Bridge rattle just won't quit!

[Mr L]

I bought a sterling SUB ray4 about a month ago used from musiciansfriend.

When I got it i noticed a very obvious buzz at the bridge. I assumed bad strings so I change them. Didn't help. Tool the bridge springs off and stretched them. Helped a little. Then I tried putting electrical tape between each saddle, and along the bottom of the saddles, as well as angling the G and E saddles out a bit. This helped a bit.

But the buzz is still there! If I play hard with my fingers on the E or A string the buzz is audible in the amp.

The truss rod works perfectly fine by the way.

Help!!!

[Zooberwerx]

Problem with buzzes of this type is that, all too frequently, they originate elsewhere along the string path (tuner, nut, fingerboard, etc) but seemingly manifest themselves or appear more pronounced at the bridge. It's like looking for a cricket in a room. From your description, you've double-checked the bridge hardware so I can only make two suggestions with that in focus:

*Make sure your bridge saddles are level / parallel with the bridge's baseplate so the height adjustment screws are in full contact.

*Re-set your witness points at both the nut and bridge.

I know there are other ways to eliminate the bridge as the sole culprit but they escape me at the moment.

Riis

[lang3735]

I do setups at the music shop where I work have seen it where there has been a rattle in a tuner which was causing problems...and also faulty strings....normally an E or A string that is a bit loose on the string core has been the cause of a few mysterious buzzing problems over the years.
The most common cause has been covered by Zooberwerx....uneven bridge saddle height adjustment screws that don't have full contact with the bridge plate.
Remove all the tape....there should be no need to isolate parts with tape....the tape will deaden the tone somewhat....and it shouldn't be required that you do that...it's a bit like using a piece of fencing wire to hold the door of your brand new car closed....the car door handle/latch should be doing that job.
If you can't sort it out, contact the place you bought it from. It is their responsibility to get it put right seeing you only had it a month.
If I sold a bass at work and I saw it a month later with tape on the bridge parts to keep a rattle quiet, I would be concerned and would be more than happy to sort it out for the customer.

[johnson79]

I have the same problem. I put a new bridge on (black instead of the old chrome) and still have some noise. Thanks for the pointers, I'll be sure to check some of this when I change strings this weekend.