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Help! Fret buzz with new strings ??

TWISTEDSTRINGS

TWISTEDSTRINGS

Active member
Joined
Feb 10, 2013
Messages
37
Location
Brooklyn
When I installed new strings on my newer SR4 I started to get a lot of fret buzz from above the twelfth fret. The EBMM strings that came with it were to bright sounding for what we play. I could`t get the buzz out so I had a tech look at it and he only made it worse, so I reset it to the factory specs. I was wondering if anyone has had the same problem when they change string brands or size and use alternative setup specs(been using the specs on the EBMM site). When I try to get the buzz out, the action is way to high(16/64). Any suggestions ? I use a couple different string dia. like(i have a new set of flats(rotosound) in this size on it now) .45-.65-.85-.105 and .55-.70-.90-.110(Elixir roundwound) could that be a issue ?
 
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If your truss rod is cranked to handle the 55-110 Elixers,
and then you switch to the 45-105 Rotos, the neck will go
flatter, due to the drop in string tension with the 45-105s.
It is not clear by your post whether you have re-adjusted
the truss rod to account for this ....

You do not state where the buzz is provoked. Truss rods
govern neck relief, and if buzz is caused by too little relief
[aka neck too flat] it will be provoked in the low range.

If it were a saddle height problem, it would happen in the
high range. Acoarst, these are not mutually exclusive ...
you CAN have too little relief AND saddles too low, which
will buzz all over the neck.

Some of us do not use factory specs, or even know what
those specs be. And some of us use no specs at all. You
can back off the truss rod tension just enuf to avoid buzz
in the low range, and set saddles just high enuf to avoid
buzz in the high range. These are partly interdependent,
so sometimes it's a bit of a back-and-forth with each end
being adjusted more than once until the set up is good.
 
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I set the truss rod as it says on the site, holding the 2nd and 12th fret down and having a very little gap in between(@.010 at the 7th fret). I then set the string high to 3/32 at the 12th fret. At that setting I have major buzz when i`m playing from the 7th fret to the 9th, the buzz is coming from around the 17th. I tried to adjust the truss rod but start getting crazy high action by the time the buzz is gone or I raise the saddles but still get the really high action by the time the buzz is gone. I can`t figure out what i`m doing wrong. I`v set up my Fender Amer Dlx J5 and have really great low action, so I don`t THINK it`s me doing something wrong but i`m not sure. Maybe I`m making to big of a adjustment at a time and need to finesse it more. Like you said back and forth between the two. The only reason I went the factory spec was to get a good starting reference.
 
I don't use measurements for my basses. Here's what I do. I hold my bass up and look down the fretboard from the bridge toward the nut. If the neck doesn't look straight, I adjust the truss rod to whichever way it needs. Then I adjust my string height. I like really low strings so I usually drop the strings down until there's a slight buzz and then raise them up just enough to get rid of the buzz. I use a strobe tuner to set my intonation and then make any additional adjustments to truss rod and/or string height. It's a lot of trial and error at first but you get better at it the more you do it. But my eye down the neck is what I have always used. I don't use measuring tools, I don't use a straight edge, I don't use a credit card or anything else. I use the Music Man info to help me remember which way the truss rod needs to be adjusted if the buzz is on the first few frets or at the higher frets.
 
If you are really having difficulty with setting it up, then take it to someone that does good set ups and watch them while they set up your bass. You really will learn quite a bit by watching.
 
Freddels said:
If you are really having difficulty with setting it up, then take it to someone that does good set ups and watch them while they set up your bass. You really will learn quite a bit by watching.
Click to expand...

Never had a problem with my other basses but I might have to do that with this one..thanks
 
If it wasn't new when you got it, then the previous owner may have all the adjustments messed up and it may take a pro to straighten it out. It's just one of those things. Otherwise, EBMM basses are usually pretty easy to adjust.
 
TWISTEDSTRINGS said:
Can you give me your sting height(E,G) at the 12th fret if you have the
time to see how off I am. Maybe these SR4`s have higher action then
I`m use to. I have 10/64 at the 12th. I don`t care about a number it`s
just uncomfortable to play at that height.
Click to expand...


I set the truss rod so that pulling down the D-string at 1st and 13th
positions, I can use my third hand to tap the string against the 5th or
6th fret. I don't measure the gap, I just tap. I expect a detectable
tiny movement and tiny clicking sound, just enuf to show me that the
string is not laying against the fret. If I move the pressing points to
the 2nd [maybe 3rd] and also 10th [maybe 11th or 12th] position, I
expect the tiny movement and tap sound to be gone cuz the string is
now touching the 5th [maybe 6th] fret [and others].

Sometimes I use an old piece of E-string to check height at 12th fret,
which would be about 0.1". I expect a tiny bit of clearance using this
"tool" under the bass's E-string, and using the same tool under the
G-string, I expect a tiny "bump-up" as the tool is pushed into place
under the G-string.

Those are my "specs". Procedure was explained in earlier post.

If I encounter unexplainable localized buzz, I check for a high fret. It
doesn't matter to me if the buzz seems to emanate from, say, the
9th fret while I'm actually playing a note on the 4th fret ... the 9th
fret is the suspected high fret. Playing notes above the 4th fret may
fail to produce buzz cuz the string angle up to the bridge is steeper
and may thus become clear of the high fret.

Checking out a suspected high fret is a PITA, mainly becuz of the
changes in string angle. To check the 9th fret, I fret the string at
the 8th fret and use a thin strip of paper [or whatever] to check
for any clearance under the string at the 9th fret. I also move this
whole procedure back and forth a fret or two along the neck so as
to get a sense of comparative clearances. Even with a high fret you
usually find some tiny clearance ... if you didn't have ANY clearance
then fretting the 8th would be the same note as fretting the 9th in
the above example.

So, thaz why checking high frets is, to me, a PITA. I spoze there is
a better way to do it, but I am ignorant about that, and I encounter
very close to ZERO high frets [out of dozens of basses which equals
many hundreds of frets] so I haven't ever learned a better way.
 
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Just got off the phone with one of the techs out at the SLO factory. Really great people out there with some really good info. Spent the time with me and walked me thru a slightly different procedure then on the EBMM site. Gonna try it now and if it works I`ll post it for SR4 owners that might be having the same problem. Seems that EBMM is having some problems with a few of their SR4 necks, especially one that came to the east coast. Really surprised at the attention I was given and the effort put out to get this right. Thanks SLO techs.. Worst case scenario I get a new neck free of charge if the problem is what he thinks it is.
 
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