How to reduce Fret Rattle

[buzkie]

Hi,

I've been playing bass for about 6 months and I've started to notice that I get really bad fret rattle on my bottom two strings the further out I am.

I both pick and finger pick depending on the song and BPM, but I do like to play hard when I really get into it.

I'm playing on a Dean edge playmate that I picked up new. I've not changed the strings ever, and they are showing some spotting.

Any suggestions for reducing the rattle? I would consider buying a better guitar, but I don't have that big of a budget and would rather try something else first.

Thanks

[JimmyM]

1. Play closer to the bridge and lighten up.

or

B. Raise your strings.

[cnltb]

a good set up .

[JimmyM]

Ya, a good pro setup wouldn't hurt, either. Usually costs around $20-30 to get it done.

[Jim Carr]

Assuming a setup and newer strings don't fix it all, here is a variation on Jimmy's advice.

Play a few notes at different places and volumes.

Listen for notes that rattle/clack.

Play those notes and make them rattle reliably.

Notice where the rattle is coming from.

Experiment with right and left hand technique, using those things that DID NOT reliably make the rattle.

Analyze what exactly you are doing differently, and incorporate those changes into your regular technique. If it is not quiet enough, "rinse and repeat."

Anyone doing much for hire recording has done this for hours and hours, I assure you.

[trust24]

I have this problem, but when im playing with my amp on quite loud i cant even tell its only when they amp is switched off that the strings make a clanging sound. Is this normall or is it ok if you cant hear the rattle when the amps on

[cnltb]

Oh I completely forgot one of the most potential reasons for strings making clangy noises... a review of your playing technique may be an idea to look into, as Jim carr suggests.

[RustyAxe]

Some common causes of fret buzzes (rattles):

• Seasonal changes can cause drying out of the top (acoustic bodies) which causes it to "sink into the soundhole", changing the bridge angle
• Improper neck relief creates a "hump"
• Uneven frets (high)
• Action too low (nut slot depth, saddle height)
• other?

It would take a good tech 5 minutes to analyze this for you.

[buzkie]

Thanks for all the help. Reading up on Set-up helped me to find a few other issues. And as Trust24 said it always sounds better on my amp. (usually use headphone amp)

if you have any other suggestions please let me know.

[bottomend!]

The best place to play to eliminate fret noise is directly "behind" the fret, not at some random place within the distance between two frets. Get your finger as close as possible ( it might actually be positioned a little bit up on the fret!) to the fret. Practice this without an amp and you'll soon ( couple of weeks?) notice cleaner technique. You can easily contrast the sound of a more noisy centered finger verses a cleaner sounding finger placed close to the fret. Credit for this magnificent info goes to Gary Wills who blew our minds in class one day when someone asked the same question!

[buzkie]

I tried that inintially before posting here (playing right behand the fret through up on it) an it didn't do anything. I've found that there are a couple problems with the way my bass was initially set up before I bought it that I need to correct that will hopefully solve the problems. I'll reply in the next few days with an update on how that goes. Thanks for all the ideas.

[My name is Mudd]

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

[*]other?

In my case, a weak pinky on my left (fret) hand.