Homepage Forums Guitar Discussion Guitar G#resonating badly

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  • #23933
    riz
    Participant

    hi everyone.
    still troubles with my electric maton (oh yes, maybe buying it wasn’t such a good idea – still like it though).
    as §I posted a lot of time ago, I noticed the g# -13th fret on the g string was resonating badly, with a really short sustain (close to nothing). 12th and 14th fret were not good either, and it was hard to keep it in tune.
    well, I tried to replace tuners, nothing happened. after this operation then I had the idea to check the other g# around, and discovered that the same note on the b string sound bad (not as bad), and that can be noticed on the first string too. open Gstring not so good as well, since it’s close to a g# on the first fret. UHM!
    not a dead spot on the neck then (as far as I know, those are located in one single place on the neck, not everywhere and note-based).
    last chance to save my guitar: can it be caused by a bad quality bridge/tailpiece (as it is factory mounted on MS500s)?!?!?!?
    please help!
    maurizio

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    • #67126
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Yes, keep us up to date on this one, riz. It’s very odd; I’ve only had something like it once myself.

    • #67109
      riz
      Participant

      thanks bass!
      at the moment I’m quite busy but as soon as I can I’ll take the guitar to some tech to have the nut put in place. I’ll try to do the bridge thing as well, because it seems to be really cheap and the grooves in the saddles are being made deeper by the string pressure… (sorry, as always, for the weird english). it’s like the bridge-saddle material is too soft compared to the strings’ so it’s wearing out, and this doesn’t sound like quality to me…
      I’ll post what happens, when everything is done.
      thanks for help, have a nice weekend!

    • #67146
      1bassleft
      Participant

      If I read you right, riz, then you’re saying there is a problem with G#, irrespective of what tuning you have and where you fret. If so, then you have some interference/cancellation effect. You need to alter the resonant frequency of your instrument and this can be done by changing the mass close to the string path. A heavier bridge “should” work, but the nut is the other obvious place. The nut can be cheaper and easier to replace, if it is a standard type (I’m not familiar with the Maton). I’d go for brass, as this would have the most pronounced density change.

      Just fuzzy theory though – can’t guarantee it’ll solve your problem.

    • #67118
      riz
      Participant

      Hi everyone!
      been busy for a long time.
      but now, I remembered to make that tune-up-experiment, and the result is:
      the problem is moving with the tuning.
      this means:
      the same note (g-gsharp, somewhere between these two, more the latter) sound weird with no connection with where it is located on the neck. if I tune up, the same note and problem shifts down, and if I tune down, it moved up on the neck.
      it is only more easy to hear when it’s on its place, fret 12-13 on 3rd string (and less, as I said, on the 1st and 2nd strings too, same note).
      what do you think then?
      could it be the cheap bridge? could as well be the stop tailpiaece, being cheap and, I suppose, light too?

    • #67158
      riz
      Participant

      a simple experiment indeed…
      I’ll try these days and post what happens.
      bye!

    • #67140
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Now, tha´’s what Ed de Bono calls lateral thinking! 😀 Great idea, Lee – simple and no-cost.

    • #67096
      lee_UK
      Participant

      do you use an electronic tuner?
      try detuning the guitar by half a step, so the E string becomes Eb etc, then see if the G# note has moved to G.
      Still sounds like a dead spot to me.

    • #67144
      riz
      Participant

      Hi everyone,
      the point 1bassleft is pointing out is what I thought to be the problem (keep in mind, I have really little experience, so I was just going on by chance).
      it does not look like what I thought a proper dead spot was.
      since the standard bridge is really flimsy and weak (the strings are digging through it really easily), I thought (and hoped) that changing that would be worth a try.
      did not think about the brass nut though. anyway, you’re making me hope again! after all i like the guitar and having this is affectiong my will to keep playing it. I’ll try the clamp thing and the bridge too, in some weeks, and let you know the results.
      just hope I won’t have to take the post bushings out…
      merry christmas to everyone!
      maurizio

    • #67132
      1bassleft
      Participant

      I’m not sure if Riz’s problem is exactly what I’d call a “dead spot” – which I took to be a particular part of the fretboard. It reads like there’s a terrible resonant frequency that’s causing cancellation of any G#. I had a bass once that did that on A (open A worst, but also the octave, 2nd fret on G-string etc). It’s very obvious on a bass, of course, but it may just suddenly catch your notice with a 6-string – particularly on a note like G#.

      The “Fat Finger” idea can be tried quickly and cheaply if you have a clamp. Make sure you don’t mark the wood, but you could put a G-clamp onto the headstock. It ought to affect the resonant frequency and, if it’s the problem, the G# might come back to life. If so, experimenting with a brass nut or a different bridge might sort it.

      I could be completely wrong of course. I didn’t want to chime in just in case, but you might as well try it.

    • #67116
      lee_UK
      Participant

      You can try changing your strings for a set containing a wound 4th G string.
      it works for some, but not all, a lot of people swear by the elixr brand of polyweb strings for sweetening dead spots.
      I dont worry too much about my Gibson Dreadnaught because my dead spot is high on the neck and those note are pretty inaccesible on a Dreadnaught.
      But i also have a Gibson Hummingbird which is nearly the same as the Sheryl Crow apart from the finnish and tuners and the Hummingbird sounds as sweet as a nut all along the neck.
      Some people say the problem is with the neck, and the density of the neck.
      Another possible solution worth trying is something called a ‘Fat Finger’ which is a kind of clamp you stick on your headstock to improve density and sustain, they are quite cheap too, again they work for some.

    • #67102
      riz
      Participant

      hi lee.
      uhm…
      then what you mean is: if there is more than one dead spot, it can affect the same note (on different octaves), right?
      anyway, a guitar is made like that, it cannot grow dead spots after some time, or it can? is it possible that a company would ship a guitar with such a big problem? I tried a couple of similar guitars in shops, and they did not have that problem.
      unfortunately I cannot figure out when I first noticed this on my guitar, and anyway, the warranty is void now…
      I’ll send them an email asking for explanations! won’t do much I think 😥
      at one point I started to think that the tune-o-matic style bridge could be part of the problem, because it’s really poor quality and the saddles are wearing out and it’s made of some bad material.
      but again… maybe I just have to convince myself I’ve benn unlucky (and won’t do such a mistake again). SAAAAAD (and angry too)

    • #67130
      lee_UK
      Participant

      you can have more than 1 dead spot on a guitar, this sounds like classic dead spot country.=, and there is very little you can do, i have a Gibson ‘Sheryl Crow’ signature country and western dreadnaught and it suffers with a dull short sustain dead spot.

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