First string change and everything rattles

Hello all. I've had a 10-year-old Kala KA-T kicking around the house for a while and decided to give it its first string change. As much as I do not love changing strings on anything, it went OK until I realized that even after I was done and all the long ends were cut off and all the strings were brought up to pitch, it still rattled everywhere, especially on the third and fourth strings.

When I barre everything at the fifth fret, there is very little buzz. All the posts seem to have about the right amount of wrap, all the strings seem properly seated in their nut slots and saddle grooves. These are your basic Aquila new nylgut low G strings. Any ideas?

Jim

When I bought a Kala Elite a few years ago, I had a rattle in it. I checked all of the usual suspects until I narrowed the rattle down to two of the tuner pegs on the headstock. I don't know if this is standard on other models, but the Elite faceplate has a nut and a washer at the base of the tuner peg. The nut had backed off a little bit on two of the tuners and the washers were rattling against the nut holding them down. I tightened the offending nuts and no more rattles.

Weirdly, the rattle stopped when i played certain chords. I no longer remember which ones. No idea why.

Kevin and Bill, thanks for the replies. I don't see any loose screws or anything like that, and it's not tuned an octave too low.

Just as a morning update, I've noticed it's a bit better now than is was yesterday. I can play very lightly and have almost no buzz, but when I put a little something into it, as I often do with alternate-bass-type picking, the buzz is bad. I think I'll take it to a semi-local music store and see if the owner there (where I bought the strings) can help.

Jim

Place your ear very close to head stock and then bridge and see if you can locate the region for the buzz.
If the strings are not the same as the ones before, buzz might be coming from the strings be too low and hitting the frets. Did the saddle come off during string change? Maybe you placed it the wrong way changing the string height, the same might be true for the nut as well. There might have been a thin piece of wood at the bottom or saddle or nut that might have come off changing the height and thus the setup.
if the buzz happens when you bar and the buzz comes from strings hitting the frets then it might be the height of the saddle. If the buzz is coming from within the body then it might need a luthier to look into the hole.

OK. Problem fixed and all's well. The owner of Great Northwest Music in nearby Grants Pass took all of 45 seconds to zero in on the problem. The hex nuts holding the tuner posts to the face plate were all a bit loose.

I'm glad I went, because I'm now set up with my first uke lesson as well as having a decent uke to play while awaiting delivery of a Kala SMHT.

Thanks for responses, everyone. Good to know there's help available here.

Jim