Weird guitar problem

[Annihilat0r]

Hi, I'm not sure if I can use this thread for guitar troubleshooting but: Is it Non-Opeth? Tick. Is it about music? Tick. So it should be compatible

I don't know if anyone heard of this problem before, but I have this weird thing: When I play a note that corresponds to the same note as an open thicker string, that string also starts vibrating and producing sound.

Example: I play the 10th fret on the B string, which is an A note, so the A string starts vibrating as well, and when I remove my hand from the B string, I can still hear the A note, coming from the thicker string.

This is especially annoying when for example, I try to hammer-on from the 10th fret to 12. The 12th fret gives out a B, but the A string is still vibrating from the 10th fret I plucked earlier, so instead of just a B I get a chord-like sound consisting of A and B (major second anyone?)

What do you guys say? Any ideas?

 

[Crepuscularia]

I believe this is called 'sympathetic vibration', and it occurs because the note you are fretting is a harmonic of the open string next to it. The open string has only certain frequencies at which it can vibrate, corresponding to the open string frequency, then twice that, then three times that, then four, etc based on what standing waves can be present on the string. Any time you have a wave on a string, you know the ends are tied down and can't move, so the wave is constrained to integer numbers of peaks. Which means only certain frequencies can be present on an open string, which is why you can hear an A ring out when you fret an a next to it. However if you go one fret up, that frequency can not be a standing wave on the open string, so it doesn't vibrate sympathetically.

Sorry for the convoluted explanation but I think that's basically what's going on.

 

[Annihilat0r]

Thanks but I actually know this more or less, the problem is why this doesn't happen on other guitars, and what can I do to avoid this?

 

[ThePoisoning]

I haven't thought about that sort of physics in over a year...

 

[Crepuscularia]

Thanks but I actually know this more or less, the problem is why this doesn't happen on other guitars, and what can I do to avoid this?

This is just a wild guess, but could it be that the bridge on your guitar is not as firmly in place as it needs to be?

 

[Carta's]

I've been having your same problem. Yesterday I changed the strings and it was gone... no idea what caused it though.

 

[Vuashke]

so wait, you play the B string and a totally different string rings out?

 

[Annihilat0r]

I've been having your same problem. Yesterday I changed the strings and it was gone... no idea what caused it though.

And this started to happen after I changed strings... didn't happen before. :S

Crepus: Well, it is in place, I didn't do anything to it. I just changed strings.

Vuashke: Yeah, if you play a higher A note on any string, the A string starts to ring. Same with the D string, and to a lesser extent, the G string.

 

[Sisyphus's Struggle]

Well, i've played in different guitars (acoustic or electric) and it happens in all of them (either "good" or "bad" quality). I realize about that so many years ago, after some months of start practicing my guitar playing, and i found it cool, and i tought back then that this kind of thing was caused by the same phenomenon that Crepuscularia explained. It happens in all guitars, the more or less, but it's present in all of them. A little tip, when i do a hammer or pull of or wathever, sometimes (not always, depending on what im doing) i "mute" the others strings, so they don't make any "noise".

 

[Vuashke]

thats strange, considering that the A on the B string is a different A to the Open A string

 

[Annihilat0r]

thats strange, considering that the A on the B string is a different A to the Open A string

It's a multiple of the same frequency.

And thanks everyone, I more or less solved the problem by tightening the screws on the bridge (that fasten the string to the bridge) a little more.

It's still there, but not as annoying now.

 

[Jackehh]

well the same happens on my mum's old acoustic guitar, maybe its not the same problem but its similar. The strings are roughly 3 months old I think, and when I tune some of the strings, especially the e string, I have to block all other strings on the guitar for them not to start making sounds which completely boggles my tuning.

 

[FRUGiHOYi]

I think your guitar is possessed. Use it to your advantage and create some mindblowing satanic metal

 

[Depth Perception]

Well that sounds like a problem you want to have - Dick "Magic Ears" Knubbler

 

[Alteredmindeath]

I've been having your same problem. Yesterday I changed the strings and it was gone... no idea what caused it though.

I had the same problem on one of my guitars, this problem usually happens when the guitar is dropped on its body. I left it laying around for months, then one day I put new strings on it, and it was gone.

 

[Annihilat0r]

Well that sounds like a problem you want to have - Dick "Magic Ears" Knubbler

Believe me it's not. You can't hammer on or pull off from those notes, it sounds soo bad.