Double Bass G string not working...

[Swivelrocker]

I have a Fujiyama FB-10L - I realize it is not a high end unit but it was very inexpensive when I bought almost two years ago and had no issues then.

I am not a bass player first, so it spends considerable time 'resting' in between plays. The last time I played it was in the fall of last year where I used it extensively to record an album, and it was fine then too.

Now the G string has major buzz...I can play it open or the first position only and even then you can tell something isn't right. Every other position is unplayable.

The instrument is stored upright in a home made stand out of the sun and has never been inadvertently smacked or whacked. I have not detuned it when it is standing there and it does get pretty dry here (Calgary AB - REALLY dry actually)...so I'm wondering if these two things have something to do with it. The other strings seem to be fine.

Any thoughts on what has caused this to happen?

 

[Swivelrocker]

Here are some pictures! There is at best 2mm gap between the G string and the end of the fretboard. I can also see that the string is well embedded into the bridge...will tension over time do this? I can't remember what it was like originally..

 

[Povl Carstensen]

2 millimeters is extremely (too) low. If you are a tinkerer, you can lift the string in the bridge slot by inserting a small piece of wood (match) or thin plywood, with a drop of glue. But I doubt it will be enough. One can also liftt the entire bridge by putting a piece of thin (ply-)wood under each foot of the bass. I used to do these things before I got my adjustable bridge. The reason I mention plywood, is that I had some extremely thin, 1 mm hobby plywood, that came in handy for these kind of things.

 

[robobass]

The the bridge slot might deepen over ten years of constant string changes, but not two years of very light use. I'm guessing that the string heights were set very low in the first place, and a bit of top settling has made the thing unplayable. The sound post might be too short or in the wrong place, or the fingerboard has warped a bit. Maybe neither. You might just need to get the bridge adjusted. In any case, Calgary must have a luthier qualified to tackle this problem.