Hello
Got some buzzing appeared on the 3rd and 5th fret. It’s just appeared so I’m not sure what’s caused it.
Anyone know why this happens? Do I need to raise the saddles?
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Chances are high that the temperature and/or humidity in your space has changed. It is a seasonal occurrence that is very common.
Adjusting your neck relief by adjusting your truss rod is likely all that’s required to fix minor buzzing.
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seasonal changes in humidity
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Yep. A setup is not something you do just once. I have to do a basic setup about quarterly on instruments and I do a minor tweak probably monthly. Seasons change and with them comes bass geometry changes.
This is one reason I recommend everyone learn to set up their instruments themselves 
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Running into this now. I also think I’m getting some nut buzz. Not sure if that is due to needing to adjust the neck or if the strings are just too small for the nut.
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or you need some nut sauce, or a fret wrap
We catching this stewmac video and I’m wondering if it’s just how the string was put on. I also think it needs and adjustment but that stewmac video with the red bass is amazingly good.
I’d start with adjusting the truss rod (towards the low strings). The couple of times I’ve had to fix buzzing on the first fret, it’s been that.
So I just spent an hour working on this one. I had to spin the truss nut counter clockwise and that fixed the buzzing on fret 1 and allowed me to not have each string adjustment maxed out. I think it could probably go some more but I’m ok with where I’m at now. The buzz is 100% the A string and the last owner cutting the string shorter than it should be.
The one thing from that video that I saw was if the strings are the right scale for your bass you shouldn’t cut them short except for the E.
Their is a way to adjust the nut to fix it too but for now I slipped a small felt washer under the string in the nut. It looks like hell but it plays fine now and it’ll let me decide if I want to re-string, go farther with the setup, or pay someone to do it.
I think I’m at the point where I can handle a seasonal setup but I might just get this one done to know it’s right once before working on it myself.
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You seem to be better with tools than I am and I do everything now except electronics (looking at picking up a nice soldering iron atm). I think you could handle all of the maintenance yourself with some youtubing tbh.
Edit: There’s pretty much nothing you can do that’s going to permanently brick your bass just by working on it. You may need to buy a new nut if you file too much for example, but those are mostly easy fixes to recover from.
Yea mostly I just had truss paranoia. I’m still not 100% convinced I went enough in my adjustment but I just bought this kit. I was using a ruler but my eyes aren’t what they used to be and I think being able to see a larger portion of the board will help. I also have a crappy kids guitar that needs some sharp fret fixing so this’ll do.
I also think I’m waaaaaayyyy more comfortable with a soldiering iron than I am with any potential woodworking on a guitar I paid for 
Actually this might be different. If it is a Fender-shaped object, a buzzing A string is common and endemic to their legacy headstock design. The best fix is a string tree that also covers the A string.
barring that, yes leave it long and wind it way down. That is tedious though.
If it is an A string on Fender Shaped Object, a simple fret wrap can fix it.
Also when you change strings, leave some extra length on the A and get more wraps around the peg.
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For anyone with truss rod paranoia. Loosen your strings completely before adjusting. If you adjust the truss rod under string tension you will probably be fine but that’s where the risks and horror stories come from. A lot of tutorials gloss over that and just emphasize on the making minute adjustments part of it.
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Loosening the strings a little makes it easier to turn for tight rods too.
Another tip, whichever direction you need to go with the rod, always slightly loosen first to unbind the rod. Sometimes going straight to tightening, the rod may feel “stuck” momentarily. This prevents that. Never force a rod that feels stuck.
Honestly though don’t worry; unless you completely go HAM on it you aren’t gonna be likely to break it.
After turning the rod, let it sit for a minute before checking again. Doesn’t take long, maybe 15-30 seconds, but you want the wood to finish flexing.
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If you want a good one, Weller is the brand that being used by all electronics guys on our cruise ships.
Some are being used daily for more than 20 years now…
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Weller is good. Hakko is probably better, but really they are similar level.
But also you can pick up an inexpensive soldering station from China and it will be fine. I have has a decent Aoyue in the past.
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Weller stopt making their soldering stations in Germany. I still have an old one, “Made in Germany”. It probably has a Swastika printed somewhere ^^
Can’t say anything about the quality of the China Wellers, but this one was in heavy professional use for at least 5 years, until I got it in 2000.
It’s a real pleasure to solder with it - big difference to those 15€ cheapo soldering irons from the hardware store!
Well, I used the soldering iron for different purposes!
Original picture of me soldering with some random person:
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