Hey all,
Larrybgoode, Railboard Noob here. Just purchased a 10-string Railboard off of Reverb.com.
Chomping at the bit to get started playing it. The neck seems straight when I sight toward a light source as shown in Greg Howard’s video. The thickest bass string has some buzz when I get higher up the neck and kind of frets out when I get to the last several frets.
Can someone give this stick neophyte some helpfully guidance?

Hi Larry and welcome! My experience has been--tap the thing! Squeaks and buzzes result from a less than solid attack, and this is a lesson that needs constant reinforcement in my own case. As Aesop said, 'Grasp the nettle firmly'. As Earthgene and others here have said, 'the tone is in your hands'.

If you've looked at Greg's video and adjusted the instrument, my only thoughts are to crank up the amp and play a bit softer on the strings. Let the amp do most of the work. Newbies tend to tap too hard to get a louder tone.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx8LQS7Et1g[/youtube]

Larry, when you say higher up the neck, how much higher ??
I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just curious because in all my years of collecting all kinds of instruments, I don't think I've ever owned a single stringed instrument that was absolutely perfect as far as every note on every string goes regarding fret noise, especially the heavier strings...
Also - dumb question # 2... are you playing this new railboard through an amp and hearing the buzz, through a mixing desk and hearing a buzz, through headphones and hearing a buzz ??
Is it possible the wrong strings are installed ??
I'm also assuming it's tuned to correct pitch for the string gauges installed.
Listen, congrats on that Railboard you just got off Reverb, I think I seen that one - I just grabbed that 1990s natural Stick which ended up being a mid 80s Ironwood Woo Hooo !! but where I am going with this is I played my new baby for maybe two or three minutes and - I mean I did not even check to see if it was in tune [!!] but I played it real quick just to see where this instrument was at, concluded that it was perfect to the point where I wanted to send the seller even more money - then I put it away.
Why??
Because soon I will order the correct set of strings from S.E. and even though it came with new strings, less the high D... I want to make sure I have the correct strings [Classic light only on that baby !!] before I go any further.
This also seems to be a common complaint which I see throughout Sticklist, and it makes me wonder if technique has something to do with the buzzing - like fretting technique - for instance, does one place their finger exactly dead center on the fret ?? Or just behind it ??
Anyhow, there's a wealth of knowledge from the folks here - I sincerely hope you can get your railboard so that it plays to your liking, and yes... as one person mentioned - a lot has to do with the person playing it too, and I don't mean that as an insult... as I'm a new Stick player myself, and I expect to be involved with lots of practice just with fretting techniques once i get my new strings from S.E.
Good Luck !!

Cheers..

I don't own a Railboard, but there's a piece of information that I haven't seen in this thread that may be pertinent. Someone please correct me if I'm not explaining this well or correctly here, but a Railboard is something of a different beast from a 'regular' Stick as far as truss rod application is concerned.

Greg's video was produced before the Railboard was developed, and possibly before the 4-way truss rod was in play. It's tailored to wood/bamboo/graphite/etc. instruments, on which string tension generally bows the neck such that the truss rod needs to be in tension to straighten things out.

The general concepts in the video do apply to the Railboard, however the instrument is significantly more rigid, and though I'm not certain, it may even be arched before string tension is applied. Regardless, string tension doesn't necessarily bow a Railboard to where the truss rod needs to be in tension. You may need part/all of the truss rod to be in compression to get the neck to the proper flatness, which the 4-way truss rod can readily accomplish. Thus, keep in mind that you may need to have one or both of the tension rod nuts pressing _away_ from the neck, instead of pressing into it.

Hope this helps.

There might be a few tips at the end of this video.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1ZLQG4_A3c[/youtube]

Hi Victor,

Much depends on humidity changes as far as using the rod to "push" adding tension in the direction of the strings on wooden and bamboo instruments.

The rigidity of the Railboard isn't the reason for the desired push so much as the natural inclination of the beam to arch. It's very subtle, but enough on a long-scale instrument to make a difference. Emmett's truss design for the divided truss might seem more complicated, but a straight board is a straight board, so just sight the board from either end and the correction should be easy to note.

What you really don't want it to have the nuts spinning freely, make sure there is a little resistance to keep that from happening,as the truss itself it "loose" and can rattle.

Not to be too contrary about this, but I usually give the opposite advice, with some caveats.

1. make sure you are tapping right behind the fret (this reduces buzzing substantially.) You can hit the string pretty hard in this sweet spot and not get buzzing, which you will get if you tap between the frets.

2. use hand motion to approach the fret, not just up-and-down finger "typing motion". this gives you more control over how much energy is going into the string, the dynamic range is enhanced, and the large muscles and mass of the hand and arm equalize the fingers. Energy in=tone out.

3. just because you can hit the string with some force, don't waste a lot of energy "gripping" the note after the fact. I find this produces the most sonic artifacts of all as the tension in the hand must be "overcome" before the next note sounds. String squeaking being the worst problem, but also hand fatigue...

4. hand movement more energy into the string gives you a more solid fundamental, with less overtones. This is demonstrable. the instrument, even though it is not acoustic, gives back vibration as well. The hotter and "sweeter" the signal going into the pickup the less noise, and hum you'll get, and the better performance you'll get out of distortion processing, which likes to see a signal that is stronger than what is generated by really light tapping. lighter tapping means more gain is required which leads to noise and feedback issues.

There's more, but that's enough for now.

Greg – thank you for clarifying where it’s best to fret in relation to the actual frets.
I also agree with your other points mentioned as well... as they have answered some concerns I had as well.

Big George