Bass machine head rattle

EricTheWeary

So my £60 Vintage bass is a lovely thing but it is rattly. It sounds like it is coming from the headstock, in particular the machine heads. Indeed if you hold the elephant ears the rattle goes away. I think it's how they sit within the machine head mechanism ( very slightly loose) but it may well not be. Any thoughts on how to fix this? I haven't actually plugged it into anything yet so I don't know if the rattle is transmitted electronically but without it the bass is loud enough for reasonable home practice ( by my son who has gone from never picking up a bass to learning Foo Fighter bass lines within an hour!).

ecc83

You will need to take the machine heads off and see what is rattling in the mechanism. You might be able to squeeze things up tighter in a vice or fettle them with a small hammer.

One solution occurs? Feed  some PTFE plumbers tape into the worm gear? In the limit, buy some better quality mechs but that could cost more than the bass!

Dave.

EricTheWeary

Cheers Dave. The PTFE tape crossed my mind too. http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y513/phlplls/Mobile Uploads/2015-10/47A5FD69-1950-4FDC-A4CD-2505460949D0_zpsfuzjq0t1.jpg I thought I had posted an illustrative photo last night but don't seem to have done so.

ICBM

It's often the keys themselves rattling within the split shafts because the rivetting isn't tight enough. You can try hammering them tighter, but it's easier and often more effective just to wick some superglue into them.

As long as the big screws are tight there's not a lot else to rattle on these.

EricTheWeary

I'll double check the big screws, a little light hammering and then superglue or tape. When I bought it I heard it through an amp and it seemed fine so it's probably ok to use just quite an annoying rattle played unplugged.

Picking up a bass for the first time in years it seems huge!

WezV

If in doubt break out the blu-tac and attach it to different parts, although not on the gears.

I agree with ICBM about the elephant ears being a likely source

guitarcookie1

Is the bushing on the front of the headstock loose? I had this on my strat after I changed the machine heads; just needed a quick tighten and all cured.

EricTheWeary

I'll try that as well, it might be very simple but I wanted advice before I started and not damage the machine heads, especially as new ones might be more than the cost of the bass! Even new strings would be a significant cost against its value!

Cabicular

I've got a 70s precision and it does the same thing on the A

I just wack a rubber band round it and the E when I'm recording 

UnclePsychosis

Was going to say - on a £60 bass fixing it with blu tack or an elastic band would probably work just fine!

EricTheWeary

Had a go with general tightening up. I noticed the bushings were coming adrift of the headstock wood and managed to get the posts properly back in - although when you bring the low E up to tune this pulls the post out a couple of mill. Not ideal but not a real problem either. Buzzing gone down a bit. I can't see where I could pour super glue so I still need to experiment with tape or rubber bands or blue tak.