Setup help : BUZzzz Buzzz buzz

You’re also right about that. I’m not too sure why I would have that difference in these 2 tests (plus mine is around 18/19th fret). I will check again, but indeed Marcello’s method is pretty straightforward. It could be that I’m just totally wrong when I’m eyeballing the measurement from the first test (1st fret/last fret test) ^^. It’s … very likely ^^’

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I like the simplicity of how Marcelo does it.

No matter what though - remember you’re doing this for you, and how it feels to you is much more important than any advice you’ll get from me or anyone else :slight_smile:

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If nothing else works, one useful thing to try is to adjust your truss rod flat and then check the frets with a fret rocker to see if you have any high frets:

You can get a nice cheap fret rocker/ruler combo from MusicNomad. It’s a cheap tool worth having.

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A little off topic - but just a little info from one beginner to another :slight_smile:

Your bass makes a little noise when you play it.

If your interest in bass playing comes from watching covers on Youtube remember that the bass sound in those videos is recorded directly from the bass.

It not recorded by someone holding a microphone close to the bass or amp. So all you hear is this really clean bass sound. But in reality you can always hear the sound of your fingers moving along the strings and a little “noise” here and there. But it’s perfectly normal.

If you pay close attention the next time you hear a quiet song with acoustic guitar sometimes you can hear the sound of the guitarplayers’ fingers moving up and down the strings.

Some of that noise you can also hear yourself when playing your own bass. But that “noise” doesn’t come out of the speaker too. It’s only audible to you :slight_smile:

I might be stating the obvious. I just thought I’d share :slight_smile:

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It sounds like a combo of needing truss rod and string height adjusted. I have a couple of basses that are unforgiving if not setup properly, but I can get them dialed in with micro adjustments. Once you get your trussrod adjusted to your liking, raise the strings in small amounts until the buzz goes away. If the strings are too high, then something else is causing a problem, like the nut as others have suggested. This assumes strings are sitting on the bridge and wound in the tuners properly.

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This is an important point. Looking at the picture you posted in the Show Us Your Basses thread, it looks like the A string is wound around the tuner post only one to one and a half times:


The string should be wound around the post at least two to three times, and each winding should be lower than the previous one. The tuner for the A string is farthest from the nut, so it’s really important that the string is angled down properly.

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Thanks for the reminder. Coincidentally, this was resolved very early since the strings were replaced soon after the photo (which was taken right after unboxing).
I don’t know if it’s a good idea or not to replace strings on a new bass : most people seems generally more inclined to do so, so I did.

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Well, if those were the factory strings on a new bass, I’d have replaced them as well, if only because the A and D strings were cut way too short.

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I’m never sure either :joy:
On a second hand bass I do, cos I have no idea what are on, but my yamaha has D’Addario EXL170’s (or somethin like that) from the factory, they’re fairly good strings already? :man_shrugging:

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Yeah for new instruments I try them and keep if I like them. My last three new instruments had fantastic strings; one was already using one of my favorites (D’Addario EXL’s), my Fender Japan had decent strings that it turns out are also made by D’Addario for Fender, and my Revstar came with very nice Elixirs.

On the other hand, Warwick strings must be about the worst in the world. Like, I kind of want to change them even when simply trying one out in a shop.

Used instruments: yuck, change immediately and clean fretboard too. Your gunk is not my funk.

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I often change strings on new basses. I don’t like the feel of Ernie Balls and Fender rounds, so those get changed automatically. That covers my Sires and Fender brands, which is almost all my basses. My Ibanez MDB5 came in CGCF tuning with some heavy strings, so I went BEAD on it.

It’s just strings. I have no problem changing them out to something I like if I’m not a fan of the originals.

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Mine were D’Addario EXL165 Nickel Wound .045 - .105. Still replaced them but … I’m keeping them since I usually like D’Addario ^^.

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I always use up the strings that come on a new bass, they are not as good as what I replace them with, but they are not bad either.

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I agree, Josh.

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Well, this is looking good, I think I will probably just have to raise up my action a bit considering what I’ve found running almost all the tests from the vids in the #gear Bass setup Video Index (and tips) .
I’m glad I tried because I’ve learned a lot but it’s unexpectedly tiring, especially since I’m on night shifts (2 to go counting today) and holding a ruler to look for 0.5 mm in the morning is terminating my eyes. I won’t be able to do anything for now but I will report back when I do raise my action to suit my needs, and if success follows.
Some things I found out doing this could help others beginners like me, I think.

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Let us know how it goes, it is nice when a plan comes together.

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I just got a new bass today, and changed the strings. It came with Fender Rounds, which for whatever feel like cheese graters on my fingers. Strings are just strings. If I don’t like them I’ll put another set on.

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I’m actually wondering if there are different grades of Fender strings because the ones that came on mine are great, they feel like D’Addarios (who apparently made them). Very nice rounds on mine, still using them months later.

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@howard there are probably different grades + it might feel unique to each person, so I suppose a bit of both ? I was searching for the best strings for funk and came up with 2 lists quite different, both in brand, models, gauge and etc.

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