Fret buzz as a beginner

[lvrossem]

My first ever bass guitar (Ibanez GSR200B) just came in, and it came with some significant fret buzz/rattling on the top 4 frets. Possible fixes I've read go from "just give the truss rod nut a quarter turn" to "get some advanced measuring equipent and measure this and this and that" Any idea what kind of measurements these are? I assume it's related to the exact distance between strings and frets, which is specific per fret or sth? In any case, I've already found that all the frets are the same height using a credit card

[JJMotown]

Buzz from top 4 frets is one of two things.

 

1, the nut is cut too low (nut needs replacing or there is a superglue and baking soda trick, do a Google search for this).

 

2, neck has too much back bow (turn truss rod 1/4 turn from left to right facing the bass in upright position to resolve).

 

The other option is to change the strings to some higher in tension then your current ones.

Edited 8 hours ago by JJMotown

[RonC]

As @JJMotown mentioned, it’s probably too much backbow.

To check if it’s the nut simply press the string on the 2nd position and tap with your other hand right above the 1st fret. There has to be a little relief. When you hear a light “tick” when the string hits the fret then it’s okay. When it’s already pressed against the fret and you don’t hear the string hits the fret your nut is too low.

[Hellzero]

@JJMotown, your explanations about the adjustment of the trus rod are bit ambiguous, because if I follow your instructions, I'll tighten it even more, which is the opposite of what has to be done.

 

If the first frets are rattling, it very often means that the truss rod is too tightened, so release the tension by unscrewing it a tad bit is way more easy to understand, don't you think. 😉

 

So, to @lvrossem, first thing to do before going any further is to press the E string (as it's the easiest to see), with the bas on your thigh, at the first and last fret and check if there's any clearance (called relief) in the middle of these two points between the bottom of the strings and frets, and from there if there isn't, just slightly release the tension by unscrewing slightly the truss rod, retune and check again until there's a little clearance.

 

If it's still rattling, your nut is certainly cut too deep, so you can raise it by removing it (a small knock laterally will break the glue), gluing a bit of veneer wood under it, shaping it to fit the slot that you'll clean free of any glue residue and regluing it, then use @RonC method to check the depth of the nut grooves and adjust in consequence by filing them.

 

Otherwise, a fast, easy and reliable solution is to go to a luthier or a shop doing these adjustments and while you're at it change the poor quality strings and have a complete setup made.

 

Watch what they are doing, ask questions and learn how to do it yourself.

[Geek99]

Just get a suitable Allen key and give it successive quarter turns anti clock wise, retuning after each quarter turn 

I had exactly this problem in my acoustic bass. 

 

plenty of videos on the net but if you hold the thickest string at first and last fret and cannot see a small gap between the string and the 9th fret you have too much backbow 

 

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Geek99

[JJMotown]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

@JJMotown, your explanations about the adjustment of the trus rod are bit ambiguous, because if I follow your instructions, I'll tighten it even more, which is the opposite of what has to be done.

 

If the first frets are rattling, it very often means that the truss rod is too tightened, so release the tension by unscrewing it a tad bit is way more easy to understand, don't you think. 😉

 

So, to @lvrossem, first thing to do before going any further is to press the E string (as it's the easiest to see), with the bas on your thigh, at the first and last fret and check if there's any clearance (called relief) in the middle of these two points between the bottom of the strings and frets, and from there if there isn't, just slightly release the tension by unscrewing slightly the truss rod, retune and check again until there's a little clearance.

 

If it's still rattling, your nut is certainly cut too deep, so you can raise it by removing it (a small knock laterally will break the glue), gluing a bit of veneer wood under it, shaping it to fit the slot that you'll clean free of any glue residue and regluing it, then use @RonC method to check the depth of the nut grooves and adjust in consequence by filing them.

 

Otherwise, a fast, easy and reliable solution is to go to a luthier or a shop doing these adjustments and while you're at it change the poor quality strings and have a complete setup made.

 

Watch what they are doing, ask questions and learn how to do it yourself.

Nope, the truss rod is headstock end on the op ibanez, so my directions are correct to loosen the tension. If you were looking at the truss rod from the opposite direction, i.e. looking from headstock end down the neck to the body it'll be turning in opposite direction.

[Geek99]

Just go with anti-clockwise and keep it simple 

[lvrossem]

2 hours ago, RonC said:

As @JJMotown mentioned, it’s probably too much backbow.

To check if it’s the nut simply press the string on the 2nd position and tap with your other hand right above the 1st fret. There has to be a little relief. When you hear a light “tick” when the string hits the fret then it’s okay. When it’s already pressed against the fret and you don’t hear the string hits the fret your nut is too low.

doing this gives me the little tick at fret 1, but not at fret 3, which I think is the rattling fret

[RonC]

This method is only to check the nut.

if there’s a light tick at the 1st fret your nut is fine.

Fret 3 is no influence of this method.

i would now loosen the trussrod a bit, start with 1/4 of a turn (anti clockwise).

 

[lemmywinks]

You can do a limited fret and relief check without tools but a good quality notched straight edge and fret rocker are extremely useful.

 

Press down on the first fret and also on the fret close to the neck heel where it joins the body, then check the gap between the string and 8th/9th fret. That will tell you if you have too much relief, a small gap is fine.

 

Then play up the neck on every fret (on every string) to see if you encounter buzzing on certain frets, the problematic on will usually be the next one along when you get buzzing.

 

 

Some more troubleshooting if your relief is ok and frets are level:

-Put your ear close to the tuners to check if isn't comong from them.

-Make sure the string windings around the tuner posts are low enough to give sufficient downwards pressure over the nut.

-Check the nut slots are cut correctly, not too wide etc. They may be the correct height but a poorly cut nut can be problematic.

[PaulThePlug]

How hard, and how are you plucking the strings?

Pic or Finger?

If finger pushing the string up/down, rather than in - out.

Try a lighter touch, fret buzz still there?

[RonC]

I see you live in Belgium, I live in the Netherlands close to the Belgium border (Weert). So maybe it’s not too far away, I’m happy to do a proper setup for you. 
Otherwise, there are quite a lot of good luthiers in Belgium who can do this for you.

Edited 2 hours ago by RonC

[lvrossem]

my dad is a far handier guy than I am, he says he understands the problem and will adjust the truss rod when he gets home 😅 (I really don't trust myself with stuff like that)

 

[lvrossem]

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Edited 2 hours ago by lvrossem
forgot to quote

[lvrossem]

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Edited 2 hours ago by lvrossem
forgot to quote

[lvrossem]

50 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

How hard, and how are you plucking the strings?

Pic or Finger?

If finger pushing the string up/down, rather than in - out.

Try a lighter touch, fret buzz still there?

finger, trying both soft and hard, buzzing stays

38 minutes ago, RonC said:

I see you live in Belgium, I live in the Netherlands close to the Belgium border (Weert). So maybe it’s not too far away, I’m happy to do a proper setup for you. 
Otherwise, there are quite a lot of good luthiers in Belgium who can do this for you.

thank you for the nice offer, but I'm afraid I can't quite make the trip right now (carless atm)

[Hellzero]

3 hours ago, JJMotown said:

Nope, the truss rod is headstock end on the op ibanez, so my directions are correct to loosen the tension. If you were looking at the truss rod from the opposite direction, i.e. looking from headstock end down the neck to the body it'll be turning in opposite direction.

Urm, urm, if you turn from left to right wherever you are, you are turning clockwise, which means tightening the truss rod, so exactly the opposite, except if it's a left thread, which is quite rare these days.

[Hellzero]

That said @lvrossem, I'm in Belgium too, in the deep South (La Gaume) a few kilometres away from Luxemburg. Who knows...

[JJMotown]

38 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Urm, urm, if you turn from left to right wherever you are, you are turning clockwise, which means tightening the truss rod, so exactly the opposite, except if it's a left thread, which is quite rare these days.

OK, so I've added a diagram to spell it out as simple as possible...

 

1, facing the bass

2, turn left (E tuner side) to right (G tuner side on an ibanez) to loosen truss rod.

 

Same a diagram below...

 

[Hellzero]

Your instructions are "correct" with a drawing, but I hope you're not into anything implying direction or mechanic @JJMotown as your instructions would be a total mess.

 

Use simple terms like clockwise or anticlockwise.

 

This is also the same problem with people talking about front and rear pickups instead of bridge and neck pickups, because I have never seen a pickup at the back of an instrument...