Short Scale String Rattle

[RnRDave]

Can anyone tell me what the problem might be? 

 

When I hold the body in certain positions the rattle goes away. 

 

Bass is Fender Modern Player Jazz Bass Short Scale.

 

 

 

 

[RnRDave]

Doesn't seem to be neck relief as the strings don't seem to be hitting the frets to cause the rattle.

[Reggaebass]

Have you had a listen around the tuning pegs, maybe something is vibrating there, great colour btw 

[RnRDave]

 

Oddly when I lay it flat on my lap the rattle isn't there...

 

 

 

[snorkie635]

My guess is your trussrod is loose. Sometimes a firm dunt with the heel of your hand to the neck around the 12th fret is enough to sort the problem. Don't hit the neck so hard you break it though!

[RnRDave]

  On 13/04/2025 at 14:37, snorkie635 said:

My guess is your trussrod is loose. Sometimes a firm dunt with the heel of your hand to the neck around the 12th fret is enough to sort the problem. Don't hit the neck so hard you break it though!

Expand  

 If this was the case should I hear it rattle when I shake the whole bass? 

 

Just gave it a good shake and can't hear anything...

[Lozz196]

Whenever rattle is mentioned on Fender basses my first thoughts are the A string. Try pressing down on the string just before the tuning peg, if the rattle goes away it’s the string rattling due to the break angle. On non-US Fenders I put on a Hipshot triple string retainer for the A/D/G to remedy this.

[RnRDave]

  On 13/04/2025 at 15:45, Lozz196 said:

Whenever rattle is mentioned on Fender basses my first thoughts are the A string. Try pressing down on the string just before the tuning peg, if the rattle goes away it’s the string rattling due to the break angle. On non-US Fenders I put on a Hipshot triple string retainer for the A/D/G to remedy this.

Expand  

 

I'll give this a go shortly!!

[snorkie635]

  On 13/04/2025 at 14:47, RnRDave said:

 If this was the case should I hear it rattle when I shake the whole bass? 

 

Just gave it a good shake and can't hear anything...

Expand  

Not necessarily, sometimes you'll only hear the rattle if you hit the neck lightly along its length.

Edited Monday at 09:08 by snorkie635

[three]

  On 13/04/2025 at 14:01, Reggaebass said:

Have you had a listen around the tuning pegs, maybe something is vibrating there, great colour btw 

Expand  

I don't know if you'll have tried this yet but Reggaebass makes a good point - it might be worth tightening the screws/washers that hold the gearing in place on the machine heads - I've had these come loose on Fender-type basses with resulting rattle.  I'd also agree with Lozz196 re: break angle - just pressing down on the string behind the nut might reveal the cause of the rattle (though it sounds more like a loose component to me).  I hope you get it sorted - really frustrating!

[bertbass]

I had a machine head rattling on me once, it was actually the ear loose in the slot.  Took ages to find it, a quick squeeze with a pair of pliers fixed it.

[RnRDave]

  22 hours ago, bertbass said:

I had a machine head rattling on me once, it was actually the ear loose in the slot.  Took ages to find it, a quick squeeze with a pair of pliers fixed it.

Expand  

 

Funny you should say this...

 

 

 

[RnRDave]

Think this must be the culprit!

[Reggaebass]

Maybe a bit of superglue and see if it does the job 

[snorkie635]

  1 hour ago, RnRDave said:

Think this must be the culprit!

Expand  

Excellent! Well done you and @bertbass.

 

Peace breaks out at last! 😃