Alembic Guitars Club

Alembic products => Owning an Alembic => Troubleshooting => Topic started by: rebelchile on December 04, 2008, 09:42:09 AM

Title: Essence with a fret buzz
Post by: rebelchile on December 04, 2008, 09:42:09 AM

hello, I have owned my essence for 10 years, and it is by far the finest bass that I have ever owned, pre CBS jazz basses and all the others, no joke..but.. it has developed a buzz between the 3rd and 7th frets, more on the G and D string side. I read an older post from another person at this site and it was suggested to check the string height at the nut and make it the same at the crown. What is the height at the nut supposed to be between the top of the first fret and the bottom of the G string? I have pretty much gotten this bass through its young life and, it mine alike but it seems that the only complaint that I have is the lack of being able to adjust the contour of the strings more with the string saddles on the bridge, like the old pre CBS fenders. Also, I use DR light guage HIBEAMS 45 to 105 4 string set, I remember the bolt on necks on all my other basses moving around alot, but this Alembic has not moved much at all, up until now since the neck settled into its position, but it has sat in the case for awhile due to personal reasons. Could this be one reason for fret buzz? thanks kent

Title: Essence with a fret buzz
Post by: tbrannon on December 04, 2008, 11:23:59 AM

Kent,
 
Sounds like you need a slight truss rod tweak-  
 
I'd recommend reading Joey's setup post. It's sort of become the setup guide for Alembics and is VERY thorough.
 
http://club.alembic.com/Images/16271/16318.html?1107545766 (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=311)
 
Since the bridge saddles are radiused to match the fingerboard radius, the only adjustments you should need is to add/remove some relief from the neck and raise/drop the bridge or nut.

Title: Essence with a fret buzz
Post by: adriaan on December 05, 2008, 12:51:44 AM

As thorough as Joey's setup post is, it is surprisingly short. And excellent too.
 
All hail Joey!

Title: Essence with a fret buzz
Post by: rebelchile on December 19, 2008, 10:26:24 PM

Hello, just for an update, I put a new set of DR hibeams on my bass and used Joey's post as a guide, with some simple small screwdrivers and allen wenches,a capo and...after a few days of adjusting the neck relief, nut, and string height, she has settled back down and become a beautiful, and fine playing instrument once again, with really low, fast action, just like it is supposed to be... thanks for all the help..kent

Title: Essence with a fret buzz
Post by: jet_powers on December 20, 2008, 07:52:08 PM

Ya just gotta love a success story!