Help with raising action / string rattle, basic setup done (Yamaha Motion B)

[galder]

Hello!

I didn't notice how much my strings rattle until the time for recording with this bass came up. Playing softly helps a lot, but it doesn't fix the problem.. sometimes I get excited during a song, start to play harder and the low end strings hit frets.
Now don't get me wrong, I like some rattle, but not when there's too much!

I have tried the following :

Raising action from bridge. E string is as high as it goes. Helped a little.

Raising action from nut. I put some hard, thick paper undernearth the strings to raise action. Didn't help much, only made fretting low F and A# much harder!

Truss rod adjustment. The neck clearly has a good deal of relief. Doesn't help. Straightening the neck does nothing. I've let sit for a day of course after adjustments, but didn't notice any major change. The space between string and fingerboard at the moment is roughly the same as the gauge of my E string, .100, while pressing the string down from the first and last frets.

Strings. Wound three times. Shouldn't be a problem? Could string gauge be the culprit? E and A can usually rattle, and their gauge is .80 and .100.

Neck angle. This bass has a bolt-on neck. Maybe adjusting the angle would do the trick? Now the angle is so that it's away from the bridge, the end of the neck clearly starts to raise towards the pickups.


Thanks for any suggestions!

[dbcandle]

The threads in the sticky at the top of this area (setup & repair) are very good.

Still, if I understand correctly, the relief in your neck, as measured at the 8th fret by fretting at both the first and last fret is the same as your low E. If so, that is too much relief for the typical bass.

The proper relief is generally between the thicknes of 1-2 business-cards. The optimum relief seems to be a function of precisely where the neck bows (it's just wood...), any warpage and how good the the fretwork (and fretboard) is.

[galder]

I have read a whole bunch of setup guides, but the problem with relief is that if I make it less, like the rule of thumb you mentioned, I get more rattling. There's not enough space for the strings to vibrate and they keep hitting the frets. Having more relief helps, but doesn't eliminate the problem.. so I guess something else is wrong with my setup?

I can manage with playing more softly and not digging in "too deep", but I'd rather have the option of playing harder as well.. I've played basses that I can give all my strength and the notes come out loud and clear without any anomalies.

[galder]

Another thing.. the rattle usually occurs around the middle of the neck, maybe roughly 5th to 10th frets. Not high or low frets nor consistently.. and never on D or G strings.

Any ideas?