What to do if the strings are ringing. Rattling guitar strings and sound defects when playing an acoustic guitar

Duration: 5:23

Why do the strings rattle when playing the guitar?

There are four main reasons why this happens. Let's look at these reasons.

A flaw in the instrument itself.

If the guitar's bridge and bridge are not set correctly, then the strings will touch the metal frets when played, which in turn will cause a rattling sound. When buying a guitar, you need to pay attention to the distance between the strings and the neck around the 12th fret. It should not be more than 4 mm.

Incorrect sound production with the right hand.

Most often it occurs in beginning guitarists who produce sound perpendicular to the soundboard and neck. This leads to the fact that during vibration the string again touches the frets and produces an annoying sound. Sound production should be done in such a way that the string vibrates parallel to the body of the guitar.

Touching the vibrating strings with your fingers.

This most often happens when guitarists raise their finger too early after playing the sound. At the same time, the nail touches the sounding string and a rattling sound appears. To avoid this, you need to play with your thumb with support, that is, pull the sixth string and linger on the fifth, pull the fifth and linger on the fourth. When playing the fourth finger, you need to hold it slightly diagonally.

The string is clamped far from the fret.

You need to clamp the strings as close as possible to the nut of the fret you are playing. There is no need to press the string very close either. If you are playing on the third fret, then you need to play as close to the third nut as possible.

How to change nylon strings on a classical...
The 'plucking' method with alternating bass...

Often, completely new guitars with fretted strings are brought in for diagnostics. Everything seemed to sound fine in the store, but after changing the demo strings, the new ones start to get along.
There are several reasons for this.

One, the most common on budget and mid-range guitars (although such problems also occur with expensive ones, but more on that later). Frets are installed in factories, but they do not go through the final polishing stage, since this lengthens the process of producing batches of guitars, and the conveyor does not wait. More often than not, this is the manual labor of specialists, which also increases the cost of the guitar, which is why the budget ones are not polished at all.

Another reason. Guitars are produced in one climatic conditions, but sold in completely different ones, taking into account the seasons. It turns out that the frets were installed at the same temperature and air humidity, then transported, during which conditions can change more than once, and with dramatic changes. Then they are in the warehouse/store for some time and the tree more or less calms down. But by this moment it could dry out, absorb moisture and then dry out again. Because of this, the frets slightly change their height and radius along with the wood. When the wood gets into a warmer place, the frets can not only fall out, but also turn out to be slightly longer than the width of the neck, and then you can even scratch your hand on them.

Another reason. Unfair attitude towards cargo, when from packaging the instrument at the factory to unpacking in the store there can be physical impacts on the instrument and the frets are simply pressed into the pickguard. By the way, a fairly light blow can disrupt the evenness of the relationship between the frets.
In general, here, in addition to climatic conditions, the “human factor” is added.

Further, we cannot exclude the reason for replacing strings with a different string gauge from the demo set.
If a set with a smaller gauge is installed, then the tension of the neck weakens and it bends, thereby the strings begin to get along in the area of the middle of the neck. The anchor needs to be loosened and the problem can be solved.
If the gauge of the new set of strings is thicker than the demo one, then the neck, on the contrary, bends slightly, thereby the guitarist begins to lower the bridge/saddles and, if necessary, tighten the neck. After which the strings also begin to get along (or they don’t, but we are now examining the problematic part).

That is, if a guitarist tunes the guitar trying to achieve ease of playing and the guitar begins to play well, then they need final polishing AND THIS IS NORMAL, especially not with expensive guitars.

Actually, the final polishing will be discussed further.

By the way, on some guitars the frets may even begin to move into cuts and here it is better to make a complete replacement. Or, as a last resort, glue the frets to fix them in the cuts. But it’s safer, of course, to replace it, especially since on guitars with this problem, the frets are made of soft alloys and they will still need to be replaced soon, so it’s better to do it right away.

This was a small digression, so let's continue.

This means that our frets all sit well in their places, do not “jump” in the cuts, and we take the guitar to the master (or do it ourselves, it’s up to you) for final polishing, or the so-called “micro grinding”, since this is not grinding used frets with pits from strings, namely leveling completely new frets.

Go.
First, we identify problem areas.
Marked with red arrows in the photo. The remaining marker is on part of the frets, that is, these are the places where the fret is slightly lower than the neighboring frets. And when a string hits this area, it begins to touch the next fret, which is just slightly higher than the one being pressed.

The frets are aligned with each other.

Well, the final stage is polishing the frets. Polishing makes the frets smoother and more gliding, this is very helpful when using braces during playing (bending) and for more precise contact of the string with the fret.

That's all. All that remains is to tighten the strings and set a comfortable height for ease of playing the guitar.

Today we’ll look at a situation where a string is rattling and tell you what needs to be done in such cases.

Recently I have received about ten emails and comments with the question “What to do if the string rattles.” I thought that if the topic is relevant, why not write a short post about it. Here I am writing.

So, first, let's figure out why the unpleasant rattling sound occurs. There are two options here. The first is that for some reason the string catches the fretboard. The second is that it is not the string that is rattling at all, but a crooked or not fully inserted peg. Why is this happening?

1) Look at the strings.

a) In most cases, this happens when the standard strings are left on the guitar (they are always, to put it mildly, not of the best quality). Everything is simple here - install a new set.

b) Either the new strings have not yet been tightened properly. It’s even easier here - you need to wait 1-2 days, tune the guitar and see the result.

2) Pegs. We check the reliability and correctness of the pegs. Everything is elementary.

3) Thresholds. This happens when the top and/or bottom saddles are damaged (chips, various types of defects, string cutting into the saddle, plastic chipping). Often the problem can be eliminated on your own (remove the flash with a scalpel, place a match under the string - the Russian mind is inventive). Otherwise, we run to the store for new thresholds. They cost about 40 rubles apiece. We remove the strings, throw the old broken-down garbage to hell (for those who didn’t know, the sills are not fixed and can be easily removed, but are held on to the instrument only thanks to the strings pressing them). We install new plastic masks and put the strings back on. If the problem is not resolved, see paragraph (1) subparagraph (b).

4) Grif. Perhaps the problem is in the neck, or more precisely, with the deflection of the anchor, which determines the distance from the string to the neck. If it is less than normal, the strings hit the fingerboard. If it is greater, the vibration amplitude increases, and the string strikes again. Detailed instructions for this case are in this article.

If you are unable to fix the problem, try purchasing a new pack of strings and two nuts. As a last resort - a new guitar.

Every guitarist eventually faces the problem of string rattling on his instrument; this is one of the most popular problems today. But few people know that if you ignore this phenomenon, you can face serious consequences, including the failure of the guitar. To avoid this, today we will look at the main causes of string rattling on a guitar when playing, as well as ways to solve such problems.

It is worth noting that the causes of rattling given in this article can apply to all types of guitars: classical, acoustic,

String condition

The first and most common cause may be banal wear of the strings on the guitar. They may rattle due to their long-term use. A string is a very thin spring that wears out and stretches with every play. Like any other spring, after a month of active use it begins to stretch, involuntarily increasing its length. Naturally, when worn out, it will become out of tune and rattle when you want to play the guitar again. The most correct solution would be to simply change the strings by purchasing a new set.

Bridge not built

Have you installed a new set, but the strings on your guitar are still rattling? Probably the problem is in the instrument itself, or rather, in its tuning. Every guitar has a bridge (the place where the strings are attached to the body) and when played vigorously, it becomes deformed. All you need to do is tune it either yourself or take it to a guitar maker who will do everything for you.

Why does the bridge wear out? The thing is that its mechanism takes over all the vibrations that occur with the guitar when playing. The bridge allows the strings to stretch and distribute vibrations evenly across the guitar's body. Strings often rattle because the bridge is gradually getting out of tune and needs to be “tightened.” The easiest way to do this is on an electric guitar - their bridge is designed in such a way that the saddle for each string can be adjusted. On acoustic guitars, the bridge is solid, but the saddles can also be raised or lowered. If the strings on an acoustic guitar rattle, you need to tighten the entire bridge.

On bass guitars, it's a good idea to first remove the strings from the bridge before tuning, as it can sometimes break them if they remain in the saddles during tuning. Bass strings are thick and harder to work with, so it is recommended to remove them.

Problems with the anchor

The third most popular reason is a problem with the anchor structure in the instrument. No matter how strange it may sound, many guitarists don’t even know about the anchor.

The truss rod mechanism is built into the guitar neck of almost any guitar and serves to ensure that the strings hang on it at a certain height. Without getting into too much physics, all you need to know is that when your instrument is tuned, the strings have some degree of tension. When they are tense, the neck bends in the same direction in which the strings pull it. The truss rod is inserted into the bar to balance this amount of tension - it pulls the bar back.

But over time (about 3 years or more), the truss rod also unbends and causes the strings on the guitar to rattle. So that it can be easily adjusted, there is a special hole in the head of the neck, called the anchor cap, it is unscrewed, and the anchor is tightened with a special anchor wrench, like a wrench.

My guitar string is rattling, what should I do? Measure the clearance between them and the bar and see if it reaches the standard. It is different for acoustic and electric instruments, not to mention bass guitars, in which the distance from the string to the neck is most difficult to adjust due to the thick strings. If the clearance is not up to standard, tighten the anchor rod, the problem lies there.

String gauge too large

It’s also worth mentioning that musicians often use strings of a wide variety of gauges on electric guitars. Too large a gauge will give a heavier, more distinctive sound, but may cause the truss mechanism to break down. Therefore, before you buy a large one, read the manuals about which maximum one is suitable for your instrument. Some extra-thick strings are used only in guitars with increased scale (baritones) and are not at all suitable for ordinary instruments.

Problem with the tuning mechanism

Perhaps the most serious problem with string rattling can be a malfunction of the tuning mechanism.

The tuning of all stringed instruments can be adjusted with its help. Pegs are screws inserted into the headstock of your instrument. They regulate the tension of the strings. High-quality and expensive pegs can hold a guitar in tune for a very long time - from a week or more. At the same time, inexpensive ones often get out of tune, reducing the active guitar tuning to nothing. The answer to the question “why do the strings rattle on an acoustic guitar or electric guitar” may be a problem with the tuners.

You can check them very simply: tune a standard guitar tuning and keep the guitar for several days without active use. Check the tension of the strings every day and note for yourself the number of days how long your tuning pegs can stay in tune without adjustment.

Then tune the instrument again and actively play it for several days in a row. Does the structure “float”? Does your guitar get out of tune in a matter of hours and the strings start to rattle? Unfortunately, in this case, your tuners are unusable and you will need to purchase a new mechanism. Fortunately, it is not very expensive - much cheaper than constant nerves from rattling strings.

Conclusion

Rattling strings on a guitar may seem like a minor problem only at first glance. In fact, this often leads to some parts of the tool breaking over time. If the neck of the guitar “leads,” nothing, as a rule, can help. Therefore, rattling strings should not be left unattended. We hope that you will never again be bothered by the question: “Why do the strings on the guitar rattle?” Learn and care for your instrument. After all, a tuned and properly prepared guitar is more comfortable and better to play.

One of those problems that every musician has faced. And most often, the cause of this problem is not defects or problems with the instrument at all: in 9 out of 10 cases, the owner of the instrument is simply inattentive when tuning it and does not know the main reasons for the occurrence of overtones. Needless to say, getting rid of annoying rattling and achieving a clear sound of the instrument in this case is not difficult - and our short guide about the main causes of ringing and clanging strings will help you with this.

What to do if the strings are ringing?

In most cases, a dull sound with minimal sustain and a clearly audible ringing does not appear along the entire length of the string, but only in certain positions. At the first symptoms of rattling, we recommend that you carefully understand its causes: do not forget that some of these reasons can lead to problems with the guitar if you do not pay attention to them for a long time. In particular, this concerns incorrect adjustment of the truss rod, which we will discuss below and which can lead to the neck “leading” and its profile being damaged.

Most often, ringing appears not only in a certain position on the fingerboard, but also on certain strings: in the vast majority of cases, rattling affects bass strings due to the presence of winding on them, greater weight and greater thickness of such strings.

The main causes of ringing may be problems technical level and adjustment problems. With the latter, everything is clear: here the features of adjusting the position of the bridge and how high the strings are located from the neck can play a role, and a large percentage of cases are associated with incorrect adjustment of the neck anchor. Technical problems are less common, but they also create more problems for the owner of the instrument: due to poor quality assembly, due to the use of cheap materials on some guitars, individual elements of the bridge, nut, frets and even the soundboard of the instrument can become deformed, which inevitably leads to discomfort. and unnecessary sounds when playing.

Read this material to the end - and you will learn to understand the causes of string rattling and get rid of it in a matter of minutes.

Stage No. 1: determine what caused the ringing of the strings

So, just above we have already made it clear to you that there can be many reasons for the appearance of overtones - especially if we are talking about an inexpensive instrument. Before drawing a conclusion about the root cause of the ringing, you need to check each string in all positions. As we study, we write down or remember in what positions each of the strings rattles.

The strings ring at the first or third fret (i.e., rattling is observed mainly in the initial positions)

In this situation, the most likely cause is incorrect alignment of the anchor or problems with the frets. As for the profile of the neck, you should make sure that there is a slight deflection in it, i.e. the neck is slightly concave. Most often, rattling at the 1-3 frets appears due to the fact that the guitarist strives to make the neck profile perfectly flat or mistakenly achieves a curved neck: in this case, the string clamped on the first frets will cling to the 5-7 and higher frets.

The second option is wear of the frets themselves. If you often play in lower positions (closer to the nut), then the fret baffles on them will wear out much faster - accordingly, when the string is clamped, its seating will become lower and lower over time. If the plates on higher frets are not worn out so much, then sooner or later the string will begin to cling to them and we will get an annoying ringing.

Another problem that can cause ringing in the initial positions is a worn and ground nut, which also causes the strings to sit lower and similarly can catch higher frets.

Solution:

Check the deflection of the neck, if necessary, loosen the truss rod to obtain a slight natural deflection (ideal value is ~1.5-3 mm for the first string around the 7th fret when the string is clamped at the 1st and 14th frets). If you have never done this, then it is better to entrust this work to a guitar master;
Check the fret plates in their initial positions: if they are worn, then consult a guitar luthier and break the frets - this procedure, oddly enough, is not as time-consuming and financially expensive as many musicians imagine;
Check to see if the cuts in the top sill are worn out;
If the tool is new, take it back to the store and consult with the seller, as this may be a banal manufacturing defect.

Strings ring at high positions (~12th fret and above)

Most novice guitarists may not notice this problem, since they learn to play mainly on the first frets; many ignore this situation, considering it only a minor deviation from the norm. Of course, a slight ringing that does not affect the sustain and frequency characteristics of the sound is not a problem, but rattling that causes discomfort to the musician can also indicate serious problems with the instrument.

However, in this case, most likely the reason lies in the small gap between the string and the 12th fret, i.e. the strings are set too close to the fretboard. This problem generally only applies to acoustic, as well as electric and bass guitars.

Solution:

We start by checking the profile of the neck: recall that it should have a slight deflection of about 1.5-3 mm at the most concave point (approximately around the 7th fret, we check by clamping the first string at the 1st and 14th fret);
We adjust the string height: on electric and bass guitars by adjusting the height of the bridge saddles or tremolo system, the seat height of the bridge itself, on an acoustic guitar by adjusting the truss rod.

How to set up the truss rod: take the hex wrench that usually comes with the guitar; keys can also be purchased separately on our website in the “Keys for Guitar” section.

ATTENTION! Make no more than a third of a turn of the rod at a time, then leave the guitar to “rest” for 15-20 minutes. After the break, check the height of the strings, the deflection of the neck, be sure to make sure there is no ringing and evaluate the comfort of this neck setup. Repeat the procedure if necessary.

Open, unclamped strings ring

A less common, but no less frustrating problem for musicians is ringing on open strings with a corresponding deterioration in the sustain and frequency characteristics of the instrument's sound. In this case, there may be several reasons: a catastrophically incorrect deflection of the neck, which needs to be urgently corrected, severe wear of the nut, the wrong choice of “string gauge,” as well as the notorious defect if the instrument is completely new.

Make sure the neck does not have a convex profile and the truss rod is not too tight. If this is the problem, then immediately loosen the rod, following the recommendations from the previous paragraph of our article;
Check the nut: if the reason for the ringing of the open strings is that the cuts are worn out, then buy a new threshold and give it to a guitar maker for installation;
Make sure you choose the correct string thickness in relation to the tuning of your instrument and its overall features. You can find out about the recommended thickness for each of the popular tunings in our article.
If the tool is new, take it back to the store and consult with the seller, as this may be a manufacturing defect.

Guitar peg rattles

This problem is especially relevant for budget instruments and, in general, is most often encountered when playing acoustic instruments. The unpleasant rattling of the peg is almost inaudible on recording and when miking the instrument, but it greatly disturbs the musician himself and significantly reduces the pleasure of playing.

We pluck the open strings with our right hand;
While the strings are sounding, we touch each of the pegs in turn - this way we will identify the culprit of the rattling;
Next, either tighten the peg yourself, which no longer “sits” so tightly in the groove, or entrust this work to a master. As a last resort, replace the tuning mechanics. Obviously, the best solution would be to replace not just one of the pegs (of course, if we are not talking about replacing with an absolutely identical peg), but to buy a whole one at once set of guitar pegs.

Guitar body rattles

A fairly rare problem that can result in the instrument becoming completely unusable. First, “knock” the deck at the first suspicion that it is the deck that is rattling. To do this, you don’t need to make the strings sound - just lightly tap your hand on the body of the guitar: the appearance of additional overtones will mean that the problem lies precisely in the body.

Solution:

Don’t delay going to a specialist and don’t try to tune it yourself: a rattling sound on the deck may indicate a violation of the integrity of the housing structure. If you do not glue the top or rail in time, the instrument may become completely unusable.

conclusions

So, we have looked at the main reasons for the appearance of ringing and annoying rattling of guitar strings. What Guitarists Should Remember:

Distinguish negative ringing, which “kills” the sound of the string and sustain, from simple clanging, which appears due to a strong attack. To better understand the difference, compare the sound of your guitar to the slapping technique popular among bass players. Note that the sound of each note when playing slap is dense and full in frequency response, the sustain is not reduced as much as in the case of ringing on adjacent fret plates;
In most cases, ringing appears due to incorrect adjustment of the deflection of the neck and the height of the strings: start looking for the reasons in this area;
If ringing of the strings is observed on a new instrument for no apparent reason (there are no noticeable defects, the height of the strings and the deflection of the neck are adjusted, all elements of the guitar are new and not worn), hurry up to contact the seller and get advice from him.