Val, Seriously, that could be something as simple as a bad winding on a string or some fuzz or dirt in your nut/saddle grooves. Could be that the nut/saddle is binding or pinching the string, could be something vibrating like a loose tuner button or screw, your truss rod cover, something vibrating in your tailpiece or pickguard, maybe a groove in your frets or even a loose fret. Might be time for a fret job, Val. It might be that the truss rod is vibrating or the nut on the end if there's no tension on it. I knew a fellow who filled the truss rod cavity of his guitar with expandable foam once to get rid of the noise. Eeeek...
I watched three of Gruhn's repairmen all laying hands at the same time on one of my mandolins years ago trying to find the source of a "buzz". It looked a lot like a game of Twister and no progress was made. I notice I get noises on #536 when I use steel strings even now. I just deal with it because I like the sound of steel now and then. What with all these little aggravations, seems like we'd just pile all these mandolins up and start a nice fire... Tburn On Feb 11, 9:12 am, erik berry <[email protected]> wrote: > Hey Val--yeah, try out different sets 'cuz I was really surprised at > how that MK opened up...I actually apologized to it one afternoon, > outloud, in public. My bass player thought I was crazy. I bought the > Dean Markelys strictly because I'd never tried them before, so try > other brands out too, if possible. Of course in India your options > might be limited, but there's always juststings.com they have 19 > brands to choose from! > > Maybe somebody else is understanding it differently, but when I think > "buzzy" I think the string is catching on something, either a fret or > the fingerboard or something else (don't know what, tho). I know that > for myself I press pretty hard so if my action is too low I can put a > pair out of tune and get a buzzy sound just 'cuz the downward pressure > is so much (think violin style vibrato). So without seeing and playing > your instrument, I'm guessing you got an issue with your action, the > string slot on your bridge or the slot on your nut, not your strings > per se. Especially if the problem doesn't happen when you play open, > that suggests to me that it's a setup issue (assuming you are fretting > the note even half-way decently--in my opinion, buzzing can only be > blamed 100% on operator error if the operator is a total beginner, in > which case it's not blame, it's learning curve). > > One thing I've done in the past when I've gotten a weird buzz I can't > explain and I can't get it to the shop right away is to put a piece of > paper or thin cardboard in the nut or bridge slot. I've used notebook > paper, the board they make cereal boxes out of and a paper match, > depending on how high I'm trying to go. I first try this at the nut > and then at the bridge. It's sort of a pain, because you need to > completely loosen the string or strings, put your card in, then > retighten and check it out. If it doesn't help then you gotta do it > again with a thicker piece of something (too thick will make the > string noticeably higher than the rest of your strings in which case > you have to decide which is the lesser of two evils). This should > raise the string enough that it's not buzzing on the frets. > > It looks funny and you're gonna have to explain yourself to everyone > who sees your instrument, but in my experience, it works! Once four > years ago I had a match in for two weeks and when it finally broke > there was no more buzz. How come? I don't know and I don't care. So I > hope this works for you, Val. > > Anyone else think of something different? > > erik > > On Feb 11, 1:09 am, Val Mindel <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Thanks so much, Erik. I'll try all these solutions (assuming I can > > find the Markely strings) and report what I find. It is the balance > > between tension and sound, I think. I really need to find the optimal > > string choice for this mandolin. It has the potential to be very sweet > > yet with a good projection. > > As to my other problem: Do you (or anyone) have any clue about why > > getting the pairs in tune on a particular kind of string should be so > > difficult? This is a new problem ... that slightly buzzy sound. > > Everything is "in tune" according to tuners and my ear (which doesn't > > always agree with the tuner) and the pairs sound clear when I play > > them, suggesting that they are in synch, but when I finger them I get > > that slightly toothy buzzy sound that suggests they are not in tune. > > Aargh! > > > On Feb 10, 1:38 pm, erik berry <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I use three mandolins with three different guages, so I'll share what > > > I do. On my F I use the J75s (or J74s, depending on what I can find > > > when I need strings). On my '30s Kalamazoo A oval hole I use the GHS > > > silk and Steels, which are "spongy" feeling, but coupled with the oval > > > soundhole I think sounds good, even though it does feel odd to my > > > fingers. > > > > The third mando is a Michael Kelly A which is my on-stage backup. J75s > > > and J74s are too much for it. It feels "right" becasue I'm used to > > > those guages, but it doesn't sound right to my ears so I've played > > > around. Currently there is a set of J67s. These are nickel wound > > > 11-14-25-39. I like 'em okay, but what I liked better on it was a set > > > of Dean Markley Lights, also nickel wound guage 11-14-24-37. This set > > > is hard to find though 'cuz you gotta find someone who stocks Dean > > > Markely strings. Ironically, in Duluth, MN, the closest music store to > > > me, they're easy to find. On the road is another story. I used to use > > > the J62s, but, again to my ears, the combination of light guage and > > > bronze equals weak sound (probably because I have a beefier mandolin > > > set up with heavy bronze strings). I have the MK for a backup because > > > I needed a backup and the price was only $300. I used to disrespect it > > > a lot (for about 18 months) but after changing the guage to the nickel > > > and a little lighter, I was surprised at what a fun little instrument > > > it is. Sometimes I play it for encores, just for fun and so people can > > > see me use "that other mandolin you got up on stage, there..." > > > > Hope this helps, > > > erik > > > > PS: back in high school, on the advice of Stevie Ray Vaughn via Guitar > > > Player magazine, I used to by the heaviest guage electric guitar > > > string I could find (jazz heavies) and throw away the high E. Then I > > > buy a single bass guitar D string. Then I'd string the instrument > > > 13-17-24-36-46-64 (I think--it's been a number of years now)...now > > > that's a heavy set of strings! > > > > On Feb 10, 5:33 am, Linda <[email protected]> wrote:> Val, I found those > > > silk and ?? bronze GHS strings spongy and took em > > > > off before time. > > > > I am using steel strings and its ok. > > > > I miss the Thomastiks, but understand they just don't hold up under > > > > pressure of regular playing. So,\still looking for the perfect > > > > solution, so far the steel strings seems the closest to what I want. > > > > Yes, it is annoying. > > > > ljt- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en.
