Trying to get my bike in the right ballpark, so was wondering if anyone has any novel ways to set front and rear rebound damping?

I've been using the ride off kerb, and increase rebound until fork doesnt bounce method, but this doesnt seem to work too well, as my fork doesnt bounce even with no rebound damping (or at least its so small I cant detect it bouncing)

How do you set the rear rebound? any good methods?

It depends on how you want your forks to react to the type of riding that you do.
different people prefer different damping to suit their riding.

just set it to how you want it

This guy seems to have a fair idea

this works for me,, i dont jump my bike just ride it,, the worst thing for me are roots so this is how i set up my bike

get a ladder and lay it down on the ground now ride along it over the rungs

do one end at the time start with the rebound at min and keep increasing rebound until the bike jacks down ( this is where you have too much rebound and the wheel doesnt recover to the ride height befor hitting the next rung so the suspension gets lower and lower
you may need someone to watch or film it

then back off the rebound until this doesnt happen

Keep fannying about with it, when you get bored fannying about with it it's right.

Be wary of setting them with too much damping like I did on my Meta.
I got to hate that bike.
I managed to interperate bouncing/pinging off obsticals as needing more damping when it needed less because it was packing down into the higher spring rate areas of the stroke.
Don't forget the obvious one that upping the pre load affects the ammount of damping you need.
If you are an average size/weight bloke then start in the middle settings and adjust one thing at a time a little bit at a time.
It was a reverlation when I backed the damping off the Meta and upped the rear preload and I started to like the ol' gal again.

Set the preload on both ends properly (you should have equal %of sag on both ends (20-25% ideally, 33% for DH).

Now set the rebound as fast as possible, but not so fast that if you compress it with the front brake on it feels like a pogo-stick.

Do the same with the rear, set it as fast as possible but not so fast it feels like you're riding buckaroo. Sit on the saddle (it'll probably be easier to put your feet on the floor, hold the front brake and try and squash the shock. It should feel like it's giving you a gentle but firm push back up after you've compressed it. When you're riding, pump through the bottom of the dips and the ends of steep sections. You should be able to feel the shock actively working, but you'll know if it's too enthusiastic by the feedback it gives you (put a little bit more damping on to correct this).

As a general guide (not an aboslute rule) the front should have slightly faster rebound than the rear, though how much more depends upon the rider.

It took me a while to get my Scott Octane's shock set up properly. I'd put too much rebound on and it seemed to work on the rough stuff but felt fairly dead. Cranked the rebound off a fair bit and it was a very different animal.

There used to be a good video available from Tim Flooks of TF tuned. His basic premise was pretty simple. Set the sag at both ends first. Wind both rebound dampers to the fully on position then back them out 4 to 5 clicks

Pick up the bike about 2 feet from the ground and drop it so both wheels land at the same time. If the bike bounces – you don't have enough rebound.

From this point you can make trail adjustments 1 or 2 clicks per ride.

I always worked on the principle that you want the front as fast as you can put up with & the rear as slow as you can

Flooksie's vid linked up there – the important point brought out ( as uplink said ), is to be on the safe side. rebound on the front should be pretty quick, on the rear slow, so the bike get's easier to handle as things get worse, not harder, because the back is packing down but the front is staying high. work back from there.

First things first. Set the sag to around 1/3rd with the rider on the bike fully kitted out. Now stand aside the front of the bike. Compress the forks firmly and now lift up the front wheel as quick as you can. Set the rebound so it extends the fork at around the same speed as lifting the wheel as fast as you can. Now set the rear rebound to feel a few clicks slower than the front when pushing down on the saddle. This is a safe base setting. Now experiment 2-3 clicks at a time faster and slower at each end, one adjustment at a time.

For most shocks rear rebound control generally only effects the bigger hits, so as long as it doesn't effect it so much it packs down heavily, slow is good. Slow rebound on the rear can never 'kill' you, too fast can.

I am with uplink fast as possible at front and slow as possible at back and work your way towards your optimum setting. Fast at front so fork does not bottom out on steps etc and slow at back so it doesn't kick the back end up after compression

If you run the shock really slow then it can't track the ground properly, and you won't have as much control over the bike, leading to sketchier moments on rough ground. It also causes the rear end to pack down, which means that there won't be enough travel for the shock to do it's job in rough sections and it will feel horrible and sketchy.

A good method of testing this is to get off the bike, compress the shock and then lift the saddle up half a foot or so. The rear wheel should remain close to the ground (ideally on it) as you lift it.

If you're really worried about riding trails with incorrect rebound, set the rebound using the method I explained above (though perhaps put a little bit less on to start with), then find a grass bank (steeper the better) with a fast transitioin from sloped to flat (ideally with a good run-out so you can hit it faster to get a better feel). Ride down it, and then lean back and push the back end down when you get to the bottom like you would on the trails to get a speed boost and extra stability. If the rebound is too fast it will feel like the bike is trying to fight you and it will feel like it's trying to throw you forwards. If it does, turn it down a little bit and ride it again. Repeat until it feels right, you'll know when it is (fine-tuning rebound is quite a personal thing). If you don't get this feeling at all when you first try this, wind off the rebound a bit until it does, then gradually slow it down.

Keep making minor adjustments as you go down trails until you are happy (I found myself speeding it up tiny amounts as I got used to it).

This method really does work, and you do really want a fast rebound on the back (though slightly slower than the front). When you start bombing down rough trails you'll understand why, the bike will feel like a different animal and you'll feel so much more stable and in control.