-
20 minutes is just the last effort. I've spent hours, all told...
Originally Posted by sgosnell
-
01-13-2022 05:39 PM
-
Been there, done that, got really tired. But so far I've found all the unusual noises on my guitars. I dread the next one, sort of, but it does help pass the time while hiding out from COVID. And I'm doing a lot of hiding.
-
hi Jack
yes i sympathise, it’s totally maddening
and stops you playing
but it’s sooo great when you find
the culprit !
and you WILL find it eventually
(this is happening acoustically yeah ?)
my method is to isolate one potential
cause at a time ....
it seems to be coming from the pot area
so
put a jack in the socket
and apply some tension to it
in various directions
not that ?
slack the strings
and loosen the four pu ring screws
and take out the bridge pu with its ring
wrap it in cloth ....
still got the buzz ?
do same with the neck pu
still got the buzz ?
leave them in cloth
(you’ve eliminated them)
get your hand in there an start dampening
the the various braces wires and pots
etc you can reach get
use bent stiff wire sticks with cloth
wraped round the end to reach things
and damp them
improvise your tools
this is sometimes a two person job
still can’t find the cause ?
tie a long piece of floss round a pot shaft and drop
that pot into the guitar ....
still got the buzz ?
do the next pot
repeat
till you’ve gradually eliminated
all possible causes
by doing this you WILL find the cause ....
-
- I would try to fifth fret A, while damping string D just to see if it is the "frequency" itself or mainly the string D.
- you wrote it comes out on amp. This means the the issue *alters the resonance of the string itself* (as the microphonic effect of the PU probably is NOT enough to pick up a wood, pot, tuning, wire, truss rod?) sympathetic resonance. Still I would double check the amp thing, by recording and listening the record.
If that is only the open string, and not the A 5th fret, that implies the nut or less probably the bridge.
...and this case I also would give a shot to change the D string...
-
good idea to record it. I will try that. But it happens on multiple strings so i'm sure it's not just a string that's bad. Originally Posted by Gabor
-
This should be published! One thing to add is that if it's the wiring causing the buzzing by vibrating against the top, you might want to add that stuffing some upholstery cotton in the F holes to mute the wires would also be something to try although that can be painful and problematic because you can cause new problems if you push too hard... Originally Posted by pingu
-
Assuming your archtop has a wooden bridge, perhaps the following might be of some use.
On my Eastman, the holes for the adjustable bridge posts are through-and-through, meaning those holes are visible from the top and if I look down I can see the posts. But on my Collings CL Jazz and ‘35 Gibson L7, the only holes are on the bottom so I cannot see the posts from the top. And the wooden bridges on these two guitars taper down at the top. So if the metal post ends very, very close to the point where the drilled out hole stops and the bridge starts to narrow, it might rattle on certain notes. It does on my Collings because I lowered the bridge all the way down, so the posts are using the full length of the holes.
Took me forever to discover this, by the way. Murphy lives.
To see if the bridge causes your rattle, try replacing it with another bridge and/or raise the action a bit so you know there’ll be some clearance above the posts. If your guitar has a ToM bridge then try replacing it with any other bridge just to see what happens. (The moving parts in some ToM bridges can really go haywire on an archtop. In one case I’ve gone as far as dripping candlewax around the saddles to fix the screws, springs and saddles in place. Drastic, but it worked.)
-
sometimes you can swear that buzz is coming from the guitar, but it is really the glass in a nearby picture frame, etc...so check yer tchotchkes.
-
I've found where the buzzing is coming from. Probably should have given the guitar a physical inspection first.
This crack and the accompanying loose top ply is causing the problem. If I touch it while hitting the notes that cause the vibration the vibration stops. I tried putting masking tape on it but it didn't solve the issue. I looked inside the body with my USB Snake camera and the crack doesn't go through. It's only in the top layer of plywood. You might think from the picture that there glue there but it's just an optical illusion. In reality, the finish is chipped out of that area. Looks like an old injury that happened prior to my obtaining the instrument. Another great reverb purchase, lol...
So it may be that putting some superglue or epoxy on that area would cure the issue. I might try packing tape which is stickier than masking tape next...
-
Jack, that's good you've figured it out. Good luck with the fix.
Regarding the USB snake camera, I'd like to get one, but not sure what the best option would be. Any suggestions? I've seen too many varieties to really make a decision and would like some opinions to help guide me. The dental mirror is a PITA. Thanks.
-
i like this one Originally Posted by skykomishone
Sorry! Something went wrong!
-
Got it! Originally Posted by jzucker
The link did work for me
Thanks!
-
yay ! Originally Posted by jzucker
Isn’t it great when you find it ?
pleased for you man ....
-
Hi!
I have an Eastman ar372. I played it a lot during the spring/summer and I had two problems arising. Due to humidity or something the string action got wild. I also got acoustical distortion when I played two notes on the same time. I left it for a general setup and the tech told me today that he cannot find the distortionproblem. He says it’s build into the guitar… I don’t believe it. The thing is I have been practicing swing rhythm guitar all summer and the distortion from just two notes a la Freddie Green is killing my ears. I used to play this stuff on my Ibanez afk95 but I got borred with that guitar. ( I like it now again)
When I bought my Eastman a year ago it played like a dream compared to the Ibanez . The distortion is not there on single notes. Any ideas ?
-
Amplified or acoustic? If amplified, it's probably the amp. If acoustic, the possibilities are many. There are multiple threads here on finding the causes of buzzes and rattles.
-
MartinB1969 seems to be asking about some kind of distortion or other anomaly in the musical sound of his Eastman. This seems to be a different animal from buzzes and vibrations, unless it’s a sympathetic vibration of some component of the guitar (or amplifier / speaker, if it only occurs through an amplifier).
Martin, it’s just not possible to even express an opinion without a more detailed description of what you’re hearing. Please correct me if I’m wrong about the following. You seem to be hearing some kind of dissonant interaction between / among multiple notes, but single notes are unaffected.
Can you describe what you’re hearing? Is it an extra sound in addition to the notes you’re playing (eg “ghost notes”)? Is it a pitch alteration that causes one or more of the notes you play to sound out of tune, off by an octave, or at another frequency from the note(s) you’re fretting? Is it a pulsatile volume change like subtle vibrato? Does it occur at all volumes? Is it there whether playing plectrum or finger style?
Does it happen only acoustically, only through an amplifier, or both? Is it across the entire board or limited to a specific area and/or string(s)? Did this begin suddenly or gradually? Did you make any changes to your guitar, amp and ancillaries just before it began (including new strings)? Have you changed your strings since this began, and if so did new strings have any effect on it?
You said that your action “got wild”. What does that mean? Did it suddenly get higher or lower once and then remain stable? Did it change erratically, and if so how often - daily, every few weeks etc? Did everything else feel the same except string height above the board? What was the time frame around the action change and the onset of the distortion - did they occur at the same time or did the action change before or after the sound changed? If the two happened at different times, how much time went by between them?
What did your guitar tech find, say and do about the action? Truss rod adjustment, bridge adjustment, other? Is the action now like it was before this all began? Did he put on new strings? What else did he do?
Any other details you can provide would be very helpful in making a diagnosis. Distortion is not “built into a guitar”. It would be very helpful if you could capture it in a recording. A simple spectrum analysis of a two note chord might reveal the nature of the problem, and you can do that with basic recording software like Audacity.
-
nevershouldhavesoldit asks the important questions. It's probably not helpful to even speculate as to the cause, although my attention is directed towards problems with the tailpiece, bridge, neck joint and/or the braces under the top.
-
Had an L5 studio with a buzz at a pretty specific frequency. A clamp on the strings behind the bridge made it go away. Apparently it was just sympathetic vibration but strong enough to make it through the pickups to the amp. Not that this will be similar to the root cause of the buzz you have but you never know.
Clamp shown.. sold as a mute but works behind the bridge. Cheaply made and not worth the current $17 asking price IMHO (I paid $11).
Amazon.com
-
About 3 years ago I had this vibration/buzz problem on an archtop, an it was driving me insane. I called a Luthier friend of mine who suggested changing the strings. To my amazement, it fix the problem. Not saying this is what's going on in your case...
Cheers,
Arnie
-
My 1st reaction is yikes how are you going to get that repaired nicely (and, muttering in my beard, "that wouldn't happen with an all-solid woods instrument). Originally Posted by jzucker
So it may be that putting some superglue or epoxy on that area would cure the issue. I might try packing tape which is stickier than masking tape next...
But about that: are you certain it's a loose bit of ply, and not just the finish itself? Or do you mean a really thin and purely cosmetic layer of outer veneer, rather than one of the layers of a laminate side-wall?
-
A fellow was showing me an undeveloped property site in his very old car on rough dirt roads. My experience is that old cars on rough roads sound like the bridge of the Enterprise, all kinds of sounds and noises, but his car was dead silent - not a single squeak or rumble.
I commented on it and he showed me a butter knife and matchbooks. The noises had been bugging him, so every time he heard a sound he determined from where it came, folded a paper match over the end of the blunt knife, and pushed the folded match into the seam, join, crevasse, or whatever space or gap was not tight. He said just the dash board had about four packs of matches pushed between the various panels and segments...
All that just to suggest you diagnose with physical damping to mechanically isolate and eliminate possible sources to hear what's left still buzzing/vibrating (not matches but maybe pieces of high density foam).
Reply With Quote
“Shearing style”
Today, 05:26 PM in Comping, Chords & Chord Progressions