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Let's play - Where's that noise?


happy-man

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I tracked down a noise last night on my eBay F-335. I'll tell you my track down steps, and see if any can guess at the cause.

 

Immediately broke high E when I got guitar (very old strings). Guitar had extra lights on it (11). Put on cheap Lyon light (12) strings to do a setup. When I plucked 12th fret harmonic on high E, I heard a funny buzz. Wondered if it was ball rattle. Reseated string. No change. Skip it for now - start setup. Next time I have strings off, I put on high E 1st so I can reach in sound hole and check ball seating. Seating is ok. Problem remains. Finish setup. Now I HAVE to figure out this bugger. Put ear to body, neck, try to figure out WHERE it's coming from. Can't figure it out. I know it's not ball, or saddle (I shaped it, and it fits very snug in bridge). I press on string above nut to see if it's coming from the tuner. No. While plucking 12th fret harmonic, I damped string on either side to 12th fret to see which side causes problem. Neck side. Capo on 1st fret, and pluck harmonic on 13th fret. Ah ha! Much better, but I still hear it ever so slightly. Capo 2nd fret - same - pretty much gone, but maybe something there (is it in my head?). Check frets. It's not fret buzz - it's a different sound. Reason I first tried capo is that I wondered if it was a nut issue (I've experience that before). Truss rod rattle? (I've experience that before) Banged neck to see if I could hear rattle. Remebered that I had adjusted truss rod, and it wasn't loose (wasn't truss rod). Then I discovered that the position I held the guitar was a factor. I had a thought - I had an IMT-500 clipped on the head. When I got one for my daughter, one of the buttons rattled with certain notes. I took the tuner off. No change. (but I'm getting close)

 

Fortunately, I figured it out before I lost too much sleep - and it wasn't hard to fix. So - where's that noise? Winner gets a duck or something.

 

Scott O

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Laughs, I've had the same thing happen. Now, when I am hunting a buzz (hmmm sounds like the entire decade of the 70s), one of the first things I do is to lay my hand on each machine and see if the buzzing stops.

 

Thanks for the duck!

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It's actually a flexible, rubbery plastic. After almost a year trying not to look at the ugly thing, I had a few beers, did the haidryer/lighter fluid thing, and got it off cleanly. Took some work to pry the edge up - used a Tortex 73, and it didn't leave a mark on the finish. Have to be careful not to make the top too hot - there's a brace directly under the pg. Makes a huge difference in the appearance of the guitar.

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