Fret Buzz (Slap?)

Gear
#1

My bass has developed very noticable fret buzz. I’ve identified where the strings are uneven at the first fret. A gearhead friend of mine who lives in another state talked me through some diagnostic steps and we think the strings are too deep into the nut.

Probably not that difficult to fix for someone that knows what they’re doing. I’m debating taking it to a shop, or waiting until I visit him in a couple of weeks to let him look at it. Problem is with my upcoming travel, I have two days to take it in and get it fixed. But that’s not my question.

I’ve had the bass for several weeks and it’s been fine. I think it developed the buzz shortly after going through the slap module here. Is it possible that slapping caused the issue? Especially given that I was constantly either slapping too hard, in the wrong place, or not hard enough? Would it make difference that it’s a bass from the 80s? Well maintained, but who knows how old that nut is?

(And if it was from slapping, I in no way blame the course. As I said, my technique was lousy. It’s the one skill/module so far that I haven’t able to get into my fingers. Or thumbs.)

#2

I seriously doubt that your slapping caused a problem. It could be that you have a high fret in that area and the fret only needs to be seated properly and the buzz goes away. A good tech can tell you in about 30 seconds what it is. Or you can get the proper tools and do it yourself. It is not hard to work on a bass. Also, a quick fix on a nut is to mix super glue with baking soda and fill in the nut slot on that string. After it dries, slightly file it down to the proper height. The fix will last for years in most cases or at least until you get it to a tech.

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#3

The more likely answer is that the neck has shifted with the change in seasons.

Use the search function on the forum to learn the very simple process of adjusting the neck relief on your bass.

With recent huge change in temperate here; I adjusted the neck on my Jazz bass just last week.

Or watch this video (I’ve started it at the right point) to quickly learn how to do it.

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#4

I’m with @Barney it’s probably a neck relief issue. I constantly have to deal with this because the temperature changes. Just look down your neck and see. Your situation you should see a straight neck or even a little upward bow, when you should see a slight dip around 10-15 fret. Straight neck usually causes the buzzing problem.

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#5

Thanks all. I’ll check this out.

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#6

It was a neck relief issue. I took it in to a music shop a couple of weeks ago and had it fixed. SO much better now.

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#7

Its a bummer that when you click on a thread you havent visited before, it takes you to the top, instead of the bottom.

Glad you got it fixed. As soon as I read it, I was pretty confident you just needed a neck adjustment. I found the following web page to be excellent for doing your own complete setup.

https://brokeassguitars.com/