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Advice about adjusting the neck on my bass


Naetharu
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Hi folks,

I'm after a little help. My bass is making a rather nasty buzzing noise when I play the lower (E and A) strings from about the 7th to the 11th fret. Given how hot its been over the past few days I'm guessing that the neck may have moved a little and it will need to be adjusted to compensate.

I've never done this before and I'm a little nervous about how to go about doing so. I've had a read around the internet but I would appreciate some solid guidelines to follow from someone here as I trust you folks a lot more than some random website / you-tuber who may or may not know what they are talking about.

Best wishes

James

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As the hot spell isn't meant to last very long I'd leave adjusting it for a few days & see what happens. If you adjust it now you might well just have to adjust it back again soon anyway.

Does the buzz actually come through the amp or does it just sound like that when you play the bass acoustically?

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If you have to do this, for one make sure you`ve got the right tools, and for two, write down whatever adjustments you make.

From there, well with the truss rod just loosen it off slightly, a quarter of a turn. Which way, I hear you ask? Well lefty-loosey, righty-tighty is the way to remember, so anti-clockwise to out some relief in the neck and hopefully stop this. But it takes a while to settle, so if it hasn`t worked instantly leave for at least a few hours - may well settle in.

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It sounds like a combination of a low action and a little too much relief so I agree it probably needs tightening and possibly the action adjusted. Best way to check for relief is to fret a string at the first fret and the topmost fret and see if the string has just enough room to vibrate a tiny bit.

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[quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1435668564' post='2811164']
Hi folks,

I'm after a little help. My bass is making a rather nasty buzzing noise when I play the lower (E and A) strings from about the 7th to the 11th fret. Given how hot its been over the past few days I'm guessing that the neck may have moved a little and it will need to be adjusted to compensate.

I've never done this before and I'm a little nervous about how to go about doing so. I've had a read around the internet but I would appreciate some solid guidelines to follow from someone here as I trust you folks a lot more than some random website / you-tuber who may or may not know what they are talking about.

Best wishes

James
[/quote]

I wouldn't necessarily be adjusting the truss rod for a change in the weather. This is England.

You say it's a 'rather nasty buzzing'. Just how 'nasty' is that? Some people like a bit of fret rattle but I hate it. But I would raise the bridge saddles a smidge before I started playing with the truss rod for the weather.

But for a reliable guide check out Carl Pedigo ex-Lakland luthier:

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIzV9462xeE&list=PLDECE612F2206994F"]https://www.youtube....ECE612F2206994F[/url]

Edited by EssentialTension
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Buzzing in the middle of the neck to me sounds like you just need a bit higher action but I'd ideally check the relief by holding the strings down to use as a straight edge (there are various ways of doing this). You usually find that fret buzz near the nut is a consequence of too little relief and fret buzz at the body end is too much relief whereas fret buzz in the middle of the neck is usually due to the action set too low - the thing is, if it's developed recently it probably is the change in weather affecting the neck but as has been suggested, you could be chasing this backwards and forwards until we get a more settled spell of weather. Without being able to measure the relief I'd be inclined to raise the saddles a hair and see if it improves.

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What strings are you using?

For medium gauge, stainless hex-cores you should be aiming at a relief of around 12 thou (depressing first and last frets, measuring BOTH E side and G side).
If you're heavy handed and don't like rattle - any rattle at all - , then maybe around 16-30 thou.

Buzzing at 7-11 suggests your relief is too much. You need to go flatter. However, have you sighted the neck? Bass necks are notorious for bumps, ski-ramps, goosenecks, s-curves, ... you name it, i;ve seen it, and 80% of basses have some form of these.

What is your action at 12th fret across all strings?

We need a lot more info to be able to provide the right diagnosis... and even then, we'd probably need photos too!

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Hi folks,

Many thanks for all the feedback - sorry for being slow to get back to you - work as been keeping me busy for the past day or so.

I've checked the neck and it looks straight to me, but its quite hard to be sure. I'm going to get my guitarist friend to have a look too when I seem him tomorrow. As to the height of the strings, when I fret at the 1st and 24th there is just enough space to allow the string to vibrate.

I don't think the action is especially low on the bass - it feels about the same as my Squire P-Bass.

I loosened the truss rod 1/4 turn and that seems to have resolved the issue. The bass strings are very bright (brand new steel wound strings) so there is a certain amount of noise but its not the nasty buzz that was there before. Prior to the truss rod move the sound was overwhelming and came though the amp where as now the bass sounds fine from what I can tell.

Out of interest, does anyone know a good place in Essex that I could go for a quality set-up?

Best wishes

James

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[quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1435856073' post='2813118']
I'm in Burnham on Crouch ( kind of between Southend and Chelmsford) - I've only lived here a few months having moved down from York, so I'm not too sure about how easy it is to get to places from here yet.
[/quote] 41 Miles (1hr 14) for me.

I don't know if Paul's guy would do it. If you can wait I will be coming your way in about a month and I could do it when I come. I'd do it sooner, but I'm going away.

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