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Post subject: proper string installation may be the key to ending buzz
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:04 pm
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I recently reinstalled a set of DRs on my bass. In their previous installation I had a buzz on the E string right at the nut, which I attributed to the nut groove being loose. I accidentally came across a different way to install strings which got rid of the buzz.

Previously when I installed strings, I ran the string through the tuning head and tied a knot in the string around the tuner, which is an old habit that I carried over from string bass (believe me, you don't want a string on a string bass coming loose - you could lose an eye or finger). Anyway, the new (to me) method for installing strings is to start by inserting the string into the hole in the tuning key, then wrapping the string once around the tuner and progressively winding the string down towards the headstock as you tighten the string. I did this on my string reinstall and not only was it way easier, but the buzz is completely gone.

Hope this helps.


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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 10:29 am
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What you're hearing is called a wolf tone (they are common on the double bass, although there they occur between the bridge and tailpiece), and results from insufficient tension on the portion of the A string between the nut and the tuning post. Adding a string tree, as was suggested earlier, is a possible solution, although getting the E string under one side like the one used for the D and G strings may be tough. A capo works too, but doesn't really look nice, to me.

I have an A string wolf tone on both my 76 P and 97 J. Winding the string further down the post fixed the J, but to fix the P, I used a small piece of black twist tie and lashed the A string to the E string just behind the nut and just before the E tuning post. You ony need a small bit of tension on the A string; barely enough to change the angle of the A string. You'll need to re-tune the A string down just a hair after this. Generally, the E string is heavy enough and short enough at this point not to be affected pitch-wise, but you might want to check it.

Once done, the black twist tie looks just like a small portion of silk-wrapped string protruding from the tuning post on mine.


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Post subject: a little off subject
Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:07 pm
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FretlessOnly wrote:
What you're hearing is called a wolf tone (they are common on the double bass, although there they occur between the bridge and tailpiece), and results from insufficient tension on the portion of the A string between the nut and the tuning post. Adding a string tree, as was suggested earlier, is a possible solution, although getting the E string under one side like the one used for the D and G strings may be tough. A capo works too, but doesn't really look nice, to me.

I have an A string wolf tone on both my 76 P and 97 J. Winding the string further down the post fixed the J, but to fix the P, I used a small piece of black twist tie and lashed the A string to the E string just behind the nut and just before the E tuning post. You ony need a small bit of tension on the A string; barely enough to change the angle of the A string. You'll need to re-tune the A string down just a hair after this. Generally, the E string is heavy enough and short enough at this point not to be affected pitch-wise, but you might want to check it.

Once done, the black twist tie looks just like a small portion of silk-wrapped string protruding from the tuning post on mine.


I realize this is off-subject to the original question, but the vibration from the string is not a wolf-tone as found on the doublebass. Typically a wolf-tone is found just below the A octave harmonic on the A string (i.e., a G#), and is caused by an acoustic phenomenon. Typically on the string bass, when a string is bowed or plucked the front and back of the back vibrate in the same direction, or in sync. For reasons that have to do with bass proportions and string length, around the aforementioned G#, the front and back of the bass vibrate out of sync, or against each other, causing something akin to a tug-of-war in the body. I have owned several basses of different proportions and string-length and they all had wolf-tones, although the severity of the tone varied from instrument to instrument.


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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 9:39 pm
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Yeah, you are correct about that. Thing is, they sell wolf-tone "solutions" that are basically a weight that fits over the string between the upright bridge and tailpiece that sort of reminded me of the solution I worked out for my Precision.

My solution to the P-bass problem is still valid, as are the others posted earlier.


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Post subject: Re: Open A-String Buzzing/Rattling
Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 2:13 am
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I have this problem with a new 2012 American Standard Jazz Bass (fretless). The open A string buzzed like mad, and it turned out that the nut groove was too big for the .085 string. I solved the problem by trimming a small piece off of a plastic coated playing card and placing it with a pair of tweezers beside the string in the nut groove. It stopped the side to side vibration immediately. Whoever is cutting the nut grooves at Fender needs to stop showing up for work with a hangover.


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Post subject: Re: Open A-String Buzzing/Rattling
Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 11:03 am
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Location: Albemarle, NC
I've used a little sliver of a business card also in nut slots as a temporary fix till you can get a nut slotted correctly.


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