What is wrong with my A minor open chord on my acoustic guitars?

attaboy_jhb · #1 11-19-2015, 05:04 AM

Hi All. New to the forum but have been a reader for some time. I have two guitars, a Martin D-28 as well as Maton EBG808. On both guitars I am experiencing the same problem and it has to do with the A minor chord in open position. All the other chords sound fine to my ears but this A minor chord has a very slight dissonant type of unpleasant quality to it. I do mean very slight but it bothers me and my recordings do not sound sa I would like as result of this. I actually spent around 5000 euros on acoustic treatment in my studio because I really do want the best possible results. So either all the treatment helped me to now actually hear what my acoustic guitars really sound like and EQ accordingly or my room has a problem which can not be fixed by acoustic treatment and is making this one chord sound ugly.

I wish I could upload a sample so you can listen to it but it does not allow me to attach any kind of file. If anybody could recommend an alternative, please do else please could you give me an idea of why this happens and if it is common acoustic guitars. I have a feeling it has to do with the C note on the B string but am not sure because when I play other chords like C major it doesn't bug me.

thanks a lot!

jim1960 · #2 11-19-2015, 05:06 AM

How long have you been playing?

ZealotsRUs · #3 11-19-2015, 05:08 AM

it's pretty tricky without hearing anything but here are a couple of ideas.

Have you switched string gauges since you last had your guitars serviced?

Alternatively, have you checked that the intonation is correct? You can do this quickly by simply comparing the fretted and harmonic notes at the 12 fret

I am sure there are many other things I haven't thought of, good luck!

jim1960 · #4 11-19-2015, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZealotsRUs

it's pretty tricky without hearing anything but here are a couple of ideas.

Have you switched string gauges since you last had your guitars serviced?

Alternatively, have you checked that the intonation is correct? You can do this quickly by simply comparing the fretted and harmonic notes at the 12 fret

I am sure there are many other things I haven't thought of, good luck!

I'm thinking he just doesn't like the sound of an Am chord since he's saying he has the identical problem on two separate guitars. It's unlikely that the issue is on the guitar end.

healyf52 · #5 11-19-2015, 05:22 AM

you can create a short Youtube video and post a link to that.

Sometimes when playing an Am or C chord my index finger (left hand) partially mutes the high E string which is why I like wider necks like my 1 7/8" nut on my Martin 0-28VS.

If you're spending big money on your studio, you deserve a nice fat Am chord for sure. It's one of the best sounding chords out there for my money.

Good luck.

crikey · #6 11-19-2015, 05:30 AM

Welcome. I suspect, from what you've said, that it's the G string at the 2nd fret. And it may be you're just not fretting it well. It's not common for an Am to sound 'ugly'. If the C chord isn't giving you problems, then you can eliminate the B string and the D string, which both of those share the same positions for the Am as well. So play that G note at the second fret, see if it's behaving, see if you fingers are giving it what it needs.

catdaddy · #7 11-19-2015, 05:31 AM

This situation is a bit slippery. It's tough for me to evaluate this problem without having a better understanding of what you're hearing. I think it would be most helpful (and maybe essential) for you to post a sound file so that other ears can evaluate your problem. healyF52 suggested making a youtube video. As one who doesn't do videos I would suggest that setting up a free soundcloud.com account would allow you to imbed a simple soundfile recording for this forum without too much trouble if a video seems too daunting.

ZealotsRUs · #8 11-19-2015, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim1960

I'm thinking he just doesn't like the sound of an Am chord since he's saying he has the identical problem on two separate guitars. It's unlikely that the issue is on the guitar end.

well, yes, that did occur to me..

it's a pretty sweet and simple chord though

ljguitar · #9 11-19-2015, 06:20 AM

attaboy_jhb

Hello and Welcome to the Forum! Glad you joined and jumped in with a thread…

There is a recording section to the forum, and if not for this issue, then perhaps in future recording efforts or questions, you can post there. When posted there, threads last much longer before dropping off page 1.

No direct file posting…
The way the forum works with pictures or sound files is you post an audio file to SoundCloud and then link them to a post, or you can (as previously stated) put up a YouTube video and link it here as well. Same with pictures - post to a hosting service and link here.

It would be helpful for us to be able to hear what you hear.

attaboy_jhb · #10 11-19-2015, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim1960

How long have you been playing?

15 years or so

attaboy_jhb · #11 11-19-2015, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

attaboy_jhb

Hello and Welcome to the Forum! Glad you joined and jumped in with a thread…

There is a recording section to the forum, and if not for this issue, then perhaps in future recording efforts or questions, you can post there. When posted there, threads last much longer before dropping off page 1.

No direct file posting…
The way the forum works with pictures or sound files is you post an audio file to SoundCloud and then link them to a post, or you can (as previously stated) put up a YouTube video and link it here as well. Same with pictures - post to a hosting service and link here.

It would be helpful for us to be able to hear what you hear.

OK great thanks, I am going to do upload it to SC

mc1 · #12 11-19-2015, 07:26 AM

might be the action at the nut.

might be the tuning. check with a tuner as you fret each note.

might be too much finger pressure, experiment as you listen.

play separate pairs of notes from the Am chord to find which ones may be slightly out from each other.

tamiller1952 · #13 11-19-2015, 07:38 AM

Have you had your hearing tested?

It could be your hearing since it happens on two different guitars. I've got high frequency loss with a small amount of distortion that happens at only certain frequencies. Certain frequencies trigger a secondary tone that could be irritating if I allowed it to be.

You may be able to check this yourself by listening to individual notes on a sliding scale to see if you can find the sour note.

rick-slo · #14 11-19-2015, 09:18 AM

Most likely a tuning issue. Play an Am on the four inner strings. Pick one of the strings to stay the same
and then tweak the tuning the other three strings for that particular chord (Am) to sound good. I can't
imagine you can't get that one chord to sound right, of course other chords may sound off.

zmf · #15 11-19-2015, 09:31 AM

Interesting that in the last few days, there have been at least 3 posts (myself included) complaining about the sounds of strings and chords.

Wonder if it has sometimes to be with a yearly cycle? Change of seasons?