Why do guitar strings rattle?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Every guitarist eventually faces the problem of string rattle on his instrument, this is one of the most popular problems today. But few people know that if you ignore this phenomenon, you can face serious consequences, up to the failure of the guitar. To avoid this, today we will look at the main causes of guitar strings rattling when playing, as well as ways to solve such problems.

It should be noted that the causes of rattles given in this article can apply to all types of guitars: classical, acoustic, electric guitars, bass guitars.

String condition

The first and most common cause may be the banal wear of the strings on the guitar. They can rattle due to their long-term use. A string is a very thin spring that wears out and stretches with every play. Like any other spring, it willits active use begins to stretch, involuntarily increasing its length. Naturally worn, it will get out of tune and rattle when you want to play the guitar again. The best solution would be to simply change the strings by buying a new set.

Bridge not built

You put in a new set, but the strings on your guitar still rattle? Probably, the problem is in the tool itself, or rather, in its detuning. Every guitar has a bridge (the place where the strings attach to the body) and it will deform when played hard. All you need to do is either build it yourself or take it to a guitar luthier who will do it all for you.

Why does the bridge wear out? The thing is that its mechanism takes on all the vibrations that occur with the guitar when playing. The bridge allows the strings to stretch and evenly distribute the vibrations across the body of the guitar. Strings rattle often due to the fact that the bridge is gradually detuned and needs to be "pulled up". The easiest way to do this is on an electric guitar - in them the bridge is arranged in such a way that the saddle for each string can be adjusted. In acoustic guitars, the bridge is monolithic, but the saddles can also be pulled up or down. If the strings rattle on an acoustic guitar, then you need to tighten the entire bridge.

On bass guitars, it's a good idea to remove the bridge strings before detuning, because he can sometimes break them if they are left in the saddle while adjusting. Bass strings are thick and harder to work with, recommendedshoot.

Anchor problems

The third most common cause is a problem with the anchor structure in the tool. Strange as it may sound, many guitarists don't know about the anchor at all.

The truss mechanism is built into the neck of almost any guitar and serves to ensure that the strings hang on it at a certain height. To avoid getting into too much physics, all you need to know is that when your instrument is in tune, the strings have some degree of tension. When they are stretched, the neck bends in the same direction as the strings pull it. An anchor is inserted into the neck in order to balance this degree of tension - it pulls the neck back.

But over time (about 3 years or more), the truss rod also unbends and causes the strings on the guitar to rattle. To make it easy to adjust, there is a special hole in the head of the neck called a truss cap, it is unscrewed, and the anchor is tightened with a special truss wrench, like a wrench.

A guitar string rattles, what should I do? Measure the gap between them and the neck and see if it reaches the norm. It is different for acoustic and electric instruments, not to mention bass guitars, in which the distance from the string to the neck is the most difficult to adjust due to thick strings. If the clearance does not correspond to the norm, tighten the anchor rod, the problem lies precisely in it.

Gauge too big

It is worth mentioning separately that on electric guitars, musicians often use the strings of the mostdifferent calibers. Too large a caliper gives a heavier and more characteristic sound, but can lead to breakage of the truss mechanism. Therefore, before you buy a large gauge of strings, read the manuals about which maximum of them is suitable for your instrument. Some extra-thick strings are used only in guitars with increased scale (baritones) and are not at all suitable for ordinary instruments.

Peg problem

Perhaps the most serious string rattle problem can be a malfunctioning peg mechanism.

The structure of all stringed instruments is regulated with its help. The tuning pegs are the screws inserted into the headstock of your instrument. They control the tension of the strings. High-quality and expensive tuning pegs can keep the guitar in tune for a very long time - from a week or more. At the same time, inexpensive ones often get out of tune, reducing the active guitar tuning to nothing. The answer to the question "why do the strings rattle on an acoustic guitar or on an electric guitar" can be a malfunction of the tuning pegs.

Checking them is very simple: tune the standard guitar tuning and hold the guitar for several days without active use. Check the string tension every day and note the number of days your tuning pegs can stay in tune without being tuned.

Then re-tune the instrument and play it actively for several days in a row. Build "floats"? Does the guitar get out of tune in a matter of hours and the strings begin to rattle? Unfortunately, in suchIf so, your tuners are unusable and you will need to purchase a new mechanism. Fortunately, it is not very expensive - much cheaper than constant nerves from rattling strings.

Conclusion

The rattling of a string on a guitar only at first glance may seem like a frivolous problem. In fact, over time, this often leads to breakage of some parts of the tool. If the neck of the guitar "leads", nothing, as a rule, can help. Therefore, rattling strings should not be left unattended. We hope that you will never again be disturbed by the question: "Why do the strings on the guitar rattle?" Learn your instrument and take care of it. After all, it is more convenient and better to play a tuned and properly prepared guitar.