Annoying sound - and not just my playing ( hopefully !)

[thunderbird13]

Started to play around with my DB over the weekend and I noticed that its making an annoying buzzing sound when I play the F and F# on the E string., it almost sounds like fret buzz but obviously thats not the case !I thought it might be me not just putting enough pressure on the stop but even when I push as hard as I can it still makes a buzz and its only on the E string everything else is OK
I have nylon strings fitted ( I think they're weedwacker but they came with the bass so I cant be certain). I tried playing around with the adjustable bridge but it didnt seem to make much of a difference. Anyine got any ideas bad technique, doddgy fretboard, bad strings ? Since I'm trying to learn rockabilly slap its not that big a deal but it would be nice to know I could fix it

[TheRev]

Could be a lot of things-
Fingering: make sure you're using the tip of your finger rather than the pad as that will give you a cleaner note.
String height: If the nut slot is too low, the string will buzz against the board. You can raise the string with a bit of card in the slot and see if the buzzing goes away.
Fingerboard re-shoot: there should be a slight dip carved into the fingerboard to allow the stopped string room to vibrate. If this is the case, you'll need to have the fingerboard re-shot by a luthier.

My money is on the fingering technique - if I haven't played my Eminence (which has higher tension strings than my regular bass) for a while I get loads of buzz on the E string. 30 minutes spent on my left hand technique sorts it out.

[artisan]

Check your tuning pegs,my bass developed a rattle but only when i played an A.
Turned out to be the A string tuning peg which was fixed in about 2 seconds,took me a week to realise what was rattling though.

[zero9]

If the nut slot is cut too deep, buzzing normally occurs when playing the open strings. If buzzing only occurs when you play the F and F#, this suggests the following possible causes (in my experience):

1. Bad technique - you mention you have weedwackers, these strings are very soft low tension (look transparent) and shouldn't require much 'effort' to get a 'clean' note.
2. There's a bump in the fingerboard - quite likely, in which case, check with a straight edge and get a luthier to sort.
3. Resonance, usually from the endpin inside the body - if this is the case, there should be a buzz when you play F/F# in other positions. If this is the case, pull the endpin further out (or move it further in), which will change the resonant frequency.

Hope this helps

Edited April 2, 2013 by zero9

[thunderbird13]

Thanks for the replies , TBH I played around with everything last night and its still buzzing. I'm beginning to think its the fingerboard which might be causing it. Might need someone to have a look - dont suppose anyone knows a double bass fixer in SE London area ?

[Clarky]

Not SE London but would South London be close enough? If you can get to Clapham, Laurence Dixon is excellent, details here http://basschat.co.uk/topic/194067-contact-details-for-excellent-london-based-db-luthier-laurence-dixon/page__p__1899529__hl__laurence%20dixon__fromsearch__1#entry1899529

Edited April 3, 2013 by Clarky

[ubassman]

When you hold down the F# is the buzzing coming above where you are stopping the string i.e. on the nut side or below where you are stopping the string i.e. the bridge side of the string?

[thunderbird13]

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1365146696' post='2035838']
When you hold down the F# is the buzzing coming above where you are stopping the string i.e. on the nut side or below where you are stopping the string i.e. the bridge side of the string?
[/quote]

As far as my ears can make out its the on the bridge side so I'm assuming that its the fingerboard thats uneven.One thing that I noticed is that if I look at the bass whilst its lying on ita back and look down the fingerboard towards the nut the fingerboard profile is curved up to the A string then it seems to straighten out on the E string . Not sure I've described it very well will see if I can get a photo when I'm back home

The other thing is its a cheap bass I picked up on ebay so I'm not suprised that its not perfect

[ubassman]

More modern cheap basses can have pretty poor quality fingerboards and you can end up going round and round in circles ! ( Antoni is renowned for having softwood fingerboards ...which moves all the time !). It one of those things that seasonally all basses buzz from time to time but if your adjusters don't cure the problem then it might be that the only resort is to get a luthier to have a look and 'shoot' the fingerboard ....or if its a rubbish fingerboard get it replaced.

As a guide the maximum amplitude of the string will be at the just above the D stop position at the octave harmonic. What happens when you stop the octave on the E string and compare it with the others?

[thunderbird13]

I decided to bit the bullet and take the bass to a proper grown up to have a look. He confirmed that it was the fingerboard that needed fixing and quoted me a very reasonable price so hopefully thats sort. if he does a decent job is there a thread here to recommend luthers for DB as couldnt see one ?

[zero9]

Sounds like a good idea to start a DB luthier thread. Useful to list them by area also. I've been using one near Peterborough for set-ups and the like with good results.

[Clarky]

agreed, I will start the ball rolling