Of course, nothing's more aggravating than a piece of corn stuck between your teeth...
On Feb 11, 9:27 am, mistertaterbug <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 -- 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]. 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