thinman Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 On my MIM Jazz I have a strange problem when playing the A around the 13th and 14th frets. (Standard EADG tuning). The string sometimes plays a double note because it vibrates between my finger and the nut as well as between the fret and bridge. E.g. if I play a Bb there's sometimes an underlying Ab (I think). This is very prominent unplugged but I still think that plugged in this behaviour colours the intended note to some extent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Are you absolutely sure its not a sympathetic harmony on another string? I cant see how the pups would pick up a harmonic from a part of the string that should be damped by your finger, and with no pup...... Just thinking out loud... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinman Posted March 18, 2008 Author Share Posted March 18, 2008 [quote name='The Burpster' post='159802' date='Mar 18 2008, 06:08 PM']Are you absolutely sure its not a sympathetic harmony on another string? I cant see how the pups would pick up a harmonic from a part of the string that should be damped by your finger, and with no pup...... Just thinking out loud...[/quote] Yes - checked that - it's worse with hammer-ons etc but it's definitely the A string. I can stop it by damping it. It's like the string is fretted in both directions. As I said its obviously far more noticeable unplugged but it does affect the tone picked up by the pickup a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 3 things .... Is your action set really low and what type of nut do you have.... How old are the strings (what type are they too) PLease....? I have a couple of thoughts but need to know these bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinman Posted March 19, 2008 Author Share Posted March 19, 2008 [quote name='The Burpster' post='159944' date='Mar 18 2008, 09:29 PM']3 things .... Is your action set really low and what type of nut do you have.... How old are the strings (what type are they too) PLease....? I have a couple of thoughts but need to know these bits.[/quote] Original Fender roundwound strings about a year old (yeah I know but I don't like them too bright). Original plastic nut. The action is reasonably low - do you need measurements? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 OK, So now I'm wondering, is the string making the 12 fret when you are fretting the 13th? If so it could be a high fret or more likely you have worn an indent on the bottom of teh string at the 23 & 14th frets and this makes it lower. So, when you fret at the required fret the space between the bottom of the string and teh fret below (12th) is reduced to nothing and it is effectively being fretted as both sides of you finger.... Does that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinman Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 [quote name='The Burpster' post='160541' date='Mar 19 2008, 10:51 PM']OK, So now I'm wondering, is the string making the 12 fret when you are fretting the 13th? If so it could be a high fret or more likely you have worn an indent on the bottom of teh string at the 23 & 14th frets and this makes it lower. So, when you fret at the required fret the space between the bottom of the string and teh fret below (12th) is reduced to nothing and it is effectively being fretted as both sides of you finger.... Does that make sense?[/quote] Thanks for the reply. I can't see or feel any indentation of the string and generally I'd say that around that position on the neck all of the strings seem to fret on the "nut" side as well as the bridge side of my finger (I'm not a heavy fretter either). It just seems that the A sometimes likes to resonate in sympathy on the nut side. Couldn't spot anything in terms of a high fret but I suppose it could be very slight. I'll try a new set of strings and if that makes no difference I'll get the local luthier to have a look - he's a pretty good chap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Sounds good..... Do you have the neck really straight? I'd be inclined to try a tad more relief too! Waht do you have it set at now? Thinking about it, one of my guitarists Strats did this a little, we added a few thou' more relief and it cured it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinman Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 [quote name='The Burpster' post='162077' date='Mar 23 2008, 09:55 AM']Sounds good..... Do you have the neck really straight? I'd be inclined to try a tad more relief too! Waht do you have it set at now? Thinking about it, one of my guitarists Strats did this a little, we added a few thou' more relief and it cured it![/quote] Cheers Burpster - I'll have to get my feeler gauges out and measure the relief but it is pretty straight. Maybe a slight slackening of the rod may be in order but I'm a bit averse to fiddling too much. Maybe I should do a bit of reading, take a deep breath and get to grips with these adjustments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Aaaaahhhhh now if reading is your thing..... try this...! [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-Electrics/dp/0879302917/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206349212&sr=8-3"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guitar-Player-Repa...9212&sr=8-3[/url] possibly the best £16 you'll spend...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alun Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Out of curiousity, how high are your pickups? It may be that if they're very close to the strings they are creating overtones. Cheers Alun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 [quote name='The Burpster' post='162077' date='Mar 23 2008, 09:55 AM']Thinking about it, one of my guitarists Strats did this a little, we added a few thou' more relief and it cured it![/quote] +1 for that. My fretless did the same when I put some different strings on it, and backing off the truss rod 1/4 turn sorted it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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