Thomastik GB112 Noise question

[ron99x]

Hello,
I have 3 brand new, hand/luthier made arch top guitars that are all strung with
Thomastik flat wound GB112's. Two of the guitars have floating pickups and one is set. I first noticed a strange, sympathetic like after buzz—after picking—the 1st and 2nd strings on one guitar, either open or fretted anywhere. And then, out of curiosity, I listened carefully to the other 2 and they all seemed to exhibit the same thing, albeit, of varying intensity. Since it doesn't seem logical to assume that all three have an unsecured, vibrating element, or a setup issue—setup was checked on 2 of the guitars by a technician and deemed not to be responsible— I am wondering if there something inherent in the strings that could be responsible. And with that in mind, has anyone else encountered this phenomena with these, or other Thomastik 112's?
Thank you in advance.

[RobT]

Infrequent poster but frequent lurker to this website. Anyway, I use Thomastik strings on all my archtops. I just restrung one of them with the same GB strings (GB112) and I didn't hear any problems. Now its possible you might have bad strings from a particular lot. I would contact Thomastik.

[Livingston]

I've used Thomastik Infeld Jazz Swing and Jazz Bebop strings for more than 20 years. I don't recall ever having a buzzy string. There was a period when I was playing a lot, and was changing strings monthly. Never stumbled across a bad string.

Electric archtops can have mystery buzzing from time to time. So many possibilities ranging from a pick up wire touching some part of the guitar, to a top mounted humbucker vibrating against a pickup mount, to a loose brace, a loose tailpiece part, pick guard hardware, etc., etc.

Fortunately, while the buzzing can drive you up the wall, in most instances, it does not get picked up by the amplifier.

Good luck finding the source of the buzz...hopefully you'll find it soon, before it drives you crazy!

[bluesfreek]

Originally Posted by Livingston

I've used Thomastik Infeld Jazz Swing and Jazz Bebop strings for more than 20 years. I don't recall ever having a buzzy string. There was a period when I was playing a lot, and was changing strings monthly. Never stumbled across a bad string.

Electric archtops can have mystery buzzing from time to time. So many possibilities ranging from a pick up wire touching some part of the guitar, to a top mounted humbucker vibrating against a pickup mount, to a loose brace, a loose tailpiece part, pick guard hardware, etc., etc.

Fortunately, while the buzzing can drive you up the wall, in most instances, it does not get picked up by the amplifier.

Good luck finding the source of the buzz...hopefully you'll find it soon, before it drives you crazy!

This is exactly what was "buzzing" on my Emperor Regent yesterday. I simply moved the wires a little and problem solved. They were vibrating against the top of the guitar underneath the pickguard were the controls are mounted.

[ron99x]

Originally Posted by RobT

Infrequent poster but frequent lurker to this website. Anyway, I use Thomastik strings on all my archtops. I just restrung one of them with the same GB strings (GB112) and I didn't hear any problems. Now its possible you might have bad strings from a particular lot. I would contact Thomastik.

I may have misunderstood, but are you the infrequent poster and frequent lurker?
Anyway, thank you both for your replies. It is quite possible that the common denominator—thomastik strings—is not the perp. I guess that the recent shift in humidity and temperature here in S Florida could turn out to have been the culprit and may have had some adverse effect on the necks. I will give the guitars some time to settle in and then add some relief and will post back following same.

[Archtop Guy]

Originally Posted by Livingston

Electric archtops can have mystery buzzing from time to time. So many possibilities ranging from a pick up wire touching some part of the guitar, to a top mounted humbucker vibrating against a pickup mount, to a loose brace, a loose tailpiece part, pick guard hardware, etc., etc.

Everything he said.... and, it's not the strings....

[RobT]

Originally Posted by ron99x

I may have misunderstood, but are you the infrequent poster and frequent lurker?
Anyway, thank you both for your replies. It is quite possible that the common denominator—thomastik strings—is not the perp. I guess that the recent shift in humidity and temperature here in S Florida could turn out to have been the culprit and may have had some adverse effect on the necks. I will give the guitars some time to settle in and then add some relief and will post back following same.

Yup, I'm that guy. I also live in North Fl and the cold snap of a couple days ago, and the very dry conditions affected a couple of my guitars. I had to put them in their cases with a case humidifier. I keep my guitars on the walls of my music room.

I used to live in the UP of MI and low humidity during the winter months was a given but I had a whole house humidifier and local room humidifier running all winter. Here in Fl one doesn't often think about low humidity but when it gets down in the low twenties with electric forced air heat, things dry out pretty quickly.

[Electar]

I restrung my kay the other day and noticed that I was getting a semi metallic vibration of the strings sympathetically resonating in the tailpiece. When I hand muted behind the bridge the resonation was stopped. This went away after a few minutes of playing the strings in. I haven't had the guitar long enough to know if this happens every time or not.

[cmajor9]

I've had a similar issue with an archtop tailpiece causing 'metallic vibration' with the strings. What worked was to cut a thin strip of felt and wind it between the strings just below the tailpiece.

[Jabberwocky]

Originally Posted by Electar

I restrung my kay the other day and noticed that I was getting a semi metallic vibration of the strings sympathetically resonating in the tailpiece. When I hand muted behind the bridge the resonation was stopped. This went away after a few minutes of playing the strings in. I haven't had the guitar long enough to know if this happens every time or not.

Knitting yarn woven between the strings behind the bridge, before the tailpiece helps. Some players like Ron Eschete or Peter Bernstein sandwich a sock or small pillow between the tailpiece and the top of the guitar to damp tailpiece resonance.

[ron99x]

I came across a post in a different section of this forum that appears to mirror the problem that I described in my initial post. Although this poster did not specify the strings in question, he did supply a sound file demonstrating the noise and here is the link:
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=378674