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Thread: bowlback buzzing - whats up with my baby?

  1. #1
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default bowlback buzzing - whats up with my baby?

    Can buzzing on an open string be due to something inside the instrument (brace loose or kind of loos?). It just developed today, and I dampened the strings above the nut and below the bridge to no effect.

    Its a buzz only on A 440. But buzzes both on the open string and on the seventh fret of the string below. Slight buzz on the 12 fret of the A string.

    One friend of mine suggested a hairline crack in the sound board. I could not find anything visually.

    Maybe I just need new strings, I haven't changed the strings since I got it a couple of months ago.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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  2. #2

    Default Re: bowlback buzzing - whats up with my baby?

    If the instrument buzzes at a particular frequency and not only in some particular location, then I'm afraid that the problem is probably not just a bum string; perhaps something (e.g. a brace) is loose inside the instrument. Before opting for surgery, however, please check out EVERY other possibility: things often go abuzz by the nut (string ends against other parts of the headstock), or down by the tailpiece (ditto, although less likely). If the buzz persists, a look inside the bowl (with a hanging flashlight-bulb and an articulated, "plumber's" mirror) might reveal the problem. Ultimately, you may need the services of a qualified repairman.

    Best of luck, my friend!

    Cheers,

    Victor

    P.S. To be more optimistic: there are also those "fluke buzzes" that appear out of nowhere, and vanish back into nowhere within a day-or-so. Weather, humidity, and the rest... Do not take any action until that "fluke span" time expires.
    It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)

  3. #3
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: bowlback buzzing - whats up with my baby?

    I have had one of those fluke buzzes on a different bowlback, on the D string, and it did go away. But it was not strong.

    We have had a lot of giant shifts in humidity recently, maybe the instrument just found a bad spot.

    I put it back in the case, out of sight so I won't worry about it, and lets hope for the fluke.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  4. #4

    Default Re: bowlback buzzing - whats up with my baby?

    Indeed, weather has not been a friend of wooden instruments lately... I recall some 20 years ago, when I would leave (humidity-ridden) New York in the summer and head out to festivals in (bone-dry) Colorado, some 7,000-8,000 ft. above sea-level. My bass would get every squeak and squawk known to man... Yes, do wait a bit, see what comes, what goes...

    Cheers,

    Victor
    It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)

  5. #5
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: bowlback buzzing - whats up with my baby?

    My Pandini does not like drier winter weather but sounds better in the spring, summer and fall. I try to keep my room humidified.

    Definitely change the strings and, ideally, change to the same or similar set. Check the nut for sure. Sometimes a very slight filing of the nut slot on that buzzing string might make the difference. Bowlbacks are generally built light so the change in temperature and humidity makes more of a difference than other mandolins.

    BTW what kind of bowlback is it?
    Jim

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    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: bowlback buzzing - whats up with my baby?

    Its a Martin Style 3, built in 1911. I have it up on my picture album.

    I purchased it at Gruhn's in Nashville.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
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  7. #7
    Registered User Tavy's Avatar
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    Default Re: bowlback buzzing - whats up with my baby?

    In addition to what everyone else has said, before you start blaming the structure of the mandolin, remove all the strings, and check every component for rattles and firm fixture: tailpiece, tuners, pickguard if there is one. Tailpiece in particular should be rock solid, if you can detect any movement at all when wiggling firmly with your fingers (with the strings off) then it's not secure enough.

    BTW, last time I had this issue, I originally thought it was a problem with the TI strings breaking up, but turned out to be a pickup wire rattling against the body - and it only showed up when I played an 'A', go figure!

    HTH, John.

  8. #8
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: bowlback buzzing - whats up with my baby?

    I put the instrument aside and concentrated on other mandolins for a while.

    And now the heating season has commenced the air in the house has significantly dried out. My instruments tend to go a little flat now, instead of sharp, when left unplayed for a time.



    The Martin Style 3 is behaving again. On its own, no changes. I tuned it yesterday and it sounds great through and through.

    Life is good.

    I celebrated with some Rolling Rock, in a champagne flute.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

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