Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on September 24, 2013 at 6:50pm

Hi John, when you say 'twangy' do you mean the string is buzzing? This could be caused by the angle of the string coming into the tuner. If there is not enough of a downward slant, the string could be contacting the nut in a larger area than necessary causing it to buzz. The slots on the bridge seem rather wide as well but if you say changing it made no difference... on my bridges I sand them to a point at the top and the strings rest on a roughly 1mm slot:

If you're finding the tuner shaft too long you could try using the wood you cut out from the headstock recess and gluing it to the back of the headstock, like this:Hope this is of some help buddy!

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on September 25, 2013 at 2:16am

From the pics I would guess the twang is coming from the bridge since the slots are quite large.  Since the high g string seems to be the worst, try dampening the string by muting it just in front of the bridge and see if the twang goes away.  Then try pressing fairly hard midway between the tail and bridge to increase the string tension.  

Try reducing the string tension enough that you can move the bridge slightly off-center and raise the strings up out of the slots.  Play each string and see if the twang is better.  If you still can hear it try pressing on the string with your finger between the nut and tuning machine to increase the tension on the nut. 

Try a bridge that has a pointed or rounded top rather than flat with no slots or notches.  Looks like you've done a good job lining up your strings where you want them so the bridge doesn't have to be too much of a guide.

It doesn't take too much of a string gap on the bridge to produce a good twang.  I had a bone bridge with just little notches filed in, not even close to 1/4 string depth and one was wide enough to sound really bad.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 25, 2013 at 4:05am

Box lid is thin, looks like a nice box...as others have said, bridge slots look a bit deep...do you mean twangy, as in high-pitched, banjoey, or twangy, as in sitar-like buzz? If the former, it's the nature of that box. If the latter, as others have said, a thinner bridge with not too deep slots will help. Try a threaded bolt and nut bridge combo, see if that changes it; then try a bone saddle in a wider, flatter wooden bridge. Pre -cut bone saddles can be had on eBay for $5 for a bag of 10-20.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on September 25, 2013 at 5:17am

When I was using a bolt for nut and bridge, I was getting some significant buzzing, which is why I am trying the wood thing.  I see about the notches being too deep/wide, thanks for the tips!

RK: Offset neck:  my next builds will definitely use that design, 1/4" thick  lamination on the back will make a huge difference, for this build, I'll just have to live with a higher action.  Since I'm using basic hand tools to shape the head/neckneck, flipping that piece down on the bottom isn't an option. I've been shaping the head and box notch by cutting a depth with a saw/miter box and then using a chisel to create the basic shape.  It's not as nice as a band saw, but works for me.  - I am not making high-end CBG's, just a few for me and friends... Heck, I might start making fretboards some day, but for now, it's a fun cheap hobby...

I was using a 5/16" all thread bridge, I'll add a nut to either side and see if that works better.

The Twangyness doesn't sound like string buzz to me, but more like a ringing . . . like the box is resonating at a frequency above the high-G string. . .  Though it could be figh-frequency string buzz, I guess..  Just for giggles, I stuffed a rag into the box, but I still hear it.  I wonder if I should move this one to lighter strings.  I'm running mediums now...

Oily:  Sounds Banjoey to me... 

 

I'll play with it tonight, Thanks all!

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on September 25, 2013 at 6:59am

Hmmm... might be the nature of the box then. You could try fixing the lid shut with glue or nails. BTW I only use a hand saw for the headstock, the Japanese ones work really well with a steady hand!

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on September 25, 2013 at 7:08am

Could your soundboard be pressing down and vibrating on the neck? That would give a banjo like sound.  You either have to clear out a good pocket for the lid to resonate, or have the neck fixed to the lid.  Builders will debate the merit of either configuration, but I think everyone would agree that partial contact between the neck and soundboard is not ideal.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on September 25, 2013 at 9:51am

The lid is glued to the neck, 1" on either end, then the neck is notched out in the middle.  I used Polyurothane glue to ensure a good connection...

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 25, 2013 at 8:55am

Sounds like you're getting a harmonic on the G string, then. Which means that string is hitting something somewhere, at either the nut or the saddle. My latest 6-stringer Las Cabrillas from Dan Sleep does that, because there are no string slots cut into the saddle, and one of the string slots in the nut is a tad wide (he'll hate hearing this, but I think I know how to cure it). You can hear it ringing when I pick the g and b strings on my latest vid, Desperation Samba. Does it sound like that? On Dan's git, downward pressure on those two strings behind the nut fixes the problem, so I'm gonna pop on a Fender string tree. See if pressing down on the offending string behind the nut helps...

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on September 25, 2013 at 9:50am

I'll give that a shot!  Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on September 25, 2013 at 8:33am

If the box opens and the clasp is not tightening it down enough you can get some strange noises. I have tightened the clasps on loose fitting boxes by just moving one screw on the catch down a bit.

If you hold the box shut with one hand and the twang goes away, that is probably the problem.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on September 25, 2013 at 8:42am

Very good point. I had that problem on an earlier build. I should have mentioned that the box is glued shut. I will give it the squeeze test....

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on September 25, 2013 at 5:45pm

Ok, All y'all were right... String buzz on the high G.

I took a 1/4-20 bolt, added a nut and used that for both the nut and bridge.  The annoying twang is gone!   I'm probably going to add a string tree so I can lower the action.

Thanks for all the sage advice!

John

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