What the heck is this sound?

[Danzego]

This is an interesting occurrence with my new Fender American Standard Strat. When playing the G string (and sometimes the B, especially when tuned down a half step), I hear this really high pitch sound along with the note I'm playing. You can hear it really well when raising and lowering the pitch of the string as the string is sounding. Mind you, this isn't even when I have it plugged in and it can be easily heard from several feet away (I haven't checked to see if it can be heard when plugged into the amp).

I don't know how to explain it.....it's kind of like a high pitch whine and you can hear it along with the note from the string. It seems to be coming from the bridge, so I moved the string in the saddle (I thought maybe it was unseated and it was ringing against the metal of the saddle, as if it was sitting funny), but that didn't solve the problem.

Does this sound familiar to any Strat players (or anyone else)?

[markb]

Make sure all the saddle screws are in contact with the base plate. Loose ones can make some wierd noises. Just take the allen key and try to turn them clockwise. Any resistance and they're fine.

[Danzego]

Actually, I think I may have located the problem. I put a piece of paper under the string in the saddle and tightened the string back up to see if perhaps it was the string was just lightly touching some point in the saddle and the vibration against the steel was making the whine. That didn't change anything.

However, I followed the sound up and it was also noticeable at the tuning posts. I put a piece of paper around the string right where it leaves the post and heads towards the nut, tightened it up, and that practically eliminated the noise. It may actually be the string ringing out against the post, or possibly against the steel tuning post nut that lies at the bottom of the post.

I'm going to change strings here and see if I can do a better job than those monkeys at Fender (I've never seen factory stringing jobs worse than theirs). Maybe that will eliminate the problem.

[markb]

Might be a loose tuner nut, check the string trees as well if they're vintage types.

[Danzego]

I checked everything and it all seems tight. Restringing it didn't help (though it did help with the tuning stability; Fender's crappy string job made tuning a regular task), even though I made sure that the string isn't sitting anywhere near the tuner nut.

I dunno, it's weird. If I place my finger on the G or B string behind the slotted nut (and in front of the string tree for the B string), I don't get that ringing. I have no idea what's causing it. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be an issue when it's plugged in, but I do play it unplugged quite a bit.

Anyone else with Strats hear anything of this sort?

[duhvoodooman***]

String tree rattle/vibration?

[aeolian]

String tree rattle/vibration?

Definitely a possibility. But the B and G strings are on different string trees though. I would still check to see if the string trees are on straight, or may be even try angling them a bit. Another culprit can be the nut itself if the nut slots are not cut properly.

[Katastrophe]

Definitely a possibility. But the B and G strings are on different string trees though. I would still check to see if the string trees are on straight, or may be even try angling them a bit. Another culprit can be the nut itself if the nut slots are not cut properly.

I'm thinking it may be an improperly cut nut slot, but it's just a guess.

[Danzego]

It must be the nut itself, because there's only one tree- for the E and B strings.

[ShortBuSX]

Apply some superglue to the nut slot(s) you think is the culprit(dont glue your string down)...or put a piece of paper under the string in the nut slot(to compensate for a nut cut too low).

If I remember correctly, one of my guitars did this too, but it turned out to be a loose nut on one of the tuners post.

[Danzego]

Apply some superglue to the nut slot(s) you think is the culprit(dont glue your string down)...or put a piece of paper under the string in the nut slot(to compensate for a nut cut too low).

If I remember correctly, one of my guitars did this too, but it turned out to be a loose nut on one of the tuners post.

I'm not even going to bother rigging it. I just bought it last Tuesday.

I was in the area, so I stopped by Guitar Center and inquired about it, seeing if they've run into anything like that or see it commonly. They were (as expected ) confused and offered to set up an appointment with their "repair guy". I said "how about you get another one in and we swap, instead?", to which they agreed.

*sighs*

Time for guitar swap, part II. :

[markb]

Good luck with the replacement.

[oldguy]

Danzego,
Hope you get the guitar swapped out OK. Let us know how it turns out.
You seem to be having a hard time finding a Strat with no quality issues...... beginning to make me nervous....... I had planned on trading in my MIM on a better Strat this spring.......now I wondering if I should just keep what I have.
I've tried a couple of Am. Stds, but they are set up so poorly in the store I can't evaluate them, a good set up might take care of the action and intonation, but I now wonder what else might happen........

Just curious..... did you notice the noise at the store when you played the guitar, and did you do a set-up on the guitar afterwards? If the noise wasn't there before, something had to change.

[mrmudcat]

Has a proper string change(different strings) and steup been done yet? Have you checked the nuts on the tuners to be sure they are tight.All do respect brother but im a lil confused as to your problem and believe me I know strats.Other replys about sounds like this or that can hardly be anything but opinions or speculation at best.Im not sure I caught it but you did change strings? As for tuning instabilities ,until the string set is properly stretched out will you find tuning and holding tune getting better

[Danzego]

Ok, let me recap just a bit and answer what has been asked.

I didn't hear the sound at the store, where, other than checking for dead spots on the neck, I only played it plugged in. However, the sound is occurring up at the headstock. If I only played plugged in, I might not care as much, but I do play unplugged quite a bit (I'll just grab a guitar and go sit down somewhere in the house), which is when I noticed it. So basically, it sounds like there's a slightly shrill metallic overtone when the B and G strings are played open. What it comes down to is there's something happening that I've never noticed on any of my guitars before and for the money, it irks me.

As for setup and adjustments, I've tweaked the saddles a bit (intonation), but nothing else. It actually felt and played really good right there in the store, unlike most Fenders I've played (though most have been MIM's). However, it's definitely unrelated, as I did the adjustments after I already noticed the sound.

Finally, I did restring it. Like I said, the people at Fender don't know how to string guitars. The ones I've played, you can tell they thread the string through the tuning post and wrap it around by hand, even wrapping the string over itself. Most of the strings even had a good 6 winds or so before heading towards the nut (anything more than 3 or 4 MAX is overkill; I prefer 2 to 3). With the way they do it, a non-locking nut guitar is NEVER going to stay in tune.

So yeah, I changed the strings and it seems to stay in tune well now (though I haven't been scrutinizing it with a tuner).

[ShortBuSX]

ITs either the tuner nuts, the nut cut too low(that would be fret noise) or one of your saddles isnt seated all the way...Im leaning more towards the saddles now as this happened with my Tele...try turning the fore/aft screws, or even just push on the screw to make sure its all the way seated...but I betcha its one of the height allens, if they arent equal and one is slightly off on one side itll vibrate. Just push down on the saddle when it makes that noise, I betcha thats it...I betcha it stops when you push down on it.

[just strum]

I didn't even think of that. I had that problem on my Squier and it drove me nuts.

I betcha he might be right

[Danzego]

ITs either the tuner nuts, the nut cut too low(that would be fret noise) or one of your saddles isnt seated all the way...Im leaning more towards the saddles now as this happened with my Tele...try turning the fore/aft screws, or even just push on the screw to make sure its all the way seated...but I betcha its one of the height allens, if they arent equal and one is slightly off on one side itll vibrate. Just push down on the saddle when it makes that noise, I betcha thats it...I betcha it stops when you push down on it.

It's definitely not the tuners, fret noise, or the saddles.

If it was the saddle, the sound should go away when doing some palm mutes. In fact, palm muting makes the metallic sound easier to hear (since the string is vibrating, but the note itself is muted). Also, it only happens when playing open B and G. If it was the saddle, it should happen on every note.

For the tuner nuts, I changed strings, checking each tuner post and nut for tightness and making sure no string was touching the nut as it's coming off the post (like Fender's string job was, since they wrap it around the post so many times). The sound still occurs when I touch the tuner post and tuner nut to dampen their vibration.

It HAS to be the nut itself and the way it's slotted for those two strings. The sound I'm hearing goes away when I so much as lightly touch the G and B strings behind the nut (over the headstock; for the B string, I have to touch it in front of the string tree).

[Danzego]

Here, actually I have the perfect way to demonstrate the sound. Grab your guitar and pluck the G and B string behind the headstock. Hear the "toy piano" sound coming from it? That's what I hear, but only way quieter (like I said, it sounds like an overtone, not the note itself).

The nut must be slotted weird so that it's allowing the string to vibrate behind the nut to the point where it can be heard. The last thing I want to do is be playing duets with a toy piano....but only in B and G.

I just don't get how that works. I've sawed nuts out pretty wide (when I was still stupid/carefree enough to play around with that) and I never noticed any such thing before.