The A and D strings on my bass buzz at the bridge.  When I touch the strings between the bridge and tailpiece it stops buzzing. I'm thinking maybe the saddle cuts aren't right for these strings and the strings are vibrating in the saddles causing the buzz, but not sure if this is what's causing the issue.  The bridge is the old 70s Stars Guitars type. Any other thought is suggestions for how to resolve this? Thanks.

Try turning the intonation screws to take out any slack/slop that might be creating a little rattle first Rob. While you're at it, might as well check the intonation with a good tuner.

Failing that, a slot may need to be angled carefully back towards the tailpiece, not necessarily deepened. That can be the source of a little rattle too.

Loose wire?
If it's a Series instrument, perhaps no batteries attached to the clips?
If you have a strap with straplocks, but you're playing sitting down with the strap not carrying the weight of the bass?

I'll add two things.  While unlikely, check that the strings aren't touching the back rail of the bridge.  And, while keeping in mind Greg's caution to not deepen the slots, you might want to check for any roughness in the slots.

Thank you for the suggestions, I will investigate as suggested 😊

I turned the saddle screws moving the saddles back and forth, lightly sanded the saddle grooves with fine sand paper, and reset the intonation.  The bass is now completely buzz-free.  Thank you!! 😊 

The buzz returned.  I noticed that the screws were inserted in the wrong direction. So, I disassembled the bridge and reassembled correctly, tightening everything up and no more buzz 😊

I had the same problem with my 1972 Alembic.    I ended up putting hard rubber between the saddles.    It's been that way now for more than 25 years.    The saddles can still slide with the rubber in place if I need to adjust intonation.

Quote from: rv_bass on October 25, 2026, 12:24:40 PMThe buzz returned.  I noticed that the screws were inserted in the wrong direction. So, I disassembled the bridge and reassembled correctly, tightening everything up and no more buzz 😊

Nice work!

Quote from: dela217 on October 25, 2026, 06:44:39 PMI had the same problem with my 1972 Alembic.    I ended up putting hard rubber between the saddles.    It's been that way now for more than 25 years.    The saddles can still slide with the rubber in place if I need to adjust intonation.

Great idea, good to see it in practice, I actually thought of doing that as well! 😊

Quote from: rv_bass on <strong>Yesterday</strong> at 03:40:09 PM

Quote from: dela217 on October 25, 2026, 06:44:39 PMI had the same problem with my 1972 Alembic.    I ended up putting hard rubber between the saddles.    It's been that way now for more than 25 years.    The saddles can still slide with the rubber in place if I need to adjust intonation.

Great idea, good to see it in practice, I actually thought of doing that as well! 😊

I've got the perfect stuff for that on my bench here if you need it, Rob. It's actually the lining out of that little gray box on my workbench with the sticker from the store on the front. That silly little box once held an insanely expensive glass vial, just one, but it absolutely could not be exposed to light or be touched by anything but the cap or a lint-free optics cloth. And because it was a verification standard for quarterly calibration on continuously monitoring equipment, it was a dated item that expired. My heart and soul just wouldn't let me throw away a $2000 box. So it keeps my electronic tuner, string winder, and pin puller scratch-free and at arm's reach now. 😉

You never know when you might need a little square of really good high-impact foam too, so I saved it.

Quote from: edwardofhuncote on <strong>Today</strong> at 04:02:39 AM...My heart and soul just wouldn't let me throw away a $2000 box...

If anyone is curious about this idiot thing, they've actually gotten cheaper now that they are a few generations towards obsolescence. Only $1676 now. 🙄

See, analytic equipment in water treatment is partly a racket brought on by regulatory requirements and a genuine need to upgrade, but also because these things are purposefully outdated almost as quickly as they are rolled out and put in-service. The parent company, (in this case, Hach) will support them for so many years, then your utility has to upgrade. Which means not only the equipment but all the support and training for it too. This device is a laser turbidimeter. It replaced laser nephalometers, which were all the rage about 15 years ago when they replaced plain old incandescent light turbidimeters, which had replaced,  which had replaced, all the way back to a flippin' Jackson Candle, which still works just fine. It does exactly the same job but to an even higher degree of accuracy. What is that job; well, not to put too fine a point on things, it determines the clarity of water by passing light through it and measuring scatter. The calibration standards are just that, a known standard of scatter that will occur. The verification standard is such a low number that you are more-or-less verifying you didn't screw up the calibration. It will fail the equipment if out of range. It's regulatory - in the age of fully automated treatment plants this stuff has to work. AI's ass... a living breathing Operator signs that logbook and goes to jail if it isn't right.

I'm not against better stuff. I am against having to spend so much capital on keeping up with these kinds of things when there are so many more critical factors about our water and wastewater infrastructure that need improvement. Here's what just the verification standard for a 7 year old monitor costs now. https://www.hach.com/p-glass-rod-secondary-turbidity-standard-01-ntu-for-tu5200-tu5300sc-and-tu5400sc-laser-turbidimeters-with-rfid/LZY901

Keep in mind, this is a secondary standard. Doesn't count the primary standards for quarterly calibration. They typically only last 11 months. Wonder why that would be? 🙄 Also remember, this is just the calibration stuff for a monitor. We haven't talked about what the monitor itself costs. Go back to Hach's main page and shop for one, and the controller for it.

At the time I retired (coming up on two years ago) I was responsible for 15 of these devices spanning 3 generations of technology. That was just my Plants. One of the older Plants I'd been assigned to temporarily had 20, in one filter gallery alone, and about 30 altogether onsite. I understand from my former trainees the oldest ones we had are now being phased out. I installed them new, in 2012. They work fine. They're obsolete, and orphaned... no longer supported. That's just how it is.