Hi all,

 

I'm relatively new to playing bass and I don't know that much about guitar repair. I just bought a brand new Ibanez SR300 bass guitar that has a bolt-on neck. The low e string has an awful buzz. So much so that its more buzz than note. It's horrible on the first and second fret and then buzzes a bit less on the 3rd,4th and 5th before it pretty much stops. The other strings are fine I think, its just the low e string that seems to be the problem. Is it poor quality strings? I was told they were shipped with D'addario strings but I don't know if that's true. Or is it a truss rod adjustment issue? And if so, is it better to take it to a luthier rather than tackle it myself given that I don't know much about truss rods?

 

The dealer I bought it from in the UK has been worse than usless. The guitar arrived with the pickup switch loose in the box, which I had to fix and still isn't quite right. They still haven't gotten back to me about a week later it so I can't see I'm going to get much help out of them. Wouldn't buy another item from them, put it that way.

 

Any advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers,

 

Nic

Assuming there is a truss rod, try tightening it (to increase bow in the neck).

No more than about 1/8 turn per day - giving it time to settle before tightening again.

The SR series are generally pretty good instruments - not top of the range, but solid and reliable.

 

If it's just the one string, it might be a saddle height thing, so check the action on the other strings(the manual should tell you the best place to take measurements) before you go banging into that.

 

Before you do anything, though, have a squizz through youtube for setup videos.

Just remember that whatever you do, do it a little bit at a time. Don't do big adjustments, do a bit then retune and try it. I agree with dazedandbemused, have a look through a fair few you tube videos and choose the one that is most informative.

Thanks very much hostilian, dazed and cris for all your help, I truly appreciate you all being kind enough to send me a reply. I'll definitely look into your suggestions and go watch some videos and see if I can work out where the problem is so I can fix it.

 

cheers,

 

Nic