benjo

Manton Customs sums up what I'm getting at

thanks for this. That's what I was getting at, didn't describe it half as well as you though! It's MDF in there man - I've given it a good prod etc

It is, yes. And definitely seems to be coming from the body/bridge area. I will email him - good idea

Yeah, maybe I should be careful spreading dirty words around. I might ask the boss direct.

I think the top layer might be alder, then the MDF below. My guess at this point is they rout out a big section, then make the cavities with MDF inserts - but without stripping the thing / chopping it up I might never know.

Thanks Drax - it's a Hipshot bridge. It does have those Fender style springs but yeah, I've checked them. Running out of avenues here! I've even checked that all the cavity shield tape is stuck down properly.. thinking maybe it's something inside one of these tone cavities that may or may not exist - I can't see through to any other cavities from the pickup routs.. The bass id mighty light tho, so I reckon they could be in there. It's just a bit of a bummer because the rattle kinda chokes the notes that it affects..

Thanks for your pointers on the buzzing. I'll investigate this further today

Thanks man, thats a good shout. I'm a carpenter so I get what you mean. But.. I'm pretty certain I'm looking at the top - then 3 layers of MDF laminated together - then the back (the bottom of the rout) ..I've had a poke around with the tip of a knife and it looks and feels like MDF in there. I've taken another couple of pics where its a bit clearer, I'll post them if you like. Wouldn't blame you if not tho..

Hi. Me again. Just had my Jake 5 apart looking for a buzzing/papery sound coming from the body area when I play low notes. Unplugged, that is. Anyway - looking into the holes where the pickups sit, it looks like the body is made of a few sheets of MDF laminated together (see pics - second one shows it best) ..the certificate that comes with the bass says it has and alder body with 'tone cavities' - can anyone shed any light on how these are constructed? If it's not MDF I'm looking at, it's definitely some kind of fibreboard. Also, still getting the papery/buzzing sound with everything removed apart from the bridge. Don't think it's the truss rod, what could it be? Thanks in advance, Ben.

Hi. Me again. Just had my Jake 5 apart looking for a buzzing/papery sound coming from the body area when I play low notes. Unplugged, that is. Anyway - looking into the holes where the pickups sit, it looks like the body is made of a few sheets of MDF laminated together (see pics - second one shows it best) ..the certificate that comes with the bass says it has and alder body with 'tone cavities' - can anyone shed any light on how these are constructed? If it's not MDF I'm looking at, it's definitely some kind of fibreboard. Also, still getting the papery/buzzing sound with everything removed apart from the bridge. Don't think it's the truss rod, what could it be? Thanks in advance, Ben.

Thank you everyone for your input on this. I took the bass to an excellent luthier here in Bristol. He took the tension off the strings and the truss rod - said the neck looked good, with a slight back-bow in it when under no tension. We then set it back up again with the same strings, then loosened the strings again before a final tune up. When he tuned it back up we were actually able to release the truss rod quite a bit - he said sometimes they can work better if you do it this way - so you're tensioning the strings against the rod, rather than the rod against the strings.. if you know what i mean. Also, he was impressed with the bass. Liked the weight and the slim neck. And how easy it plays. Anyway, I've currently got a good bit more adjustment in the rod, which I'm happy with. It also does seem sensitive to small tweaks. Might change to lighter gauge strings to see how much more that gains me, will update if i do.. but for now i'm happy I've got a good bit of headroom if i need it. I'm keeping the bass! Thanks again, Ben.

Thank you everyone for your input on this. I took the bass to an excellent luthier here in Bristol. He took the tension off the strings and the truss rod - said the neck looked good, with a slight back-bow in it when under no tension. We then set it back up again with the same strings, then loosened the strings again before a final tune up. When he tuned it back up we were actually able to release the truss rod quite a bit - he said sometimes they can work better if you do it this way - so you're tensioning the strings against the rod, rather than the rod against the strings.. if you know what i mean. Also, he was impressed with the bass. Liked the weight and the slim neck. And how easy it plays. Anyway, I've currently got a good bit more adjustment in the rod, which I'm happy with. It also does seem sensitive to small tweaks. Might change to lighter gauge strings to see how much more that gains me, will update if i do.. but for now i'm happy I've got a good bit of headroom if i need it. I'm keeping the bass! Thanks again, Ben.

It's just this truss rod thing really - otherwise it plays and sounds lovely... need to find out whether its sortable..

@pierreganseman - thanks very much. One thing that is confusing - this is a custom instrument that was made in August this year. It's being sold as used for a good price. Wondering if something odd is going on.. The instrument is spotless in every other way.. Looks like it hasn't been played

Yes. Thanks for that though - i did initially turn it the wrong way - there's loads of adjustment left in that direction!