Fixing fret buzz: raising the saddles

A P-Bass with fret buzz: Dan Erlewine fixes his brother's bass, and answers the question, "To get rid of this fret buzz, should I adjust the saddles or the truss rod?"
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For more information on tools and parts:
StewMac Radius Gauge
www.stewmac.com/5432.html
Understring Radius Gauges
www.stewmac.com/0353.html
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www.stewmac.com/3000.html
Dan Erlewine's Maintenance & Setup for Electric Guitars and Bass DVD
www.stewmac.com/5615.html
Basic Setup Kit
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Gotoh Standard Bass Bridge
www.stewmac.com/0093.html

[@LacedBacon]

Thanks man, I just bought a new Yamaha 5 string and was having lots of fret buzz on many notes. I watched your video and now I'm buzz free...well I'm buzzed but my bass isn't!

[@momoflows1923]

leme guess, The TRBX305?

[@richfredika7777]

Oh man thanks so much; I thought for days low string on new bass had a big problem and you cured it in a minute

[@robking2302]

Short, simple and told me exactly what I needed to know. Thank you sir!

[@xForts]

@ 1:35 "I can work around that G-string" lol

[@_Only_Zuul]

xForts needs more sisqo "thong song"

[@AbsoluteAbsurd]

XD

[@davideyskens2100]

xForts koo

[@johnnyboi0h347]

This is an odd place to find you haha

[@ling2553]

fancy meeting you here

[@svorttsirhc1814]

Thank you for the information clear informative video , no background music . Keep up the good work .

[@stewmac]

Thanks for watching! Happy you like them!

[@mango_444]

thank god i found this 😂. i’ve been restringing my moms old bass and i couldn’t figure out why it’s buzzing.

[@dwardodweebs7246]

if her g-string is buzzing might wanna leave that to the experts :)

[@CaseyJones-sm3ew]

Elixir..type this in on KZbin..it will show you the the right way to do a set up..4" steps..he missed 3 vary important steps.. don't worry..there easy as hell..everyone needs to know how to set up there Owen bass.

[@justgivenofox9543]

I’ve never thought to loosen the strings to relieve tension on the saddles. Thinking about it now, that seems like an easy way to break a screw or break something

[@tabaks]

I love working around g-strings! Most of the time.

[@PMAN305]

Lol

[@javier232]

Me 2

[@charliefreiburger]

YEEEEEEW

[@TheFlamingPike]

So I've started playing guitar for four years now and I bought a bass guitar at a very cheap price but it had that buzz issue ( which I was aware of )... Knowing everything can be fixed I knew there had to be a way to solve this problem. I found this video. I'm the kind of guy who likes to fix things by himself so I'm glad to see it's not that hard... I'm a noob at this but you gotta start somewhere and I'm way too greedy to pay some guy to do this haha. That radius gauge looks quite useful for maintenance!

[@kynever7865]

Brief, to the point, detailed. All things I like Subbed!

[@stewmac]

Awesome, thank you!

[@imsassnroll]

I’ve been so frustrated the last few days trying to figure out how to fix this not wanting to take it to a place that’ll charge me $60 to just look at it. Instant fix, Thank you!

[@lionelramsal7354]

Thanks for the precise tip 👍

[@cgonzt5636]

The buzz from my Jazz bass (12th fret and up) stopped after I raised the saddle to approx. 3.5mm E string & 2.85mm other strings. Very high action, I don’t like it 😞

[@richardscali3653]

There should be a slight bow in the neck. I have found if the neck is too straight or perfectly straight in some cases you'll get buzzing at the first few frets

[@michaelnieves9688]

Very helpful video!

[@flukyreview9128]

This informative but how do you set the saddle radius on a five string bass?

[@Sausagemilk]

Thanks, very helpful!

[@christopherjbutler]

I just bought the Basic Setup Kit from Stew Mac. It comes with Under String radius gauges. Can I use the bottom concave part to measure the fingerboard radius with them? Or do you need to buy the notched radius gauges?

[@tun-tunninc.6492]

Great video.

[@jamesdorsey7304]

Good info. Thanks again

[@cmwmichael4835]

Nice video. I plan on opening up a guitar repair shop in my garage once I've sealed the deal on my new home.

[@precisionb]

Chad Wick I don't understand why one little buzz would make anybody screw with the neck

[@Cyborgsm]

What happened?

[@LonelyBenson]

This is great. Thanks

[@Chocolate_Nightmare]

Thank you 🙏

[@Mxgic_Mike_77]

Is a Fender Japan bass ?? what kind of Wood these bass has ? someday I wish you will repair my pbass , good videos I like them. keep going Dan 😎

[@dmanrunning57]

The truss rod is the foundation of the settings. A 4 string bass should have .015 at the 7th fret with a capo on the first and the 15th pressed down in the playing position. then and only then should the saddle height be checked. 4/32 action height at the 15th fret for the E string and 3/32 at the 15th fret at the G strinng. The A and D inbetween. Some guys like the action higher and some like it lower. Then after the action is set at the bridge, the height of the strings at the nut should be checked. .022 between the 1st fret and the strings. It is possible that the nut slot is worn on the A string. Once the height of the nut is checked then intonation. It is also possible that a fret wire is raising out of the slot although that is rare.

[@Satchmoeddie]

+Darryl Betts He is just selling those under string saddle radius gauges, not teaching how to do a proper premium set up. Gibson put a backbow in some of their necks, before they leveled the frets. .011-.015" is about what they did too, with a 6 string guitar, and THOSE are the guitars that played superbly well. They also cocked the fret board a little lower on the bass side at the body, so the bass stings could vibrate more, which the bass strings will do. I spent a couple decades, more like 3 now, with micrometers & calipers going over guitars that just played insanely well to find out why they were better than another example of the same exact year, make & model.

[@boxerfencer]

​@@Satchmoeddiewhat do you you mean by cocking the bass side?

[@lancecarmon8657]

where can I get these radius gauges!?

[@crazyuncleduke9]

I gave this a "Like" even tho I don't agree with doing it this way. It's good for a temporary fix between sets at a gig but does not address the issues of a high fret or improper fret relief. Other than that,,,good video Dan. Now do your brother a favor and do a full setup. Cheers.

[@precisionb]

crazyuncleduke9 Being that it was his brother, I'm sure he went ahead and set it up for him. The issue was a high string. He fixed it, end of story :)

[@frostmusicofficial]

Thank you for your help! That also looks exactly like John Deacons bass lol

[@t_rex8767]

can a beginner like me raise the bridge? just got the bass today and its hitting the fret/ neck on the E-string so cant to any slap-exercises

[@AttilaThebung]

If it was me, I would have gone through and eliminated all the other causes of fret buzz first. I would've checked relief, nut action, string height, fret height all before raising the saddle. Better to be safe than sorry, hey.

[@Satchmoeddie]

+AnthonyH He is selling those radius gauges, not teaching guitar or bass set up.

[@anibalmunoz2992]

yup and radius is the last thing to consider regarding fret buzz on a specific fret...

[@MichaelDaniels]

do you have the radius gauge for sale?

[@Andyjpro]

Still would have been a good idea to check the truss rod on camera

[@wrenchtheroo6557]

I have the same buzzing problem but on a les paul 100

[@68bigsac]

Thank you sir for your expertise and useful advice. I am your new student.

[@gimpdoctor8362]

I mean whatever about choice of plan of action, this is really an issue the player should be able to solve themselves if they're properly in tune with their own instrument.

[@onzkicg]

I have Fender Jazz bass highway one and it buzzes too.. I adjusted the bridge height like this until all strings are playable with very few buzz. The problem is now the action became too high.

[@Satchmoeddie]

+onzkicg Truss rod adjustment, neck angle, nut slots too deep, or any combination of those three things. This is a sales pitch for those radius gauges, not a primer on great luthrie work.

[@filmlover2284]

Thanks again. My buzz is gone.

[@kennethmacdonnell3634]

Sorry PrecisionB, Sorry, I truly meant no disrespect at all, just pointing out that raising the saddles will move the string further away from the string and will change the sound of the bass, of course depending on how high you raise the string to rid the buzz.

[@user-ht3gh5jp7n]

will the string action of E too high?

[@upon6225]

What type of screw is that

[@CodeFoxAus]

I've had that problem with my Fender Jazz Special ever since I bought it (second hand from Phil Collins bass player) in 1994. Never knew it could be fixed. Is it possible to make one of those gauges, or do I need to buy one?

[@precisionb]

CodeFoxAus No you don't need to purchase one. Take your Guitar/Bass to your regular Guitar guy. That's what I do. I just wanna play it, not screw it up more.

[@CaseyJones-sm3ew]

Elixir type this in people if you want to set up your bass..there is no huge secret on any of this. Hell I've been doing my set up since the dawn of time.

[@anonymousguitarist80]

hi dan,why is it that my strat's high E string is stiffer than the others string?nice video btw.tnx

[@Jedi2016]

What color is that guitar? I've been looking for something similar to that for a long time now. I know it's a natural finish, is it it the type of wood that gives it that color?

[@noseyparker6622]

Surely you should have checked the neck relief and nut first fret action before touching the bridge saddles

[@shapedheart3549]

My bass is rattling its new I’m a beginner and it’s annoying it’s stressing my ass out

[@trueknowledgeispower]

If I have to raise the saddles on my bass,......I'll just get rid of the bass.

[@bniebean338]

EITHER THE GUY IS 4'9 FEET OR THE BASS IS HUGE

[@bassist4lif31]

Okay, my real question is, what is the size of those screw holes used to adjust the saddle heights. I've tried every single alan and screwdriver i have and i can't for the life of mee find something that fits well enough.

[@happyg.444]

M Theory Why don't you take a file or some course sandpaper and sand or file the alan wrench down to the right size. That should work for you.

[@bassist4lif31]

never though of that. Thank you!

[@mattfoley6082]

I'm guessing you used metric not inches.

[@happyg.444]

Raising one string to high, will it through the intonation out of the raised string?

[@noobbassist1352]

Does the bridge adjusting really matters? My bridge is really flat has a buzz and it's hard to slap the inner strings

[@websav]

Thank Youoououoou

[@arne524]

my bass is buzzing help

[@OffMyPlanetNow]

good maintenance videos

[@jasonmartinez7667]

I just got a new bazz and the strings are buzzing when i play them.I tried raising the bridge but my screws come off.What should i do?

[@thinkaboutthis572]

Deep cleansing Fret slots???????

[@jeffhigh2]

Dan should really take this down, bad information is worse than none.

[@CorneliusSneedley]

Interesting. Roundwounds on the E and A, flatwounds on the D and G.

[@CorneliusSneedley]

Okay, I'll bite. What styles do they play?

[@precisionb]

CorneliusSneedley I had to look back to see that. I'm a Guitar bass player, mostly Bass, and I noticed the rounds but I use flats always. I wonder how that sounds. I mean was it done for sound or just happen to have 2 of each handy?

[@CorneliusSneedley]

Precisionb Brown precisionb Brown Yeah, it's odd. I am a bass player and I can't imagine a situation where I would want to do that on purpose. But since he is pals with Dan, I don't think it is just because he's lazy, or too poor to buy a full set, so I can only think he must have a reason for it. I just can't imagine what it would be.

[@precisionb]

I know this guy is just trying to help and he's giving FREE advice. Why all the criticism?

[@CorneliusSneedley]

Precisionb Brown precisionb Brown Are you talking to me, or just commenting on the posts in general?

[@omarcusihuaman4261]

Malazo

[@kish6085]

now you have higher action.

[@fknbrett99]

Anyone else get the feeling Dan's not too fond of his brother Tom? haha

[@goemonronin]

Wouldn't a level and crown make more sense? I mean raising the action isn't ideal

[@YellowJack6]

What if you want low action?

[@stewmac]

As long as your frets are level and you've zeroed your neck to be as straight as possible/set to your desired relief, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to achieve a low string action with a proper setup. This Trade Secrets video is more concerned with a simple fix for a single problem fret that's buzzing.

[@YellowJack6]

stewartmacdonald thanks for the reply, I was able to level my frets and remove most of the fret buzz

[@JamBreadSpotify]

"I can work around that G string" ;)

[@SpillTheWine67]

That is great IF you have a radius gauge If not too f',n bad

[@NimeshKavinda13]

Slap like now

[@Synthematix]

a high fret can cause this, simply tapping it down a little with a hard rubber mallet should fix it

[@jimcamp2423]

Why would the individual saddles be angled like that for the 2 grub screws as feet posts ? There's a slot on the saddle for holding the string in place like the nut slots are. The individual barrel of the saddle needs to be flat/level & that way the individual saddle is level and the strings will still follow the fretboard radius. Angled like they are, one side of the string will have a tendency to pop out of the slot. I could also understand orienting them that way if the ends of the saddle barrels were angled, but they are flat meaning the flats should be butted against each other. Not have an uneven gap from the angle. As an entire bridge, each saddle will have a single grub screw that is under less tension and they will vibrate looser the way this is done in the video. That bridge looks like a crooked smile of imperfectly aligned teeth. I realize DE has been doing setups for decades, but do the setup correctly for down tuning from lower than standard E where the bass or any guitar has less tension on the strings. The fret buzz is most likely from uneven frets on the fretboard, if not improper relief in the neck from a truss rod adjustment. There are several locations that could be causing the fret buzz, could also be a worn nut slot, worn or dented frets. The neck as a complete assembly should be assessed for each component. I did that with a preowned Jackson bass this past week. The fist fret was higher than the others, it was a truss rod adjustment for the proper .12-.14 relief in the neck. Once I adjusted the truss rod properly, everything adjusted fine. The 1st fret is now level with the other 22 frets, super low action for a bass, no fret buzz on any string, for any note.

[@T00DEEPBLUE]

This video is terrible. The first thing you always measure when i comes to setup is the neck relief. It's very possible that the bridge action is perfectly set up, and the reason why the frets are buzzing is because the neck has expanded or contracted due to changes in temperature and humidity. The bridge saddles obviously don't any bigger or smaller when the temperature and humidity changes, so clearly the neck relief is what needs to be measured first. Then check that the frets are level with the fret rocker. If the relief checks out and the frets are level, *then* you can start messing around with the bridge action. Otherwise, you'll just make the setup worse by adjusting the bridge so that it's now out of adjustment instead of actually solving the real problem.

[@Charlie-hp2oh]

Train ? Tune - Relieve - Action - Intonate

[@1.123]

2 buzzing frets and his workaround is to raise the bridge or adjust the truss rod? urgh.... we‘ve seen better fixes on this channel for this symptome...

[@gabrielbecker437]

I like a bit of buzz

[@mattfoley6082]

Bridge looks like intonation would be off.

[@precisionb]

I think you are just being human. Fix the easiest thing first! That's exactly what I would do. Why would anyone complain about an easy fix? Thanks!

[@electricritual4197]

I think this whole thing is bogus. I think he just lowered the string so it would Buzz. So he can show off the little string radius gauge, so you will buy it.

[@fenderlead1]

Ok... I think he knows it isnt the truss rod because it is just one bad note (C on the A string). My first reaction was "NO .. check the trussrod first"... maybe he did do that but left it out... so not a great video .. If a user had the choice between quickly and easily fixing a high/low fret by raising the action or by doing the fret work they would choose raising the action.. but this may be a bandaid... DISCLAIMER: I dont actually have the bass in front of me so I am only speculatin'

[@precisionb]

fenderlead1 This is for the working musician he wasn't teaching a Guitar/Bass Luthier. He certainly has helped a lot of people that don't want to screw up the necks. I wouldn't know which way to adjust the necks on my Basses, I just know how to play them. So give the guy a break!

[@kennethmacdonnell3634]

Raise the saddles...ok,,but he neglected to mention that you may have to readjust the pickup height to the strings that you raised to get rid of the buzz in order to keep the output volume the strings same it was. It helps to have somewhat a reference on what it played like before, and what it sounded like to compare..

[@precisionb]

Kenneth MacDonnell OK well the average musician that tinkers with his/her own ax doesn't think that way. Don't mis credit valuable information to a day to day playing musician. I thought it came in handy for the average guy. He's just trying to help.

[@RockinguitardudeSG]

Adjusting the saddles first before adjusting the truss rod is terrible advice. You want to make sure your neck is setup properly before adjusting the action.

[@breakfastwithtrees9524]

Jesus Loves You

[@Nerabass]

Wrong way to setup a bass guitar.

[@handidrummed]

IMO this is a terrible video. If one fret is buzzing, it's a high fret. Raising one string to try and fix a high fret is a temporary fix. And raising the other strings to keep the radius makes no sense because of one fret. I'm surprised Dan suggested this.

[@Thoracius]

Agreed. It's weird he's making a suggestion that could negatively impact the playability of the entire instrument due to one note with buzz. If it's simply due to a high fret, easy fix. But if it's because that spot on the fret is worn low, might be best to replace that fret. Nothing Dan couldn't easily do, especially for his own brother.

[@pulsedemon1974]

He shows that he knows what he’s doing. Proof is right there.

[@michaelgierusz5754]

​@Thoracius Appotite My G string is buzzing how do I fix it??

[@garymccloskey7199]

So, two disagreements I have with your disdain 😉: 1) It appears the radius at the bridge may have been incorrect to begin with. And 2), sometimes it is far better to make small adjustments to easily adjustable parameters rather than tear the building down to the foundations and start over. Every instrument is unique, and I think its often necessary to make small tweaks for it to play and sound its best. Even after a proper fret level and crown, sometimes these adjustments are necessary. I agree though, that he should probably address the issue that it could be a popped fret, at least so the viewer knows to beware

[@BrandonBone18]

You missed the part where the player of the instrument said he wanted the strings raised. There you go

[@renedelafuente123]

Yea, you say adjust at the neck first, but what if your wrong and you start adjusting it add a wrong place? It's very confusing and these music stores want to steal your money any which way they can. Anyway, thanks for the video. Signed guy that wants to learn how to play but don't want to pay!

[@leviridge3307]

i would of checked the nut first

[@mattfoley6082]

And that's why you're not a luthier.