First time neck adjustment. Encountered buzz

S

stingray7

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Oct 6, 2017
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#1
I have a squier that I never bothered setting up, so it is factory setup. I knew the strings were high all along, but the other day, I watched the famous video (Elixir guy) on Youtube and made a truss rod adjustment. That was the 1 of 4 videos, and the second one to adjust the bridge for each string which I have not performed.

I don't have feeler gauges, so I used a credit card, which gives you much more room. Probably I've turned the nut between 120-180 degrees so far, because first 90 degrees made no change.

Now I hear buzz in two places (or 3):
A string - 4th to 10th fret
E string - 1st, and 7th to 15th fret

What am I supoosed to do next?
I can go to Autozone to buy a set of feeler gauges, to tighten the rod even more to bring the strings lower, to the proper hight, but it would make the buzz even worse, right?

What I could think of is to raise the A and E string higher to kill the buzz, but there is not much turning left.
 
#2
you're turning it too fast - no more than 1/4 turn at a time, then wait a day or two for it to settle in
 
#5
You may be asking too much of the instrument if the frets have not been critically levelled and you are using low string action. Buy some feeler gauges - they won't break the bank. Then measure the relief and the string height and get back to us. You have to do one step at a time in the right order if you want optimum playability.
 
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#6
Thank you guys.
The neck is straightER now, but it still has .030 inch (credit card thickness), whereas the video suggests 0.015. Matt suggested 0.012. Not quite sure what "relief" means, so I am assuming it's the gap between the 7th fret and E string with the first fret and 16th fret pressed.
If setting it lower would improve, then I will go buy the gauge. It's only $3. Yes, one step at a time, so this is my first step.

You guys have not told me to turn it back and start over. Maybe it is too late to turn back. So I will go forward.
Here is the picture of the current bridge (factory setup):
bridge.jpg
 
#7
When you get the feeler gauges get this also. The finest graduations it has are 32nd of an inch so you’d have to estimate 64ths but it’s only $2.00 at Home Depot. Use it to measure your string height at the 17th fret.

Yes, relief is the gap at the 7th fret with a capo at one and I usually press the string down wherever the neck starts to get thick at the heel. Around the 16th or 17th fret is fine. .012” or .015” is fine also. You just need somewhere to start and you can decide what you like from there.
 
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#8
>Matt,
"When you get the feeler gauges get this also. The finest graduations it has are 32nd of an inch so you’d have to estimate 64ths but it’s only $2.00 at Home Depot." What is "this also"? Metal ruler? Does it have a name to use at HomeDepot website? Thanks!
 
#11
I don’t buy the whole “turn the truss rod a quarter turn and wait a day or two” thing. Whenever I take a bass to a tech, they can straighten/ add relief in a matter of minutes and the neck never moves again until the weather changes.

That aside, my suggestion here is to pay close attention to the slots in the nut. If they’re too high, there may be no problem with open strings, but a buzz may occur when fretting. Most of my necks are set up so they’re practically straight, but my nuts are filed reasonably low so playing close to the headstock is super comfortable. The string height, of course, raises the higher up the neck you go. YMMV, etc.
 
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#14

Yep. I have the StewMac setup gauge like that. Love it. Seemed like the OP didn’t want to lay out a lot of money so I was making a suggestion on something he could get right away and locally. Any of those card style setup gauges are probably going to be better than the ruler.
 
#16
>Matt
Thank you very much for the link. I bought the one you suggested, along with feeler gauges. I turned another 2/3 clockwise, and the relief is 0.28 now. So it is less...I will try some more tomorrow night, just to be safe, because it has been a lot of turning already.

>guy
I can buy one that you suggested. Is it much easier to use, than simple metal rulers that I just bought? It was quick, so I got it anyway. Thanks!
 
#17
stingray7 said:
>Matt
Thank you very much for the link. I bought the one you suggested, along with feeler gauges. I turned another 2/3 clockwise, and the relief is 0.28 now. So it is less...I will try some more tomorrow night, just to be safe, because it has been a lot of turning already.

>guy
I can buy one that you suggested. Is it much easier to use, than simple metal rulers that I just bought? It was quick, so I got it anyway. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes, that style of set up gauge is a little easier to use. It’s marked in 64ths which a lot of the specs you will see for string height will be 64ths. It’s wider than the ruler so I will sit across 3 - 4 frets when you’re measuring string height. That’s more stable then trying to balance that small ruler on one fret while you measure. Most of those also have an edge marks in thousands, if you prefer to measure that way. There’s undoubtedly other things.
 
#19
guy n. cognito said:
This is simply not necessary.
Click to expand...

Bodeanly said:
I don’t buy the whole “turn the truss rod a quarter turn and wait a day or two” thing. Whenever I take a bass to a tech, they can straighten/ add relief in a matter of minutes and the neck never moves again until the weather changes.

That aside, my suggestion here is to pay close attention to the slots in the nut. If they’re too high, there may be no problem with open strings, but a buzz may occur when fretting. Most of my necks are set up so they’re practically straight, but my nuts are filed reasonably low so playing close to the headstock is super comfortable. The string height, of course, raises the higher up the neck you go. YMMV, etc.
Click to expand...

I agree, also. Especially, what if you had to get your neck back to your preference, right before going on stage? You're not going to wait a day, and have your playing suck that night, just because you think your neck is "fragile". Your neck isn't a toothpick, so unless it's made out of balsa wood, turn the truss until you're happy...just do it in little increments (i.e. 1/8 turns at a time, instead of one big 1/2 turn).
 
#20
Turnaround said:
Frankly I don't understand why everyone wants to use a ruler to check string height. Parallax errors are hard to avoid and since you are using feeler gauges for measuring relief, why not use them for string height as well? Far more accurate than a ruler.
Click to expand...

It is much easier to pull out a ruler than to slowly add up a bunch of feeler gauges. Checking relief takes one gauge, not a stack. I think most people using a ruler are only getting the action there as a rough guide and tweak by hand as needed. That is what I do, at least.
 
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