Double Bass string rattle

[bassplayer48]

Hey guys i recently switched to innovation silver slaps from spiro weichs, i like the strings but on the E and A there is an odd kind of rattle around the A and B position on the e string and the D and E position on the A string. It doesn't seem to be that the strings are hitting the fingerboard between the note and the bridge, but when i damp the string behind the note im playing it seems ok, it doesn't do this with steel strings although the steels are lighter gauge anyway.

Could it be it needs a fingerboard shoot?

 

[Francois Blais]

Is your action very low?
These strings are low tension and have a huge swing like gut strings, therefore they need more room to vibrate.
If you have adjusters on your bridge, try to raise the height.
(slack the strings somewhat beforehand)

 

[bassplayer48]

Hi No the action is quite high 12mm on the e string so i don;t think its an action problem.

 

[moles]

IME with gut & low tension gut-like synthetics, a lot more force is needed to finger a note than with any steel string, otherwise you get that weird rattling. It may seem counter-intuitive, given that they are lower tension than what you are changing over from, but a good strong stopping of the note will equal a clearer tone.

This is no comment on how your technique may (or may not) be - just something I've noticed switching back and forth between steel strings and gut/nylon strings over the past few years.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Hey guys i recently switched to innovation silver slaps from spiro weichs, i like the strings but on the E and A there is an odd kind of rattle around the A and B position on the e string and the D and E position on the A string. It doesn't seem to be that the strings are hitting the fingerboard between the note and the bridge, but when i damp the string behind the note im playing it seems ok, it doesn't do this with steel strings although the steels are lighter gauge anyway.

Could it be it needs a fingerboard shoot?

That could be the issue. When you stop the string at the 5th position you'll be able to use the string as a straightedge to check the fingerboard shape from there to the nut. There should be a bit of a gentle arc and you should be able to play that portion of the string and get a clean note.

If not, its time to get your fingerboard dressed by your friendly local bass luthier.

 

[bassplayer48]

well solved this one or rather my luthier did, i took it in to get some work done and he noticed straight away that the fingerboard was pulling away from the neck slightly the fingerboard had actually moved a bit to the e side, anyway this was what was causing the anoying string rattle on the g side, so after realigning and gluing no more rattle ....