Fixing the buzz on my Magnum Bass neck

[marc61]

Followed the directions from the manual like a good boy

http://www.ovationtribute.com/Catalogue ... anual.html

but the neck still buzzes.

What I'm showing is the truss rod flush with the neck, and what it looks like when I loosen it. It doesn't seem to affect the truss rod. Also showed a couple of pics of the frets. Maybe they need to be leveled?

[marc61]

Fret pics

[jps]

Does it buzz in tune? In what way is it buzzing, is it fret buzz or ???

Looks like the truss rod is as loose as it will go unless it is stuck for some reason. When you tighten the rod what happens?

[marc61]

Tis fret buzz, and very much in tune. I wanna use it for recording so, it needs to be tip top

I'll try tightening it and see what happens. Pretty sure it should make things worse. I want the neck to lean forward, not back. According to the manual, when you fret down on the first and 17th frets, there should be space under the string at the 7th fret, which there is not. I'm wondering if the graphite reinforcement is what's keeping the neck so straight.

[antipodean]

Sounds like back-bow. Have you tried heavier gauge strings?

[jps]

My comment about tightening the rod is just to test if it is working or stuck.

[marc61]

Evan, The strings on it, are the stings I got it with, but I have to believe the E is like .105

Jeff, I'm thinking you might be right. I even took the nut totally off and there was basically no change.

[marc61]

So Jeff, the fact I can remove the TR nut, with no change, does that mean the rod is stuck? broken? If it's stuck, can it be fixed?

[jps]

Hard to tell from a photo. Can you get more backbow from tightening the rod a little, say 1/3 to 1/2 turn further than the nut being snug up?

[marc61]

yeah, if I keep tightening it, the neck will start bowing. It's when the nut starts clearing the wood that nothing further happens.

Shame because, it's really only the E string that bothers me. The rest are fine.

[jps]

Try a higher tension string set to cause a bit of forward bow and then adjust the truss rod to get the relief where you want it. Also, you could try unstringing it and leave the rod loose for a couple weeks and see what happen, whether the neck straightens out; then put the strings back on, bring it up to pitch and see what the neck does, then, with the rod loosened.

[marc61]

Jeff, instead of wasting strings, how about trying to create the bow by tuning up the bass strings higher?

[jps]

That works.

[marc61]

ok, a little good news. I tuned the strings way up and the buzz is gone. I wouldn't want to play the bass with this kind of tension though. I'll let it sit overnight, then tune it down to pitch and see what happens. So, that means Evan was right, it needed higher tension strings.

[jps]

What strings are on there, now?