"Wolf" Notes

[FoxHound4690]

Hello AGF,

Quick question.... I've heard some of you guys in other threads mention "wolf notes". What exactly do you guys mean by this?

[Joe Beamish]

Dead spot. My OM has one at the second octave F# positions for example.

[Chris1983]

My Lowden has one too, unfortunately it’s a G.
It means whenever I play a G, in the middle register (so really low and really high G’s not so much) the top sucks out all the sustain of that note. It rings slightly louder than other notes too.
The trick (or one of them) to great guitar building is to tune the top so it resonates at a frequency that is in between a regular note. Or at least that’s my rudimentary understanding.

[robey]

wolf note = wolf tone?

Dead spot?

A wolf tone is a sympathetic frequency that occurs when the frequency of the note played matches the natural resonance of the guitar body. It's heard mostly as an overtone and can be annoying when it's to loud and interesting when it's not.

This is the first time I've ever heard a dead spot referred to a wolf note, but learn me!!

[AndrewG]

In my experience the wolf notes usually occur around the F/F#/G; more noticeably on the wound strings. My D-18 has a slight G wolf note. I had to return an OM-21 because the wolf notes were so prominent it was basically unplayable. More info here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_tone

[nikpearson]

My understanding is that these are opposites, with a wolf note being louder than other notes played on the instrument, and dead spots being more quiet.

All guitars (instruments?) have them to some extent.

[Goodallboy]

I’m also of the opinion that a wolf note is not a dead spot. I’ll stay tuned.

[martingitdave]

A wolf tone can present as a big “puff” of sound that is louder than the other notes in a chord. However, it can also have high amplitude and little or no sustain, meaning it dies quickly. That’s why some people might consider it a dead note. It “puffs” instead of ringing. I’ve had a few guitars with this problem and it’s super annoying. I play with a capo regularly and some guitars will have frets and capo positions that are unusable because of a wolf tone. I now take a capo with me when I demo a guitar.

[Boozehound]

I find that many EIR Martin dreads have a wolf tone on the low G, which is not ideal. Madi / Guat don’t seem to have it as badly.

[Erithon]

Originally Posted by robey

A wolf tone is a sympathetic frequency that occurs when the frequency of the note played matches the natural resonance of the guitar body. It's heard mostly as an overtone and can be annoying when it's to loud and interesting when it's not.

Originally Posted by AndrewG

In my experience the wolf notes usually occur around the F/F#/G; more noticeably on the wound strings. My D-18 has a slight G wolf note. I had to return an OM-21 because the wolf notes were so prominent it was basically unplayable.

Originally Posted by nikpearson

My understanding is that these are opposites, with a wolf note being louder than other notes played on the instrument, and dead spots being more quiet.

All guitars (instruments?) have them to some extent.

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

I’m also of the opinion that a wolf note is not a dead spot.

Originally Posted by martingitdave

A wolf tone can present as a big “puff” of sound that is louder than the other notes in a chord. However, it can also have high amplitude and little or no sustain, meaning it dies quickly.

These posts are correct. All stringed instruments have wolf tones. They are particularly prominent on the cello and many cellists will have an "eliminator" added between the bridge and tailpiece.

[steveh]

Wolf tones are also more prevalent on lightly built, very responsive instruments.

I've come across some on steel-strings but they are a real pig on well built nylon guitars where sustain, generally, is nowhere near as easy to achieve as on a steel-string. Accordingly, a wolf tone that reduces sustain really stands out on these instruments. I know of one very well known classical player who has a really noticable wolf on D, most obvious on his high E, but he works around it because the instrument is so stellar otherwise.

There is a large literature regarding this issue and how to try and solve it (adding mass to the top etc).

Cheers,
Steve

[steveh]

Also worth pointing out that if it's a genuine wolf tone, then changing the tuning will move the problem to a different location / fret.

That's a rapid way to differentiate the problem from one caused by an uneven fret etc.

Cheers,
Steve

[Herb Hunter]

I think the term, wolf note, is widely misused. It is supposed to refer to an overly loud harmonic that occurs when certain notes are played but I often see it used to describe a note that the guitar under-amplifies as compared to notes above or below it. For example, I’ve played many guitars where the low G on the sixth string is markedly weaker than F, F# below it or the G#, A above it.

[Joe Beamish]

Originally Posted by Herb Hunter

I think the term, wolf note, is widely misused. It is supposed to refer to an overly loud harmonic that occurs when certain notes are played but I often see it used to describe a note that the guitar under-amplifies as compared to notes above or below it. For example, I’ve played many guitars where the low G on the sixth string is markedly weaker than F, F# below it or the G#, A above it.

"Blazer" is widely "misused" to refer to a certain type of jacket. Strictly speaking. But the misuse has become so common that in effect, a blazer stands for any sport jacket whatsoever, and not just the ones with bright metal buttons.

I've noticed people saying "wolf tone" to refer to those thudding, low-sustain frequencies that I consider the word to be correct enough -- especially as it's a slang term, and not a technical one.

[Methos1979]

I had a guitar recently that had an awful 'wolf' note. I traced it to the low G (low E, fretted at the third fret). This note caused the open G string to vibrate sympathetically and the effect when amplified was just awful and there was no way to fix it. It was not as noticeable when not amplified. I have noted that most guitars have this sympathetic G string feature but that was the only guitar that it was bad amplified on.

My newest guitar, a Martin 12 fret dread - which is very lightly built and resonant - has a 'dead' note capo'd up around the 4th, 5th or 6th fret and then it's the C note as played on the A string fretted at the third fret. That note just died in a puff with almost no ring. I'm going to have to go in and pinpoint the actually note and see if it repeats elsewhere on the guitar where it naturally occurs. Fortunately, I rare capo up past the third fret.

I'll report back my findings when I research it.