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Buzz vs Relief


wishface
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i found some feeler guages in town today so I'm going to have a proper go, John Carruthers recommends .15 inch. However i have read that fingerboard radius determines the standard. In my case .12 (source: the fender document I'm sure everyone's seen).

So what's the advice when you set the relief to that amount and you still get buzz?

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2 minutes ago, ped said:

As I said earlier you might have a/some dodgy fret(s) and it’ll need professional help. 

How high should frets be?

To my admittedly untrained eye, they don't seem uneven. Anyway, I can't do much about that until I can get it looked at so I'll do what I can

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56 minutes ago, wishface said:

How high should frets be?

To my admittedly untrained eye, they don't seem uneven. Anyway, I can't do much about that until I can get it looked at so I'll do what I can

You can’t tell by eye. You’re just going to have to take this somewhere to get the thing level and setup properly I think. Let us know how you get on...

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1 hour ago, ped said:

You can’t tell by eye. You’re just going to have to take this somewhere to get the thing level and setup properly I think. Let us know how you get on...

I didn't mean literally :D I meant using a straight edge to detet any abnormalities. I couldn't, but that doesn't mean there aren't any

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6 minutes ago, wishface said:

Can we confirm whether or not it's true that fret buzz in the upper register can be caused or is a symptom of excessive relief?

 

Well I don't think so, neck relief is in the middle of the neck so if you're fretting from, say, the 12th fret that'll be after the neck relief, hope that makes sense

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18 hours ago, wishface said:

i found some feeler guages in town today so I'm going to have a proper go, John Carruthers recommends .15 inch. However i have read that fingerboard radius determines the standard. In my case .12 (source: the fender document I'm sure everyone's seen).

So what's the advice when you set the relief to that amount and you still get buzz?

Ive been having a bit of trouble setting my Yamaha bass up to how i like it. Nothing wrong with it as such, just not comfortable.

I read as many set up guides as i could, and i have been setting my own basses up for years. What i found strange was that the more relief i had, and going by most of the guides say more is better for harder playing, the more fret buzz i would get abve the 6th fret. I play with a pick so fret buzz can be a bit more obvious, and although dont dig in to hard i can get a bit heavy handed.

Against my better judgment, i was going for .012 - .015 at he 8th fret, while trying to get the action down to 2.25(ish) at the 12th on the E. Most of the guides were saying this is needed if you play herder. In the past ive gone for .008 -.010 like in the Lakland video. In fact that video as been my reference point for years.

Now i have the perfect set up for me, and its at the Lakland settings of .008, with just over 2.25mm action.

My point of this long winded post, is that i was getting quite a bit of buzz when i was using the higher relief measurements, and although i dont go over the 12th most of the time it was in the upper part of the neck. I can now dig in a bit more and have a relatively low action. So yeah, tighten the truss rod beyond what you have it now and if the frets are fine i think its going to work. You have nothing to lose.

I found this PDF to be quite interesting, although as i said, i went against the advice and used a tighter relief.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kos2qqse8q1vdj2/Truss_Rods_Made_Easy.pdf?dl=0

 

Edited by dave_bass5
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38 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Ive been having a bit of trouble setting my Yamaha bass up to how i like it. Nothing wrong with it as such, just not comfortable.

I read as many set up guides as i could, and i have been setting my own basses up for years. What i found strange was that the more relief i had, and going by most of the guides say more is better for harder playing, the more fret buzz i would get abve the 6th fret. I play with a pick so fret buzz can be a bit more obvious, and although dont dig in to hard i can get a bit heavy handed.

Against my better judgment, i was going for .012 - .015 at he 8th fret, while trying to get the action down to 2.25(ish) at the 12th on the E. Most of the guides were saying this is needed if you play herder. In the past ive gone for .008 -.010 like in the Lakland video. In fact that video as been my reference point for years.

Now i have the perfect set up for me, and its at the Lakland settings of .008, with just over 2.25mm action.

My point of this long winded post, is that i was getting quite a bit of buzz when i was using the higher relief measurements, and although i dont go over the 12th most of the time it was in the upper part of the neck. I can now dig in a bit more and have a relatively low action. So yeah, tighten the truss rod beyond what you have it now and if the frets are fine i think its going to work. You have nothing to lose.

I found this PDF to be quite interesting, although as i said, i went against the advice and used a tighter relief.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kos2qqse8q1vdj2/Truss_Rods_Made_Easy.pdf?dl=0

 

In terms of numbers, is 2.25mm considered low action?

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51 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

well fender recommend 2.4mm so a bit low, but it depends on your style and how much fret buzz you're prepared to put up with

Yeah, its medium low rather than low IMO. I know a few players who play with a lighter touch and can get 2mm or just under.

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17 minutes ago, wishface said:

Can you achieve that with a ruler? Most people don't have (I assume) those specific radius measuring tools. Won't find them in B&Q!

Well if you have a ruler that is accurate enough then yes, you can. No need to be too specific, its all about how it feels rather absolute numbers. Once you get the E and maybe G in place just adjust to what feels comfortable.

I do find one of these cheap string action gauges very useful though.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Durable-String-Action-Measuring-Luthier/dp/B07CNY6HF2/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=string+set+up+tools&qid=1567524751&s=gateway&sr=8-9

After all the years ive been setting up my basses i recently got a set of cheap radius tools and found i have no need for them. Acton is a personal thing but as it happens i was already 95% there so left things alone.

 

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1 hour ago, wishface said:

is that for every string? 

Fender recommend 2.4mm for the E string down to 2mm for the G string.

I use a metal ruler and magnifying glass to measure string height, putting the ruler behind the string you're measuring helps a lot

Edited by PaulWarning
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