One of those problems that every musician faced. And most often the cause of this problem is not at all defects or problems with the instrument: in 9 out of 10 cases, the owner of the instrument simply inattentively approaches its detuning and does not know the main causes of overtones. Needless to say, getting rid of the annoying rattle and achieving a clear sound of the instrument in this case is not difficult - and our short guide on the main causes of ringing and clanging strings will help you with this.

What to do if the strings are ringing?

In most cases, a dull sound with minimal sustain and a distinctly audible ringing does not appear along the entire length of the string, but only in certain positions. At the first symptoms of rattling, we recommend that you carefully understand its causes: do not forget that some of these causes can lead to problems with the guitar if you do not pay attention to them for a long time. In particular, this applies to incorrect adjustment of the truss rod, which we will discuss below and which can lead to the neck “leading” and its profile being damaged.

Most often, ringing appears not only in a certain position on the fretboard, but also on certain strings: in the vast majority of cases, rattling affects the bass strings due to the presence of windings on them, the greater weight and greater thickness of such strings.

The main causes of ringing can be problems technical level and detuning problems. With the latter, everything is clear: here the peculiarities of the bridge position adjustment, and how high the strings are located from the fretboard, can also play a role, and a large percentage of cases of occurrence are associated with improper detuning of the fretboard anchor. Technical problems are less common, but they also create more problems for the owner of the instrument: due to poor-quality assembly, due to the use of cheap materials on individual guitars, individual elements of the bridge, nut, frets, and even the soundboard of the instrument itself can be deformed, which necessarily leads to discomfort and extra sounds during the game.

Read this material to the end - and you will learn to understand the causes of string rattle and get rid of it in a matter of minutes.

Stage number 1: determine what caused the ringing of the strings

So, just above, we have already made it clear to you that there can be many reasons for the appearance of overtones - especially if we are talking about an inexpensive instrument. Before drawing a conclusion about the root cause of the ringing, you need to check each string in all positions. As we study, we write down or remember in which positions each of the strings rattles.

The strings ring at the first or third fret (i.e., rattling is observed mainly in the initial positions)

In this situation, the most likely cause is incorrect truss alignment or fret problems. As for the neck profile, you should make sure that there is a slight deflection in it, i.e. the neck is slightly concave. Most often, rattling at 1-3 frets appears due to the fact that the guitarist strives to make the profile of the neck perfectly even or by mistake achieves a curved neck: in this case, the string clamped on the first frets will cling to 5-7 and higher frets.

The second option is the wear of the frets themselves. If you often play in the lower positions (closer to the nut), then the fret partitions will wear out much faster on them - accordingly, when the string is clamped, its landing will be lower and lower over time. If the plates are not worn so much on the higher frets, then sooner or later the string will start to cling to them and we will get an annoying ringing.

Another problem that can cause ringing in starting positions is a worn and chiselled nut, which also causes the strings to sit too low and similarly can hit the higher frets.

Decision:

• Check the neck deflection, if necessary, loosen the truss rod to obtain a slight natural deflection (ideal value is ~1.5-3 mm for the first string around the 7th fret when clamping the string at the 1st and 14th frets). If you've never done it, then you better trust this work guitar master;
• Check the fret plates in their starting positions: if they are worn, then consult a guitar luthier and break the frets - this procedure, oddly enough, is not as costly in time and finances as many musicians imagine;
• Check whether the cuts in the nut have worn out;
• If the tool is new, take it back to the store and consult with the seller, as this may be a banal manufacturing defect.

Strings chime in high positions (~12th fret and up)

Most novice guitarists may not notice this problem, as they learn to play mainly on the first frets, many ignore this situation as only a minor deviation from the norm. Of course, a small ringing that does not affect the sustain and frequency response of the sound is not a problem, however, a rattling that causes discomfort to the musician can also indicate serious problems with the instrument.

However, in this case with a high probability, the reason lies in the small gap between the string and the 12th fret, i.e. the strings are set too close to the fretboard. This problem generally only applies to acoustic guitars, as well as electric and bass guitars.

Decision:

• We start by checking the neck profile: remember that it should have a slight deflection of about 1.5-3 mm at the most concave point (approximately around the 7th fret, we check by clamping the first string at the 1st and 14th frets);
• We adjust the string height: on electric and bass guitars by adjusting the height of the saddles of the bridge or tremolo system, the height of the bridge itself, on acoustic guitars - by adjusting the truss rod.

How to set up the anchor: we take a hex key, which usually comes with the guitar, the keys can also be purchased separately on our website in the “Guitar Keys” section.

ATTENTION! Do no more than a third of a turn of the rod at a time, then leave the guitar to “rest” for 15-20 minutes. After a break, check the height of the strings, the deflection of the neck, be sure to make sure that there is no ringing and evaluate the comfort of such a tuning of the neck. Repeat if necessary.

Ringing open, unjammed strings

A less common, but no less frustrating problem for the musician is ringing on open strings, with a corresponding deterioration in the sustain and frequency response of the instrument's sound. In this case, there may be several reasons: catastrophically incorrect neck deflection, which must be urgently corrected, severe wear of the nut, incorrect choice"caliber of strings", as well as the notorious marriage if the instrument is brand new.

• Make sure the neck does not have a convex profile and the truss rod is not too tight. If this is precisely the problem, then immediately loosen the rod, following the recommendations from the previous paragraph of our article;
• Check the nut: if the reason for the ringing of open strings is that the cuts have worn out, then buy a new sill and give it to the guitar master for installation;
• Make sure you choose the right string thickness for your instrument's tuning and overall features. You can find out about the recommended thickness for each of the popular tunings in our article.
• If the tool is new, take it back to the store and consult with the seller, as this may be a manufacturing defect.

The guitar horn rattles

This problem is especially relevant for budget instruments and, in general, is most often encountered when playing acoustic instruments. The unpleasant rattling of the peg is almost inaudible on the recording and when the instrument is backed up, but it greatly interferes with the musician himself and significantly reduces the pleasure of playing.

• We make a pinch on the open strings with the right hand;
• While the strings are sounding, we alternately touch each of the pegs - this is how we identify the culprit of the rattling;
• Next, either tighten the peg yourself, which is no longer so rigidly “sitting” in the groove, or entrust this work to the master. In extreme cases, replace the peg mechanics. Obviously, the best solution would be to replace not one of the pegs (of course, if we are not talking about replacing it with an absolutely identical pegs), but to buy the whole set of guitar pegs.

Guitar body rattles

A fairly rare problem that can result in the tool becoming completely unusable. To begin with, “tap” the deck at the first suspicion that it is she who rattles. To do this, you do not need to make the strings sound - just lightly tap the body of the guitar with your hand: the appearance of additional overtones will mean that the problem lies precisely in the body.

Decision:

• Do not delay going to the master and do not engage in self-tuning: soundboard rattling may indicate a violation of the integrity of the body structure. If the top or rail is not glued in time, then the tool may become completely unusable.

findings

So, we have considered the main causes of ringing and annoying rattling of guitar strings. What guitarists should remember:

• Distinguish the negative ringing that "kills" the sound of the string and sustain from the simple clanging that comes from a strong attack. To better understand the difference, compare the ringing of your guitar to the slapping technique popular among bass players. Note that the sound of each note during slapping is tight and full in frequency response, the sustain is not reduced as much as in the case of ringing on adjacent frets;
• In most cases, ringing appears due to incorrect tuning of the neck deflection and string height: start looking for the causes in this area;
• If the ringing of the strings is observed on a new instrument for no apparent reason (there are no noticeable defects, the height of the strings and the neck deflection are adjusted, all the elements of the guitar are new and not worn out), hurry to contact the seller and get advice from him.

Many guitarists wonder "why do guitar strings rattle" or "why do guitar strings rattle". This unpleasant overtone makes us nervous. Let's see what could be the reason and how to solve the problem.

The first thing to do is figure out where the ringing is coming from.

Fittings and electronics

Not always the cause of ringing and overtones is the fingerboard or the strings themselves. Often, some poorly screwed parts of guitar accessories ring, for example, parts of pegs, a guitar bridge (nut). Even pickups and pots can rattle, especially on some well resonating notes.

On my telecaster, the bridge pickup and one of the potentiometers sometimes rattle. Why is this happening? If you play a lot, the guitar will pick up and become more responsive to your playing. It becomes noticeable on such shoals that did not exist before. Plus, over time, all sorts of things that can get loose are sure to get loose. Villainy rule.

By the way, do not forget to tighten the fasteners for the belt and straplocks. Go over the self-tapping pegs and bolts/washers that are located on the face of the neck. If the cause of the overtone is a dangling sound, secure it in place. If possible, of course.

What to do: tighten everything that hangs.

How to figure out where the rattling comes from? The simplest thing is to catch what note your guitar is rattling on, hit the string, holding this note on the fretboard and use your ear to look for a place on the fretboard or body where an unpleasant overtone comes from. Helps me 90% of the time. Ears are our everything.

Very often, the cause of ringing and rattling is an incorrectly adjusted guitar truss. On the topic of deflection adjustment, we have a separate article, which I myself regularly re-read, because. I can’t remember in any way in which direction I need to twist the anchor in order to loosen / tighten it. Read it here.

I must say that the anchor will help you adjust the distance from the strings to the fretboard only in a limited area, this is not a panacea, but only a way to improve the situation a little.

Where does anchor adjustment help? In lower positions closer to the headstock.

If the case is completely neglected, adjusting the truss rod does not help much or makes playing the guitar uncomfortable, a more complicated procedure awaits you, with which I always turn to the master - this is fret polishing.

Fret polishing

Why polish frets? Then, if you like to play in certain positions, the frets wear out faster there, respectively, after these frets there are less worn ones, respectively, they are higher from the neck than the previous ones, because. they are not undermined by your game. Therefore, polishing allows you to trim all the frets and everything will sound again. Until the next polish.

Of course, after a while there will be nothing to polish and the question of replacing the frets will arise, but this is a topic for a separate article.

Nut height

Another way to reduce chatter, besides adjusting the truss rod, is to raise the strings, i.e. increase the nut/bridge height. It helps if the strings rattle precisely in the upper positions.

Sometimes more drastic measures are needed. For example, my telecaster rattled in the upper positions no matter what I did, and the only way to fix the situation was to cut a deeper notch for the neck in the body. The neck sank a little more into the body and the sound became a hundred times cleaner.

Where does bridge height help? In the upper positions - closer to the last frets and the tailpiece.

Spring problem

Well, for a snack - the most problematic type of guitar - acoustic. I had one very capricious American acoustics, which disliked our climate and in every possible way expressed its “fi” to me. Aside from the crack in the body right in the front that this guitar gave me after one dry winter, I got a regular " spring problem". About what acoustic guitar there is a certain "spring" I had to find out only upon the occurrence of this problem. She really annoyed me.

How does this sound? You hear a rattling somewhere under the nut of the guitar on the body, but you can't figure out where it comes from. Springs are pieces of wood that are glued to the front of the body of the guitar. And they can peel off and rattle.

In general, these are the main reasons why guitar strings rattle. If this is not enough for you, write in the comments about your experience and we will definitely supplement our article.

Probably every guitarist faced with the problem rattling strings and "left" sound at . This is when, mixed with a normal sound, they begin to make a nasty sound - an extraneous sound, simply put, the strings rattle are ringing, or there is additional obnoxious noise.
Much more often, rattling occurs with a single string, and it’s not a fact that it is on all frets, but on some specific ones.
In such cases, novice guitarists either do not notice this, and if they notice, they begin to eagerly search the net for the necessary answers. Actually, that's why I decided to post this article here. The matter is simple.

Step - 1. Find out where the extraneous sound comes from:

By personal experience and from the experience of my acquaintances-guitarists, I can immediately tell you what you should pay attention to.

1. On the first frets of the fretboard.
This is when clamped on the first frets the strings rattle, and closer to the body of the guitar already sound normal. The reason is low or uneven frets (1,2). From here you can understand that the reason is quite serious, and if the guitar was recently bought, then the factory defect is obvious. And if it’s old, then most likely notches have already appeared on the first and second frets from the numerous pressing of the strings, thereby the frets are actually worn out - the strings have dropped and, when clamped, the sound is extracted, touches the adjacent frets.

2. On the last frets of the fretboard.
Here the situation is reversed. At the first frets, the strings sound clean, and as you approach the body, a noticeable rattle appears. The reason is a small gap between the 12th fret and the strings. That is, the problem is in .

3. On the strings themselves.
If none of the reasons described above are found by you, then most likely the open (not clamped) strings or one string are rattling (ringing). And this is already the problem of choosing a suitable set of strings, usually in diameter.

4. On .
Frequent reason. This is when not the strings themselves rattle, but the pegs. Therefore, this problem is a consequence of violation of their correct operation. What kind of peg is making noise, you can find out like this. We strum on the guitar with the right hand, and with the left we touch the pegs in turn. On which the bounce stops, he is the hero of the occasion. =)

5. On the body of the guitar.
In this case, the material from which the body is made rattles. It's easy to find out. We knock lightly on the body. If there is a bounce, then it is the most. The reason is an old guitar, and most likely it fell more than once, after which a wooden rail or something else partially came off inside the drum.

Step -2. Eliminate causes:

1. If, and you found the above reason at number 1, then feel free to hand it back with the words "Put it where you got it from!" .
And if it is old, then silently change the first 2 frets, maybe 3. Of course, it’s better to give it to a guitar master, but you can do without it. I've done this myself a couple of times on 2 of my guitars when I played a lot outside. The frets were grinded down for me for half a year as "hello".
If you decide to do it yourself, then go buy a set of guitar frets that are suitable in width. They are longer in the package than on the neck. We take out the old fret by prying its edge with a sharp object. We cut the new fret to the required size and put it in place of the old one. If you picked up (bought) suitable frets, then they will stand up without any problems. The edges of the new fret must be rounded in advance with a file and cleaned with sandpaper so that the string does not cling when played. After you put it in place, you can press hard on it with a wooden block to completely fix it, but in no case do not knock.

2. The reason under the number 2 is corrected much easier and easier. To do this, just loosen the anchor bolt. We take a hexagon or a screwdriver (depending on which bolt) and twist it - making half of its turn counterclockwise. We wait 15 minutes and measure the gap between the 12th fret and the strings (should be 4 mm). It is the lightest and fast way guitar truss rod adjustments.

3. So that open strings do not ring (usually the lower ones ring, while the upper ones rattle). You need to choose the right set of strings. I can only say that the larger their diameter, the less they give such a defect. I have a 9. And if you hit the strings a little harder, they start to "make noise". Somehow I put a 10 and the problem disappeared, but it is already more difficult to pinch chords on such strings. So you have to choose either-or.
It happens that you change a set of strings for the same diameter, just a different manufacturer, after which the problem disappears. Here you already need to ask the price and ask in advance at the music store.

4. The problem of rattling pegs is solved much easier. If the pegs rattle, then the bolts for fastening the worm mechanism or the nut (y ") have been unscrewed. We take a screwdriver and a small wrench (you can also use pliers). We tighten it. That's all.

5. In this case, either we give the guitar to the master or remove the strings and visually look for a torn rail, etc. through the sound hole of the guitar while lightly tapping the body of the guitar. By sound, you can quickly find the problem area. We find -> we glue -> we wait how much glue requires -> we check again-> if everything is ok, then in place.

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Many guitarists wonder "why do guitar strings rattle" or "why do guitar strings rattle". This unpleasant overtone makes us nervous. Let's see what could be the reason and how to solve the problem.

The first thing to do is figure out where the ringing is coming from.

Fittings and electronics

Not always the cause of ringing and overtones is the fingerboard or the strings themselves. Often, some poorly screwed parts of guitar accessories ring, for example, parts of pegs, a guitar bridge (nut). Even pickups and pots can rattle, especially on some well resonating notes.

On my telecaster, the bridge pickup and one of the potentiometers sometimes rattle. Why is this happening? If you play a lot, the guitar will pick up and become more responsive to your playing. It becomes noticeable on such shoals that did not exist before. Plus, over time, all sorts of things that can get loose are sure to get loose. Villainy rule.

By the way, do not forget to tighten the fasteners for the belt and straplocks. Go over the self-tapping pegs and bolts/washers that are located on the face of the neck. If the cause of the overtone is a dangling sound, secure it in place. If possible, of course.

What to do: tighten everything that hangs.

How to figure out where the rattling comes from? The simplest thing is to catch what note your guitar is rattling on, hit the string, holding this note on the fretboard and use your ear to look for a place on the fretboard or body where an unpleasant overtone comes from. Helps me 90% of the time. Ears are our everything.

Very often, the cause of ringing and rattling is an incorrectly adjusted guitar truss. On the topic of deflection adjustment, we have a separate article, which I myself regularly re-read, because. I can’t remember in any way in which direction I need to twist the anchor in order to loosen / tighten it. Read it here.

I must say that the anchor will help you adjust the distance from the strings to the fretboard only in a limited area, this is not a panacea, but only a way to improve the situation a little.

Where does anchor adjustment help? In lower positions closer to the headstock.

If the case is completely neglected, adjusting the truss rod does not help much or makes playing the guitar uncomfortable, a more complicated procedure awaits you, with which I always turn to the master - this is fret polishing.

Fret polishing

Why polish frets? Then, if you like to play in certain positions, the frets wear out faster there, respectively, after these frets there are less worn ones, respectively, they are higher from the neck than the previous ones, because. they are not undermined by your game. Therefore, polishing allows you to trim all the frets and everything will sound again. Until the next polish.

Of course, after a while there will be nothing to polish and the question of replacing the frets will arise, but this is a topic for a separate article.

Nut height

Another way to reduce chatter, besides adjusting the truss rod, is to raise the strings, i.e. increase the nut/bridge height. It helps if the strings rattle precisely in the upper positions.

Sometimes more drastic measures are needed. For example, my telecaster rattled in the upper positions no matter what I did, and the only way to fix the situation was to cut a deeper notch for the neck in the body. The neck sank a little more into the body and the sound became a hundred times cleaner.

Where does bridge height help? In the upper positions - closer to the last frets and the tailpiece.

Spring problem

Well, for a snack - the most problematic type of guitar - acoustic. I had one very capricious American acoustics, which disliked our climate and in every possible way expressed its “fi” to me. Aside from the crack in the body right in the front that this guitar gave me after one dry winter, I got a regular " spring problem". The fact that the acoustic guitar has a kind of "spring" I had to find out only after the occurrence of this problem. She annoyed me decently.

How does this sound? You hear a rattling somewhere under the nut of the guitar on the body, but you can't figure out where it comes from. Springs are pieces of wood that are glued to the front of the body of the guitar. And they can peel off and rattle.

In general, these are the main reasons why guitar strings rattle. If this is not enough for you, write in the comments about your experience and we will definitely supplement our article.

Many guitarists sooner or later face a problem when the strings on the guitar begin to make completely extraneous nasty sounds, in other words, the strings begin to rattle, ring, crack, etc. Moreover, this happens most often with a particular string, and besides, on some specific frets. Beginners immediately panic, rush to take the guitar to the master, blow up the Internet with requests a la “Hell, people, the guitar is broken”, many even think about replacing the guitar, etc. Therefore, in order to avoid such embarrassment, I propose to find out the main causes of the violation of the sound of strings and ways to eliminate them.

Where is the sound from?

In order to solve this problem, you first need to understand exactly where the source of sound distortion is located. Most often, the following elements of the guitar device fall into the TOP of this search:

The first frets of the fretboard. The strings rattle exclusively on the first frets, closer to the guitar drum the problem is not felt.
The last frets of the fretboard. Here the situation looks exactly the opposite in comparison with the problem above. The first frets of the guitar sound clean, and as you get closer to the drum, a defective sound begins.
Kolki. Very often guitarists blame the strings for everything, when in fact the problem is in the malfunction of the tuning pegs.

We solve the issue!

If the strings catch on the first frets, then the problem is most likely in the adjustment of the truss rod (the metal rod inside the neck of the guitar). In order to correct this moment, you first need to loosen the strings, then find the truss nut on the guitar (most often it is located at the end of the neck inside the resonator hole of the guitar or next to the pegs on the headstock), take a hex euro key and loosen it with turning movements of the key anchor about a quarter of a turn. After that, you need to wait 10-15 minutes until the neck takes the configured shape and check if the problem has been resolved. Carry out this operation until the desired result.
Another cause of string rattle at the first frets is a nut set too low. As a temporary remedy for the defect, you can put something under the strings, but ideally
it is better to replace it with a higher one.
If the strings touch the last frets, then the reason is most likely either saddle, or in the string stand, which is located on the guitar drum. Here the solution is similar to the previous one: you can put some solid object under the strings, but it is best to replace the problematic device.
Well, if the problem lies in the pegs, then you need to check if they are loose on the headstock. If yes, then tighten with a screwdriver or wrench. If the pegs are already worn out, then it is better to replace them with new ones.

Worth noticing…

There are many reasons why guitar strings rattle. I have singled out only the main ones, those that I encountered most often both in the process of learning to play the guitar and in the complaints of other guitarists. In fact, strings can rattle for completely different reasons, not limited to the above three points. The main thing is to always adhere to the algorithm described above: first we find out where the problem comes from, then we are already trying to solve it.