String Rattle

[FoxHound4690]

Originally Posted by Haasome

It’s winter and if you live in a climate that requires heating, it’s likely you have low indoor RH. Low RH can result in buzz. Perhaps your tech left your guitar in a very dry location overnight. I think the best approach here is to put a mirror in the sound hole so you can see the ball ends of the string and make sure they are tight against the surface of the bridge plate. Then, leave the guitar in a humidified location and see what happens. If all this fails to solve your problem, bring it back to your tech.

I live in Austrlia and we're virtually in the middle of summer at the moment with alot of hot as hell days at the moment. its quite humid here too alot of the time so humidity could be an issue. Wouldn't rule it out because humidity can have a negative effect on alot of **** things lol

[FoxHound4690]

Originally Posted by phavriluk

My impression is that OP had the strings changed, not that he changed them...

Yes correct. I got the guy at my local music store to change them for me. i'm not too good at changing the strings i always end up cocking it up...

[mirwa]

The problem when someone changes a set of strings for you, is the unknown, did they adjust anything else at the same time.

If the guitar was playing fine before hand and the strings fitted are the same as before, then likely the person has tweaked the truss rod just a little or the nut was border line and the string change has taken it down that little bit too much.

If the strings are of a different gauge, then a small mismatch may have occured which has allowed a bit of backbowing.

I am in Australia as well.

A good setup can do wonders.

Steve

[FoxHound4690]

Originally Posted by mirwa

The problem when someone changes a set of strings for you, is the unknown, did they adjust anything else at the same time.

If the guitar was playing fine before hand and the strings fitted are the same as before, then likely the person has tweaked the truss rod just a little or the nut was border line and the string change has taken it down that little bit too much.

If the strings are of a different gauge, then a small mismatch may have occured which has allowed a bit of backbowing.

I am in Australia as well.

A good setup can do wonders.

Steve

Hey Steve, thanks for the comment dude and No the man didn't adjust the truss rod at all, I was there when he was changing the strings so I know for a fact he didn't touch anything else other than the strings and the brass pins i wanted to put in. that brings me to another question. if i switched from plastic pins to brass pins could that possible be the reason i'm getting string rattle? i don't know enough about the tech side of guitars to know for sure but may it be a possibility?

[mirwa]

Swapping to brass pins is not likely the cause, it is a possiblity as you have changed the mass of the bridge / saddle / pin assembly, but to me highly unlikely.

It is likely coincidental to have had it happen at the string change.

Tear a piece of A4 paper into a 10mm ish wide strip, place the strip on top of the first fret and under one of the strings in question, with your other hand press thestring down between 2-3rd fret, drag the piece of paper out from between string and fret, is there resistance felt on the paper, does the paper tear does the paper simply fall out.

This checks your nut (roughly)

Steve

[HodgdonExtreme]

Originally Posted by FoxHound4690

If i switched from plastic pins to brass pins could that possible be the reason i'm getting string rattle? i don't know enough about the tech side of guitars to know for sure but may it be a possibility?

It is very unlikely the brass pins have altered any of the geometry of your guitar. However it is possible the brass pins have made a pre-existing condition a bit easier to hear.

[1833]

If you did not hear the rattle prior to the bridge pin change and string change than those two changes would be the first two places I would look at . If the string ends are not tight against the bridge plate they could rattle . Look inside with a mirror and make sure all the string ends are tight against the plate . If that’s seems ok put the plastic pins back in and see if the rattle noise has changed , if that doesn’t do the trick you may want to go up to the next string gauge . Does it feel like these strings are easier to bend and bar chord than the last set if so that very well could be the root cause of your rattle . Wouldnt hurt to check in order neck relief, action at nut and first three frets , than action at 12 th fret just to see what you have . Joe R

[pick1]

Originally Posted by FoxHound4690

Hey guys,

Just wanting to know how can I eliminate string rattle on my acoustic.
I had a new set of Elixir's put on it yesterday and there is a little bit of rattle on the Low E and the A strings.

Did you use the exact same strings (in terms of gauge and brand) as before the change ? Maybe you asked for same gauge but whoever changed your strings used something else ?

Is it indeed a rattle, or more of a "ping" sound ?

Listen to the rattle/ping and try to figure out roughly where it is coming from:

• upper part of the neck ? Check the nut. You could have a crack or worn out slot (or went drastically down in gauge).
• towards the heel/body. That usually indicates a high fret. Which suddenly has become "high" for some yet unknown reason (humidity, dropping the gauge, tightening the truss rod, etc.)
• somewhere from around the body area. Do you have any amplifier installed inside the body ? If so, it could be some metallic nut/washer part of the jack that is a tinny bit loose and resonates with A and E frequencies. In this case the "rattle" is more of a "ping/ringing" sound, though it depends how loose that part is.
• bad pack of strings. Rare, but it happens. And it happened to me. One day after I changed my strings (same gauge) out of the blue the B string started buzzing. It went away on its own after a new strings change. I guess that problematic B string was a tinny bit thicker than normal. Maybe the pack I had was a counterfeit. Who knows ...
• if the sound seems to come out from the "entire" length of neck, it could be the truss rod that resonates. But this a very rare case and I would only look into it if all other possibilities have been exhausted.

Hope this helps.