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i'm getting fret noise on my new fender active jazz bass (5-string). when i play notes near the bottom of the neck (frets 1-5ish) on the B string, its very difficult to finger the notes without hearing the string vibrate against the fret as i'm pushing it down. i'm not getting a buzz once i've pushed it down, only as i'm pushing it down or lifting up.

do i raise the action a little to correct this problem? what should i do.

Comments

Tommy P. Thu, 03/09/2006 - 13:34

By all means raise the action yourself and remember to adjust the intonation with a good strobe tuner.

Or, you should have the instrument adjusted by a bonafied pro. This is especially a Fender thing. The most popular unadjusted, mass produced half-finished guitar known the world over. And they sound pretty damn good once setup right.

Or, better yet if you are a professional desiring the top sound and playability, have it PLEK'd. http://www.plek.com

SonOfSmawg Thu, 03/09/2006 - 16:08

Depending where you bought it, the strings may have been slack for a long time before you bought it (they are stored that way). As Tommy said, go ahead and raise the action a bit for now. If, AFTER A WEEK, with the strings having been in tune, you still cannot adjust the action to be the way you want it, then a SLIGHT truss rod adjustment may be in order (shouldn't be more than a quarter turn). This is not a bad thing, and it is not unusual. If you do not trust yourself to do it, take it to a professional for a full adjustment and setup.

Tommy was dead-on (of course) about Fenders coming somewhat "unfinished", especially if it was not on display in a music store (in which case they usually give guitars a setup). Most Pro players don't care though, because they will almost always do slight modifications and set it up the way they want it.