Chasing a buzz

[Doug Davis]

I have an old Englehardt with an 'ebonized' maple board.

I all but have it sold to a friend except for one area on the G that buzzez. So I proceded to replane the board (several areas had worn through the thick lacquer and I thought that might be adding to the cause).

as it stands now, the board is true and I've added a tiny bit of relief but no matter what I do, I still get (string/fingerboard) buzzing at the same spot. but only on the G and only in this same spot?

I'm not sure if its because this is at the 'bottom' of the relief arching or ??

[Doug Davis]

Thanks Wayne,

I thought it might be a sympathetic buzz on the top side of the string but eliminated that (I think) as I can't affect it in any way by using 'support' fingering above the note or not....no difference - if that makes sense.

also, to the "no matter what I do"; I had the same thoughts... its starting to remind me of working on my old vw years ago. trying to get out a ''flat spot" in the carb...after a half dozen corrections had no effect, I figured out it was something else completely different. But there are aurguably less variables on an upright! but still I did wonder if maybe it was a flat spot in the string or something....but nothings visible? maybe inside the core?

[Doug Davis]

when I talked about trueing the board, I was referring to making sure the relief or scoop in the board in constant rather than wavy, uneven, or had low or high spots.

[Thomas Erickson]

It sounds as though the fingerboard just isn't shaped right. Since it is maple (and probably way to thin anyway) I wouldn't waste time making it thinner still - a new, properly shaped ebony fingerboard will make a big difference in the sound and playability of the bass.

[Doug Davis]

yes, I basically started from zero again and made sure that the relief arc in the board was a fair curve with no bumps or pits, by block sanding with a small enough block, then using a block file.

this seemed to work well.