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Is it just me, or do others here find that B strings are inherently "metallic sounding" in comparison to the other strings on a guitar? I ask because I spent the weekend unsuccessfully chasing a buzz on the B string on one of my guitars and now I swear I hear a harsh, unpleasant "zing" to the B strings on ALL the guitars in my house! Either I've made myself hypersensitive to that frequency or I'm stark raving mad -- perhaps both.

It's ... um ... puzzling. Thoughts?

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George :-)

I can only sympathize. I recently ripped the pickup put of one of my guitars because I was convinced it was causing a weird vibration that only happened when the B was plucked.

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Well the "B" string in a standard set is likely to be the thickest -- when compared to the core of the wound strings. So it makes sense that it will be more metallic -- I've made custom sets to accommodate different anomalies, try a little lighter gauge "B". Somewhere on the web I found a guy that specialized in custom sets claiming predictable expectations .

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

+1

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I think I've heard it a few times, just makes me glad that I don't have to deal with that kinda crap anymore...sorry george.
I do use individual stings in bulk so have dealt with gages for each model. Maybe just switching to a different gage will do it.
I'd take a day off...

Thanks all. This is a weird one. First thing I did was swap strings, trying different gauges and manufacturers. No love. The subsequent journey down the rabbit hole includes the following:

Checked relief
Checked frets
Checked nut slots
Checked saddle for worn spots
Checked truss rod
Checked braces
Removed and reinstalled tuning machines (found one loose bushing-reglued it)

Everything seemed normal and the buzz continued, so I went deeper:

Pulled frets
Re-leveled fingerboard
Pressed and glued in new frets using new SM Jaws II system (I like it!)
Leveled and dressed frets
New nut
New saddle
New set up

I can still hear it!

Yep, I'm with you, Haans. I've decided to set it aside for a day or two and hope that it will fix itself. Meanwhile, I'll just play my bass.

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George :-)

Maybe ask someone else if they can hear it? Your wife always has better hearing. Mine knows exactly what I am doing anywhere in the house by sound alone.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

It's not your imagination or over-sensitivity. I hear it on all my guitars. I asked Trevor Gore about this during a modal tuning class I took at Robbie O'Brien's shop last spring, and we traced it to a sympathetic resonance on the bass E string. Mute the E string or fret it and the nasty zing disappears. Fortunately I only hear the problem when plucking the open B string by itself, not much if at all while actually playing.

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It will probably be alright.

Yeah, I put the wife's ears to work right quick. She can hear it loud and clear.

I've been chasing the sympathetic resonances as well. It's incredible how many sounds a guitar actually makes once you start a string vibrating. I'm currently so attuned to these "noises" that I can't hear the music, and guitars are all sounding kind of crappy to me. I might go back at it today -- or not. It's starting to rain lightly. A nice pot of tea, buttered scones and a book would be much more enjoyable.

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George :-)

Don't forget to check the effect of muting the strings in the section from the nut to the tuners. All sorts of sympathetic junk can happen up there. Something as simple as a capo lightly applied just north of the nut might help your situation.

Are you using a bone nut? I was told that bone causes that weird tone and tusq doesn't but

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