Neck squeak

[Chipotle]

I recently ran into something I hadn't dealt with in over 30 years of recording. I was recording a quieter fingerstyle piece, and on playback noticed a kind of rubbing/rumbling sound in spots. Enough to ruin the recording. Checked out the mics, chair, clothing I was wearing...

Finally, I figured out it was my thumb squeaking on the neck of the guitar! Kind of like the sound you get when rubbing a balloon.

I recently started recording in the same humidified room I keep my guitars in, so the extra moisture increased the squeakiness. The fingering of this particular piece seems to produce it more than average. But I still notice it elsewhere, and with different guitars. In fact, I hear it everywhere now!

It happens most when I have a fingering where I can't completely let loose, but have to rotate my hand around the neck a bit to reach lower or higher strings. Often it's the crook of the thumb, but sometimes the pad of the thumb (although less often).

I've tried compensating a bit by shifting my hand position and trying to have a looser grip when I need to rotate my hand, but it's been a tough adjustment.

Anyone else ever have this problem, and how did you deal with it?

[Johan Madsen]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

I recently ran into something I hadn't dealt with in over 30 years of recording. I was recording a quieter fingerstyle piece, and on playback noticed a kind of rubbing/rumbling sound in spots. Enough to ruin the recording. Checked out the mics, chair, clothing I was wearing...

Finally, I figured out it was my thumb squeaking on the neck of the guitar! Kind of like the sound you get when rubbing a balloon.

I recently started recording in the same humidified room I keep my guitars in, so the extra moisture increased the squeakiness. The fingering of this particular piece seems to produce it more than average. But I still notice it elsewhere, and with different guitars. In fact, I hear it everywhere now!

It happens most when I have a fingering where I can't completely let loose, but have to rotate my hand around the neck a bit to reach lower or higher strings. Often it's the crook of the thumb, but sometimes the pad of the thumb (although less often).

I've tried compensating a bit by shifting my hand position and trying to have a looser grip when I need to rotate my hand, but it's been a tough adjustment.

Anyone else ever have this problem, and how did you deal with it?

I have the same problem, but more like if the wood of the neck were cracking or something, or the fretboard, much finger squeeze, I only hear that on my fingerstyle recordings, though I can't do much more about the technique, it's real pita to clean all those sounds afterward, and don't hear those that much on professional recordings

[Mandobart]

Two words - speed neck

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Two words - speed neck

Googled it... do you mean this?

Don't think I want to try that on my instruments... and won't work at all on my carbon fiber guitar.

My hands aren't particularly sweaty, and it's not really a "sticking" problem. In fact, I didn't notice it at all until it showed up in a recording... and it had never showed up in a recording prior to that one.

A couple threads I came across while searching suggested talcum powder. Maybe worth trying, at least for a recording session.

[Joscefi78]

use some sort of oil when you record that won't harm the finish, like maybe lemon oil, or coco butter, or coconut oil, on the instrument or maybe just your thumb

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

I recently ran into something I hadn't dealt with in over 30 years of recording. I was recording a quieter fingerstyle piece, and on playback noticed a kind of rubbing/rumbling sound in spots. Enough to ruin the recording. Checked out the mics, chair, clothing I was wearing...

Never got that sound. It's even hard to produce when trying to on my gloss neck guitars. Why after thirty years of recording
do you think this happened now - just because it was a quiet piece or has something else changed?

[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

Googled it... do you mean this?

Don't think I want to try that on my instruments... and won't work at all on my carbon fiber guitar. ....

Yes, though the mando picture is an extreme look. Violins and all orchestral strings have had unfinished necks for centuries. The finish on my Morris F4's neck started flaking off so I removed it all with a plastic scraper and 0000 steel wool. A light treatment with boiled linseed oil left it smooth and slick and absolutely quiet. Since then I've treated all my "keeper" instrument necks the same way, including two guitars. Its not necessary to strip down to bare wood. The 0000 steel wool removes the gloss without removing stain/color. Any fine scratches left can be removed with very fine (600 - 1000) sandpaper with a few light strokes. Apply a light coat of tung oil, tru oil or boiled linseed oil, wait 15 - 30 minutes then wipe off and buff with a lint free cloth. Re-treat maybe once a year. I wouldn't do this on any instrument you plan on selling later, but done right (blended in from the back of the neck to the heel, not sanded down to bare wood) the only visual cue is the lack of a glossy finish.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Never got that sound. It's even hard to produce when trying to on my gloss neck guitars. Why after thirty years of recording
do you think this happened now - just because it was a quiet piece or has something else changed?

I think it was a combination of factors: 1) Humidified room, 2) A quiet piece with 2) fingering that required hand rotation while remaining at the same fret position, and finally 4) I was trying some different mic positions with one closer to the neck that probably picked up more than usual.

I've paid closer attention now to other pieces, and many don't require my hand to shift in the same way, and/or are louder and cover up small squeaks when they do happen.

But once I noticed, and can't un-hear it and now it's driving me crazy!

I'm working on my hand & thumb positioning for that song so it doesn't happen. Thanks for the info on speed necks, I will keep that in my pocket for now.

[Joscefi78]

the pros put vaseline on the strings when they record

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Joscefi78

the pros put vaseline on the strings when they record

Would you source that?

[Joscefi78]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Would you source that?

Google it. The use of vaseline is an old trick and well known for reducing squeaks and as an aid to speed.

https://www.google.com/#q=guitar+rec...eline+squeak&*

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Joscefi78

Google it. The use of vaseline is an old trick and well known for reducing squeaks and as an aid to speed.

https://www.google.com/#q=guitar+rec...eline+squeak&*

Already did that. Don't see anyone recommending Vaseline on the guitar strings (just a newbie or two asking about it and being roundly discouraged by others) - hence my request.

[Nailpicker]

Chipotle, I sometimes get the same back of the neck "sqeaking" or thumb rubbing noise on my Taylor 916 with satin mahogany neck. Never on my 616 with a gloss maple neck so I'm not sure if it's related to mahogany vs maple or gloss vs satin. I never get it on my K26 which is also satin mahogany. Nor on either my gloss T5 or gloss Gretsch. I can't figure it out, so I simply concentrate on eliminating the squeak on my 916. I can't honestly tell you how I eliminate it, I just focus on not having that thumb squeak and I don't have it. I do believe part of the squeak is because my 916 is the lightest build of my guitars and any little extraneous noise gets transmitted and amplified in its very resonant body.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by Joscefi78

the pros put vaseline on the strings when they record

On acoustic guitar strings?
I find that hard to believe.
I've heard of vaseline being used as a moisturizer and skin softener during off-playing hours, but never as an applicator to reduce noise during playing.
Just doesn't seem to be a good fit, string tone production wise.
On neck squeaks:
What I would try is just releasing enough thumb pressure to make smoother transitions up and down the neck. Similar to the technique of raising fingers slightly off the fingerboard to minimize squeaking sounds when shifting fretting positions. Something that all classical players learn in some form or another.

[ljguitar]

Hi Chipotle

I have one neck which will 'squeak' and I've done two things to counter it in studio.

One is I sanded it with 2400 grit sandpaper to make it a more buff finish. That lasts a couple years before my hand/thumb repolishes it.

The other was baby-powder (my first attempt to tame it). It works but has to be cleaned off after the session. It gets onto the fingerboard (either rosewood or ebony) & gets into the pores. Hopefully the fingerboard is finished because the only way I could get it out was damp-cloth.