Amp on floor and rattles in room

[Photonic]

I play through a Fender Rumble 40 which sits in a corner of my practice room and the placement cannot be changed. It sits on the floor. I notice that even at modest volume levels things around my room sometimes rattle. This made me think (newbie question) whether lifting the bass up off the floor slightly onto some sort of vibration absorbing platform might reduce room rattles. This might take away floor transmission of the sound. This may be a super naive question, but I thought I would ask in case there is some gap in my bass amp knowledge (There are likely many!)

 

[Wasnex]

Maybe it will help and maybe it will make the rattle worse.

AFAIK acoustic couple can be more of a factor than mechanical coupling.

 

[Photonic]

I did find a product Auralex GRAMMA v2 Isolation pads for about $90. Not sure whether these would help or not.

 

[DrBnz]

There are way too many variables involved to answer your question. Maybe you find that right freq (note) to play that excites the rattle and have a 2nd person go see what that is and what you can do about it. I kinda doubt raising it will help much. Getting it away from the wall might help a LITTLE. I remember you said that your amp is stuck where its at. But for experimental purposes, try it in other places in the room. I'd bet it doesn't matter where its at, it still does it. You'll have to identify the offending items and move them or stop playing those frequencies.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Why not just try putting it on a desk or table and see what happens??

 

[Photonic]

Why not just try putting it on a desk or table and see what happens??

Or perhaps just a chunk of foam.....

 

[Minimalist]

I did find a product Auralex GRAMMA v2 Isolation pads for about $90. Not sure whether these would help or not.

Before I'd spend $90 I'd try other things. Back in the day I used tennisballs cut in half. A lot cheaper. For testing, a pile of dirty laundry might even work.

 

[Photonic]

Before I'd spend $90 I'd try other things. Back in the day I used tennisballs cut in half. A lot cheaper. For testing, a pile of dirty laundry might even work.

Good thinking. I just talked to my wife to brainstorm. We tried a very dense piece of foam that was perfectly sized - no difference. Then we tried a folded up dog bed, much less dense but super fluffy so as to not transmit vibrations to the floor - no difference! Indeed I think this just HAS saved me $90. (Man slaps forehead in amazement!)

 

[Michedelic]

I play through a Fender Rumble 40 which sits in a corner of my practice room and the placement cannot be changed. It sits on the floor. I notice that even at modest volume levels things around my room sometimes rattle. This made me think (newbie question) whether lifting the bass up off the floor slightly onto some sort of vibration absorbing platform might reduce room rattles. This might take away floor transmission of the sound. This may be a super naive question, but I thought I would ask in case there is some gap in my bass amp knowledge (There are likely many!)

Every room, which essentially is an acoustic chamber, has a resonant frequency, which in turn excites objects within. If you have in your locale a company that offers foam or upholstery supplies, check with them to see what high density products they offer.
Or check with a UPS store or similar for packing suppiles. A bag of foam peanuts(which I personally dislike for a number of reasons)or better yet layers of bubble wrap might be a creative way around this. Maybe a thrift store beanbag?
Otherwise, incorporating a multiband graphic EQ or a parametric(to find and dial out the most offensive frequencies)might be an option. Easily found used, and useful live on certain boomy stages anyway.

 

[Minimalist]

Try to see if he rattle is worse with certain notes. If it is, try the same note on a different string.

 

[Photonic]

Try to see if he rattle is worse with certain notes. If it is, try the same note on a different string.

It definitely is the E string G note. I think I will have my wife help me hunt for the object that is rattling. Lots of candidates, but holding one by one may find the culprit IF my wife wife can tolerate me playing G over and over and over at high volume!

 

[mcnach]

I play through a Fender Rumble 40 which sits in a corner of my practice room and the placement cannot be changed. It sits on the floor. I notice that even at modest volume levels things around my room sometimes rattle. This made me think (newbie question) whether lifting the bass up off the floor slightly onto some sort of vibration absorbing platform might reduce room rattles. This might take away floor transmission of the sound. This may be a super naive question, but I thought I would ask in case there is some gap in my bass amp knowledge (There are likely many!)

Experiment with EQ. HPF in particular.

 

[Wasnex]

There are quite a few TB threads on this subject.

talkbass mechanical coupling auralex - Google Search

 

[Photonic]

There are quite a few TB threads on this subject.

talkbass mechanical coupling auralex - Google Search

Thanks for that. When I started the post, I didn't know that was a thing. Thanks for the search link!

 

[funkinbottom]

Some times it is an extremely simple fix. It's finding it that's the hard part. I had a rattle in my office/studio that was quite annoying. I strapped on my bass, played while walking around the room until I located the culprit. I collect globes, and one of the smaller ones had somehow moved close enough to barely touch the stand of the globe next to it. Separated them and.... AHHhhh. Haven't had a rattle since.

 

[gtirard]

I'm in the « try and learn » camp.
Usually I try with my drummer to locate where the rattle comes from (one plays bass, the other touches things until the rattle stops). Sometimes if it's a drum kit element rattling when you play, you just need to tape it or move it. Sometimes it's the handles of the amp, many other possibilities.

 

[agedhorse]

Good thinking. I just talked to my wife to brainstorm. We tried a very dense piece of foam that was perfectly sized - no difference. Then we tried a folded up dog bed, much less dense but super fluffy so as to not transmit vibrations to the floor - no difference! Indeed I think this just HAS saved me $90. (Man slaps forehead in amazement!)

You have conclusively eliminated mechanical coupling as the root cause of your issue.

Acoustic coupling is almost certainly the cause, and if you can't move the amp (which may or may not help), then you need to identify the items that are rattling and making the noise. This will be harder than you think, and it may be multiple items.

 

[Minimalist]

It definitely is the E string G note. I think I will have my wife help me hunt for the object that is rattling. Lots of candidates, but holding one by one may find the culprit IF my wife wife can tolerate me playing G over and over and over at high volume!

Sounds like an awesome bonding experience. Kudos to yiur wife for helping you.

 

[FullumMusic]

This is probably a 2-person job. One person plays all the notes. The other person goes around the room finding whats sympathetically vibrating for each note, and then either moves them slightly in their place (sometimes a turn or shift will be enough to put all corners of the object firmly on their surfaces), or moving them to another place, or placing some sort of soft thing between them and whatever they're on. (Felt furniture stickys or on the bottom of Chess pieces, or cloth or table runners, or drawer liners, or whatever.) Or put those things in a different room.

 

[Mastiff_5]

Welcome to bass playing. We rattle the walls. When we do it right, we rattle the foundation.