wzz890831 Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Dear BCers, I bought a musicman caprice few month back and here is the issue I have: I have the neck set straight, the string have more than enough height on the board, standard EB string and standard tuning. When I play higher than 14th fret it start to buzz, I mean every position after 14th until the very last note. I'm not a pro but I'v been play for few years and never have such issue with my other basses. I'm living in China now (was studied in the UK for 6 years) and the dealer in China was a total d**k and refuse to help, so here I'm looking for any help or adv BCer can give me, was I'm being a total noob about how to setup my bass? Cheers, Otis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Fret buzz in the upper registers normally indicates the need for a straighter neck (less relief) but if you say that the neck is already straight and the string height is adjusted appropriately then perhaps your frets are not quite level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wzz890831 Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 Thanks for your reply Muppet, I do think might be the frets level issue but everyone I talk to they say the musicman has the best quality in the massive production range. Should I polish the fret my self? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan63 Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 what actually is the neck relief measurement and the string height ? are the 5 neck bolts tight ? this is Musicman's set up info https://www.music-man.com/faq#category2, scroll down to basses, which is a little different to Fender's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Was this problem there from day one? Assuming it was but keeping in mind that it can be difficult to diagnose without actually seeing the instrument, up close. If you definitely have the relief and string height/action otherwise correct, then I would suspect that the frets from around the 14th onwards, require levelling with a slight fall away. A job I have had to do on a fair few customer's instruments. Fairly straightforward with the correct tools and a careful approach, if you have neither, then take it to a guitar tech/luthier. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wzz890831 Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 47 minutes ago, gary mac said: Was this problem there from day one? Thanks for the reply gary mac, and yes, from day one. Since the bass was shipped from 1000 miles away, I wasn't surprised if there is a buzz or action problem. But since the time passed by, it bother me a lot once I started to like how the bass sounded. I will see if I can find a tech or luthier around me but I feel real bad about the after sale service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wzz890831 Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 1 hour ago, Aidan63 said: what actually is the neck relief measurement and the string height ? are the 5 neck bolts tight ? Thanks for the reply, I didn't have to tools to measure the height but I'm sure I know how to setup the bass. I will double check the bolts tonight once I get back to home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 18 minutes ago, wzz890831 said: Thanks for the reply, I didn't have to tools to measure the height but I'm sure I know how to setup the bass. I will double check the bolts tonight once I get back to home. If you are confident in removing the neck, it would be worth checking that the neck pocket is clean and debris free , so that the neck can be seated properly in the pocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 15 hours ago, wzz890831 said: Thanks for your reply Muppet, I do think might be the frets level issue but everyone I talk to they say the musicman has the best quality in the massive production range. Should I polish the fret my self? If you're asking these questions, the answer is probably no. You need to identify the problem for sure before you start removing metal from frets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 13 hours ago, wzz890831 said: Thanks for the reply gary mac, and yes, from day one. Since the bass was shipped from 1000 miles away, I wasn't surprised if there is a buzz or action problem. But since the time passed by, it bother me a lot once I started to like how the bass sounded. I will see if I can find a tech or luthier around me but I feel real bad about the after sale service. Then I'd definitely stay away from 'destructive' techniques until you're absolutely certain that you identified the problem, as Musicman do tend to ensure the fretwork is perfect. Errors can happen, of course, which is why I don't want to say it can't be that... but I'd be cautious. Best option would be to find a local guitar tech who knows what they're doing. It's very difficult to diagnose these issues at a distance based only on a few responses. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyerseve Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 On 03/01/2019 at 06:30, wzz890831 said: Dear BCers, I bought a musicman caprice few month back and here is the issue I have: I have the neck set straight, the string have more than enough height on the board, standard EB string and standard tuning. When I play higher than 14th fret it start to buzz, I mean every position after 14th until the very last note. I'm not a pro but I'v been play for few years and never have such issue with my other basses. I'm living in China now (was studied in the UK for 6 years) and the dealer in China was a total d**k and refuse to help, so here I'm looking for any help or adv BCer can give me, was I'm being a total noob about how to setup my bass? Cheers, Otis Otis, can you confirm, do you mean the buzz is present from the 14th fret to the 21st fret(or however many frets your bass has) or from the 1st fret to the 14th? If it's 14-21 then it will be the action at the bridge you need to adjust not the relief in the neck. If it's 1-14 then you will need to check if the buzzing is occuring on the nut side of the note that you are fretting or the body side. If the buzzing is towards the nut(ie. behind the note you are playing) then the action at the nut is too low. If the buzzing is occuring towards the body(ie in front of the note you are playing) then increasing the relief in the neck will help. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wzz890831 Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 On 04/01/2019 at 21:10, dyerseve said: Otis, can you confirm, do you mean the buzz is present from the 14th fret to the 21st fret(or however many frets your bass has) or from the 1st fret to the 14th? If it's 14-21 then it will be the action at the bridge you need to adjust not the relief in the neck. Hello Dyerseve, many thanks for your reply. the 1st to 14th has no issue. From 14th to 18th if I play light enough it can be voice but 18th to 20th buzz really bad can not be avoid. If I rise the bridge side, the string height will be really high, but I will try to do that alone with some adj with neck. Once again, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 On 03/01/2019 at 09:44, gary mac said: Was this problem there from day one? Assuming it was but keeping in mind that it can be difficult to diagnose without actually seeing the instrument, up close. If you definitely have the relief and string height/action otherwise correct, then I would suspect that the frets from around the 14th onwards, require levelling with a slight fall away. A job I have had to do on a fair few customer's instruments. Fairly straightforward with the correct tools and a careful approach, if you have neither, then take it to a guitar tech/luthier. Sounds about right to me. 'Ski Jump' condition near where neck meets body ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wzz890831 Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 Thanks to everyone who has replied. I find a guy and got the problem fixed, the issue was last few frets a poped out a little, hard to see in eyes but now the bass plays fine. Still whizzed at the musicman's QC and shitty dealer though. Best, Otis 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.