Mr Fudge Posted March 18, 2008 Posted March 18, 2008 Q1. I have recently purchased, and am delighted with a Marcus Miller jazz. However Im experiencing a few neck problems. There is a little bit of movement which is causing some fret buzzing. The movement is hard to explain but with prolonged playing the neck moves back towards me and its low action means that the frets buzz. It did not happen when I bought it and I have restrung it with slightly lighter guage strings and it didn't happen then either. Obviously I will be taking it back for someone to have a look at. I wondered if anyone had any ideas. I know its a 3 bolt and my US is a 4 bolt and I've never experienced any of these probs before basses or guitars. Q2. I love the maple board and the c shape of my mm jazz. I love my '97 US jazz (rosewood board). Im now thinking of getting a maple neck, c shape for my US jazz. It doesn't matter what make as long as it's the business and obviously a great player. I imagine I will never sell these basses so its purely for my playing preference. Cheers. Quote
steve-soar Posted March 18, 2008 Posted March 18, 2008 Slacken off your truss rod by a quarter of a turn, no more and then check. It may take a while to have any effect but wait at least a couple of hours, if this hasn't had an effect, before trying another quarter turn. You say that it didn't make a difference at first when you put the lighter strings on, necks can take a long time to settle after a gague change. Keep me informed Cheers Steve. Quote
Jase Posted March 18, 2008 Posted March 18, 2008 Just wondering, does the Marcus bass have that neck tilt adjustment, like other 3 bolt Fenders?...Just a thought Quote
gafbass02 Posted March 18, 2008 Posted March 18, 2008 sometimes i find this and its because im unconciously applying back pressure to the neck as im playing due to the height/position of my bass Quote
Mr Fudge Posted March 18, 2008 Author Posted March 18, 2008 thanks all so far! Jase what is the tilt adjustment? This sounds a possibility. Would I need to get a 4 bolt plate? Quote
Jase Posted March 18, 2008 Posted March 18, 2008 [quote name='Mr Fudge' post='159629' date='Mar 18 2008, 02:09 PM']thanks all so far! Jase what is the tilt adjustment? This sounds a possibility. Would I need to get a 4 bolt plate?[/quote] This type of thing: [attachment=6582:tilt.jpg] Quote
Mr Fudge Posted March 18, 2008 Author Posted March 18, 2008 Sorry I couldnt enlarge the picture. Added with my ignorance. Could you please expain a bit further Jase. Cheers. Quote
Jase Posted March 18, 2008 Posted March 18, 2008 [quote name='Mr Fudge' post='159698' date='Mar 18 2008, 03:40 PM']Sorry I couldnt enlarge the picture. Added with my ignorance. Could you please expain a bit further Jase. Cheers.[/quote] Have a look at this, when you mentioned the Marcus has a 3 bolt neck I thought maybe if it did have a micro tilt then perhaps it could help your problem [url="http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/El_Guitar_Neck_Angle.htm"]http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/El_Guitar_Neck_Angle.htm[/url] Quote
Mr Fudge Posted March 18, 2008 Author Posted March 18, 2008 Thanks Jase. You are absolutely right the MM does have the micro tilt and that article offers some other good advice. cheer mate I owe you one. Quote
Jase Posted March 19, 2008 Posted March 19, 2008 [quote name='Mr Fudge' post='159926' date='Mar 18 2008, 09:06 PM']Thanks Jase. You are absolutely right the MM does have the micro tilt and that article offers some other good advice. cheer mate I owe you one.[/quote] Tidy!! Hope you solve your problem. Love a Fender waffle me Quote
Mr Fudge Posted March 19, 2008 Author Posted March 19, 2008 Day 2. Thanks for all the replies. I have tweeked the micro tilt and now A, D and G strings are great. E stills has a nasty buzz. I did the obvious and raised the bridge saddles a little but this meant that the 4 strings combined lost that slight arch profile and it did not feel right. What I want to do now is sort the E string out but what would I tweek next. Steve-Soar above mentioned slackening off the truss rod a quarter turn. Would it help the above? I have only had the bass a month and may yet take it back and ask them to set it up again free of charge. I think that would be a fair request. I would like to sort it out though and gain some knowledge. I have this burning ambition of putting together my own bass one of these days. Since joining basschat I have changed a scratchplate, fitted a JEast preamp and now I'm tweeking necks. Where will it end? Thanks again in anticipation of advise. Quote
Jase Posted March 19, 2008 Posted March 19, 2008 [quote name='Mr Fudge' post='160174' date='Mar 19 2008, 11:37 AM']Day 2. Thanks for all the replies. I have tweeked the micro tilt and now A, D and G strings are great. E stills has a nasty buzz. I did the obvious and raised the bridge saddles a little but this meant that the 4 strings combined lost that slight arch profile and it did not feel right. What I want to do now is sort the E string out but what would I tweek next. Steve-Soar above mentioned slackening off the truss rod a quarter turn. Would it help the above? I have only had the bass a month and may yet take it back and ask them to set it up again free of charge. I think that would be a fair request. I would like to sort it out though and gain some knowledge. I have this burning ambition of putting together my own bass one of these days. Since joining basschat I have changed a scratchplate, fitted a JEast preamp and now I'm tweeking necks. Where will it end? Thanks again in anticipation of advise.[/quote] I know what you mean with the vintage radius (7.25") I've spent a bit of time tweaking my 62 Jazz, almost there If you haven't already seen the link below, have a look, it gives the factory set up measurements for neck relief with a 7.25" radius [url="http://www.fender.com/support/basses.php"]Fender Bass set up[/url] If in doubt though, whip it back to the shop, see if they'll do a set up, good luck. Quote
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