Aggravating undertone on D string

[Ron Daves]

I'll try to describe it. I have a G-series Takamine. I've leveled the frets, as reported in an earlier posting. Now, The open D string rings when plucked but there's some kind of harmonic undertone that doesn't belong, nor is it welcomed. It happens only on the D string. It's not fret buzz, but some other kind of vibration that I cannot find. Hope there's enough info here for understanding my problem. Any ideas?

[Ron Daves]

Sorry about this: The problem string is the G string. My guitar is a steel string.

[Ron Daves]

I took another run at it. I purchased a fret leveling bar and leveled the frets then polished them. There were several shims under the saddle. So many that the saddle tilted. I removed them all and tuned the guitar only to find that I had buzzing here and there, so I went through a series of adding shims and tuning until the buzzing was gone. I also measured the relief in the neck and have it set at about .010 inches. I replaced the G string. The harmonic undertone is still present. So, the problem is not string related. C'mon, guys, help me out.

[Darrel Friesen]

Have you checked the nut Ron? Make sure that the slot is angled down towards the headstock so that the string is tightly against the nut closest to the fretboard. Also if the slot is too wide, it can sometimes allow the string to vibrate at the nut. If the buzz goes away when you fret the string, that may be your problem. You can fill the slot with a little baking soda and a drop of CA and re-file the slot if it's too wide. Buzzes can be a pain to track down.

[Ron Daves]

Darrel: Thanks for that input. The nut on my guitar is glued in, so using baking soda and CA will have to be done in place. In the past, when I used masking tape around a spot where I applied the CA, there was seepage under the tape. So, I'm guessing there's some kind of magic that the guitar gurus use. Any ideas?

[Ron Belanger]

CA does not wick under electrical tape. At least not when I've used it. I think I got that from Don Teeter's books.

[Michael Lewis]

Make sure you firmly press the edge of the tape so it seals completely. This helps with any tape.

If you can control the application of the CA you shouldn't need any masking, but be careful.

I use the CA and soda fill for temporary repair. To save the nut you can cut a deeper slot and make a bone insert to fill the slot. When the glue has hardened just recut the slot to the proper depth. If done properly the filler will be the same or only very slightly wider than the string and virtually invisible when done.

[Darryl Young]

Does the under tone go away when the string is fretted? If so, does it come back if the same note is played on another string?

[Ron Daves]

I loostened the G string and shifted the string's position slightly on the saddle. The groove is quite small, almost not distinguishable. That didn't do any good. However, the temperature here in the desert has been in the 90's for the past several days and the humidity is way down, in the 30 % range. The undertone is gone. Can't explain it any further,

[Ron Daves]

Just looked at this post. I found the vibration. It was the tuner battery fitting loosely in its recess. Fixed that. Also installed an L.R. Baggs saddle. That was fun.