Buzzing Barn Door?

[FormerFoodie]

I've got a delightful old school Raingsong OM (old N1 neck) of which I love the tone. For road trips, this is a great, great guitar for me to lug around.

However, there is this annoying buzz that I traced to the barn door for the pick-up. Have any of you experienced this and how did you best mitigate?

If I open the door all the way, the buzzing disappears and I have an ugly looking sound port. However, I'm wondering if there is a better solution.

Thoughts?

(BTW, this is not meant to criticize Rainsongs. After buying and selling numerous CF guitars, I've settled on two Rainsongs because my ears gravitate to their tone. )

[Barb1]

Attach a small piece of black duct tape across the edge of the door that locks it to the body. The width of the tape should be enough to remove the buzz. if it isn't add another piece.
Barb

[Captain Jim]

I think quite a few of us have had that situation. While I seem to recall RainSong offering something rubber to fit in there, Barb's suggestion of a small bit of black tape on the edge of the section that rotates out takes care of it.

[jonfields45]

I think you can do a neater job with black electrical tape. I tape the entire perimeter of the bezel that is mounted on the guitar side. That has always worked for me and seems to be a common issue with Fishman barn doors.

[Bob Womack]

Another thing to check it the wad of cables that come out of the electronic package and go to tailpiece and pickup. The Fishman Prefix on one of my guitars will sometimes physically buzz a wee bit. I open the barn door and slightly rearrange them and the buzz goes away.


Bob

[FormerFoodie]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! Looks like I'm going to need to dig up some tape of some kind!

[northtrader]

My JM1000 does the same thing. Only, in my instance, the resonance/rattle was related to the presence of the 9V battery in the holder. If the battery was installed, there was a buzzing that was created at certain string frequencies. If I removed the battery, those specific frequencies did not excite the buzz.
The battery was seated pretty firmly so I don't believe it was the battery itself. Perhaps the extra mass of the battery being in the pocket was enough to allow something in the 'barn door' to vibrate. I don't use the onboard electronics so I just leave the battery out. If I every play amplified again, I'll have to dig deeper into what is being excited.

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by northtrader

My JM1000 does the same thing. Only, in my instance, the resonance/rattle was related to the presence of the 9V battery in the holder. If the battery was installed, there was a buzzing that was created at certain string frequencies. If I removed the battery, those specific frequencies did not excite the buzz.
The battery was seated pretty firmly so I don't believe it was the battery itself. Perhaps the extra mass of the battery being in the pocket was enough to allow something in the 'barn door' to vibrate. I don't use the onboard electronics so I just leave the battery out. If I every play amplified again, I'll have to dig deeper into what is being excited.

I had the same thing above happen but I put a single wrap of masking tape around the battery and the buzz/rattle went away.

[Steve DeRosa]

Had the same problem on my '04 Rainsong JM3000 12-string (sorry folks, but this one's a keeper); a little care when closing makes it disappear - no tape needed - and I don't give it a second thought until next time I need to replace the battery...

[PeteCady]

I also have a "...delightful old school Raingsong OM (old N1 neck) of which I love the tone." Some months ago, the catch on the battery box, that holds it in against the pressure of the spring contacts underneath broke right off, so that it would no longer stay down in place. I took the **** thing right out, and put black duct tape over the hole. I had never used it plugged in very much any way, but it was terrible ugly. I actually put it up for sale, cheap, on this forum, but got no real interest. Finally, I took it to a Mad Genius in Rochester, Vt. If you don't know who I mean, I ain't saying. I don't want him to get a longer waiting list. He asked me if I wanted to try and repair the existing electronics, or convert it to pure acoustic, with the option of putting in a pickup that didn't rely on a barn door, later on. I said I liked the latter option. He proceeded to take out all the electronics (except the endpin jack, which might be useful later), fabricate a new barn door cover from black pickguard material, which he heated and bent to fit the curve, trim and smooth it neatly, and install it so cleanly that you need to look closely to know that there was ever an opening. IN ABOUT HALF AN HOUR, WHILE I WAITED. And I won't even say how much he charged me, but I paid him with cash from my wallet, and I don't usually carry much cash. Now that guitar is back in competition with the APLE for my first choice amongst my CF guitars. And I still won't tell you his name...

[Sorehand]

Jake is very talented with repairs.