Overtone and G chords

[zmf]

Originally Posted by electrotele

I guess I need to find some way to zen it out or recalibrate whatever has become out of whack somewhere inside the ole noggin.

Good luck. I've been through the same, and it's hard to "unhear" the overtone, even though objective measures might suggest that it's "normal" and something that can be ignored.

[SpruceTop]

Sounds good to me too.

[jpmist]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Hear a bit of a overtone ring on the fourth (D) string but it's a third overtone (a D note overtone). Various overtones are part of the guitar's nature.

At the risk of beating this to death, I was really curious if I could see what OP was hearing. So I copied his soundcloud track and used a graphic eq on it, then recorded a screen movie of the whole thing. The graphic shows the frequencies immediately after the D was struck. OP uses a pick where I didn't for what that's worth.

That second peak at around 300 seems pretty prominent and stays that way as the note decays.

[Tenn]

do not hear it and probably an idiotic comment forthcoming. Maybe what you are hearing is the emerging growl of a D-18 that many bluegrassers talk about. As I have been told the growl occurs as a result of the interaction of the D and G strings. I have seen a couple of bluegrassers strum those two strings together to see if they "growl" when testing a guitar. I am clueless on this and not sure I would know a growl in the wild. But I have had this info relayed a few times to me.

[bobster7]

I definitely hear it, drone like and overriding other notes. I had a similar thing on my Adi/madi sigma, I changed the strings and it seemed to fade over time?

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by jpmist

At the risk of beating this to death, I was really curious if I could see what OP was hearing. So I copied his soundcloud track and used a graphic eq on it, then recorded a screen movie of the whole thing. The graphic shows the frequencies immediately after the D was struck. OP uses a pick where I didn't for what that's worth.

That second peak at around 300 seems pretty prominent and stays that way as the note decays.

Which would be a closer to a "D" note (294 Hz) overtone which I did hear a bit of and which is typical to expect and rings harmoniously in that G chord.

[LFL Steve]

The note that electrotele describes in the opening post would be expected to appear at 110 Hz.

[rick-slo]

Don't hear an A overtone at all in that G chord. For the D overtone the strongest one is from the 2nd string 2nd overtone followed by 4th string 3rd overtone.

[Robin, Wales]

A rather simplistic response from me, but sometimes such things have merit.

Change your string brand.

[sinistral]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

A rather simplistic response from me, but sometimes such things have merit.

Change your string brand.

I’m also curious what type of pick the OP is using. My guess is that it’s on the thin side (under 1mm), and made out of celluloid or nylon.

[jpmist]

"rick-slo" – Which would be a closer to a "D" note (294 Hz) overtone which I did hear a bit of and which is typical to expect and rings harmoniously in that G chord.

That was my take. What I found interesting was that compared to my Gretch 12 fret, the Martin primary note peak had fewer harmonics/overtones adjacent to it. So I imagine reason the OP hears that D note ring out so strongly is because there aren't any adjacent harmonics to soften it a bit.

I'd be tempted to tweak the saddle and nut slot a bit to see if it made a difference. Perhaps if the string contact point was rolled over a bit and broadened that might dull that sharp primary and octave peak. But on the other hand the OP mentioned the same thing with a fretted note so maybe not.

Frequency table – https://www.seventhstring.com/resour...equencies.html

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by electrotele

Thanks for listening. On the one hand, I’m very glad y’all think there is nothing wrong with my guitar. On the other hand, I’m wondering what’s wrong with me that I have now developed this heightened sensitivity to harmonic overtones. But it’s this one in particular on the D that creates an added second (to my newly acquired bionic ears at least) on the open G chord that is really bugging me.

I guess I need to find some way to zen it out or recalibrate whatever has become out of whack somewhere inside the ole noggin.

And yes, I need to play it more. It’s a lovely guitar.

It sounds like you're playing a G chord without the 3rd fret 2nd string (D), correct?

I'll bet it may not be as pronounced if you play the G chord with 4 fingers instead of 3.

For what it's worth: On my 2nd CD, A Tale To Tell, I recorded my arrangement of Chuck Berry's 'Maybellene' on my 1970 Guild F-212 12 string, and I got the take I wanted pretty quickly. However, I noticed a particular section where I swore I heard a phone ringing.......an actual dial tone, rotary-phone sort of phone.

I was in a real recording studio, in their large room, playing into 5 mics: Neumann U-87 & AKG 451 (30" in front), AKG 414's (room mics 8' away) and Neumann TLM-193 over my shoulder.

To this day, even with my hearing loss, I can still hear that 'phone ringing' in that section. It took my a while to understand that overtones can overwhelm, so hyper-focusing is the LAST thing you want to be doing, unless you want to drive yourself crazy......

If you fast forward to the 2:40 mark I'm on the V chord, and I stay on it for 3 bars. I hear that 'phone ringing' sound to this day, but I've asked many people if they can hear it, and they almost always can not. By the way it is in the right channel, and if turn my headphone around I can still hear it in my left ear, which has compromised high frequency capacity.



It's you, and that's okay as long as you don't let it stand in the way of progress.

Best regards,
Howard Emerson

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

It sounds like you're playing a G chord without the 3rd fret 2nd string (D), correct?

I'll bet it may not be as pronounced if you play the G chord with 4 fingers instead of 3.

For what it's worth: On my 2nd CD, A Tale To Tell, I recorded my arrangement of Chuck Berry's 'Maybellene' on my 1970 Guild F-212 12 string, and I got the take I wanted pretty quickly. However, I noticed a particular section where I swore I heard a phone ringing.......an actual dial tone, rotary-phone sort of phone.

I was in a real recording studio, in their large room, playing into 5 mics: Neumann U-87 & AKG 451 (30" in front), AKG 414's (room mics 8' away) and Neumann TLM-193 over my shoulder.

To this day, even with my hearing loss, I can still hear that 'phone ringing' in that section. It took my a while to understand that overtones can overwhelm, so hyper-focusing is the LAST thing you want to be doing, unless you want to drive yourself crazy......

If you fast forward to the 2:40 mark I'm on the V chord, and I stay on it for 3 bars. I hear that 'phone ringing' sound to this day, but I've asked many people if they can hear it, and they almost always can not. By the way it is in the right channel, and if turn my headphone around I can still hear it in my left ear, which has compromised high frequency capacity.

Nope, don't hear a phone ringing.

[rmoretti49]

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

It sounds like you're playing a G chord without the 3rd fret 2nd string (D), correct?

I'll bet it may not be as pronounced if you play the G chord with 4 fingers instead of 3.

For what it's worth: On my 2nd CD, A Tale To Tell, I recorded my arrangement of Chuck Berry's 'Maybellene' on my 1970 Guild F-212 12 string, and I got the take I wanted pretty quickly. However, I noticed a particular section where I swore I heard a phone ringing.......an actual dial tone, rotary-phone sort of phone.

I was in a real recording studio, in their large room, playing into 5 mics: Neumann U-87 & AKG 451 (30" in front), AKG 414's (room mics 8' away) and Neumann TLM-193 over my shoulder.

To this day, even with my hearing loss, I can still hear that 'phone ringing' in that section. It took my a while to understand that overtones can overwhelm, so hyper-focusing is the LAST thing you want to be doing, unless you want to drive yourself crazy......

If you fast forward to the 2:40 mark I'm on the V chord, and I stay on it for 3 bars. I hear that 'phone ringing' sound to this day, but I've asked many people if they can hear it, and they almost always can not. By the way it is in the right channel, and if turn my headphone around I can still hear it in my left ear, which has compromised high frequency capacity.



It's you, and that's okay as long as you don't let it stand in the way of progress.

Best regards,
Howard Emerson

I have definitely noticed a very similar phenomenon on a couple of my guitars. Pursuing its source seemed like going down a rabbit hole, so I don't do that. But I do notice it with some regularity, and simply regard it as interesting.

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by rmoretti49

I have definitely noticed a very similar phenomenon on a couple of my guitars. Pursuing its source seemed like going down a rabbit hole, so I don't do that. But I do notice it with some regularity, and simply regard it as interesting.

RM,
Sometimes it’s simply the strings in back of the nut, or if you’re capo is 3rd fret or higher, the strings in back of it.

I’ve had felt under my strings for decades now.

HE