends, and be more likely to buzz than if you are gently plopping the strings near the end of the neck.

Some buzz won't come out when amplified, some will, more noticeable with pups near the bridge.

[MoonBassAlpha]

On 07/09/2019 at 18:00, wishface said:

Is there an easy way to measure whether the frets are uniform that can be done at home?

I use a plastic credit card as a fret rocker. Straddling 3 frets at a time only, the long side does the lower frets, and then switch to the short side as the frets get closer together. You should rock at the bass and treble sides of each fret, and the middle for good measure. High frets will often be at the edges and less so in the middle.

Hope this helps!

[nilebodgers]

On 07/09/2019 at 18:30, Stub Mandrel said:

Playing style has a big effect on fret buzz.

If you pluck hard near the bridge the string will vibrate with a lot of harmonics, so more vibration near the ends, and be more likely to buzz than if you are gently plopping the strings near the end of the neck.

Some buzz won't come out when amplified, some will, more noticeable with pups near the bridge.

Good point. A lot of online discussion of setup parameters ignores this completely - a vibrating string has to have room to vibrate.

I can get down to about 2mm at the 17th fret without significant buzzing (on a neck with perfectly level frets and about 0.3mm relief), but that's the lowest I can go due to my inherent heavy-handedness.

[wishface]

12 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

I use a plastic credit card as a fret rocker. Straddling 3 frets at a time only, the long side does the lower frets, and then switch to the short side as the frets get closer together. You should rock at the bass and treble sides of each fret, and the middle for good measure. High frets will often be at the edges and less so in the middle.

Hope this helps!

That's what i've been doing, and I don't see any issues. FWIW. I suppose the edge of a credit card could have discrepancies that affect a reading, but everything seems fine. 

[wishface]

I wonder just how much of the difference we (if) perceive, when adjusting action, is actually imagined? Sometimes it feels as if the string is now uncomfortable lower/higher and yet the measured difference is negligible.

[dave_bass5]

12 minutes ago, wishface said:

I wonder just how much of the difference we (if) perceive, when adjusting action, is actually imagined? Sometimes it feels as if the string is now uncomfortable lower/higher and yet the measured difference is negligible.

Totally get this. Ive been agonising over getting the action just right on my Yamaha P34. I can get 2mm on my Fender P, but only 2.25mm on the P34. Nothing in it at all in the real world, and yet it feels difference, or at least i think it does. In my case its probably two things. I Shim all my necks, the the strings run parallel to the fret board. I haven't done this with the P34 so visually it looks 'wrong',  and the necks feel different anyway, so that too will contribute to my string OCD.