littleb - Posted - 12/30/2009:  01:02:17

I just took my Dobro apart and sanded the edge where the cone sits, and I put a new saddle, and changed the old nut which was very rough, and now the open strings sound as clean as a whistle. but when I play with the slide, there a small rustle on all of them. I thought it was because at the nut they aren't perfectly level but this happens even worse when I tilt the bar and play on single strings, so it can't be the nut. I don't know how to describe the sound better (english is not my first language)... It's not a real buzz like zzzzzzzzz... it's more like pffffffffffff... hope you understand. Strings are new I just put them on they're not dead or rusted,etc.
What could I do ?
I hate it when I can't concentrate on learning the instrument because of these problems.

Tom Jr. - Posted - 12/30/2009:  05:04:50

Could the noise be almost like a hum. Maybe the instrument is humming because it doesn't know the words. Sorry. I really don't have any helpful advice but that joke was ready.

littleb - Posted - 12/30/2009:  05:32:27

very funny

bmizell - Posted - 12/30/2009:  06:24:07

They can be very hard to fix sometimes. I am having close to the same problem. I just bought anouther TuT Taylor reso and when it arrived it was dirty in the cone so I took it apart and cleaned it, installed new strings and when I put it back together it buzzed even with rubber under the tailpiece.My buzz was about what you are saying . I finally got the buzz out. It was at the taipiece, but it seems like i have lost a little volume, and more subdued sound against my other reso which is the same make and hardware. The only difference is the wood, one is maple and the other is Mahgony.
anyone reading this !! any suggestions on the subdued volume?
Bob

MikeConner - Posted - 12/30/2009:  07:26:46

I have had a similar problem, and eventually found out that the spider had deformed. Three of the legs were out of plane with the rest, so these legs would not make firm contact with the cone edge and cause a buzz.

Lay the spider on a surface you are certain is flat (I use my table saw surface) and look to see if all 8 legs are touching. You can gently bend the offending legs with pliers padded with masking tape. You may need to even out the legs by sanding. Lay sheets of fine sandpaper on the flat surface and sand by moving the spider so that the end of the feet have about a 1/4" flat spot to touch the cone. I colored the bottoms of the feet with permanent marker before sanding so that I could see the progress.

Hope this helps. Finding and killing buzzes and noises seems to be something we all have to do at some point.
//mike

granderman - Posted - 12/30/2009:  13:30:59

i have the same problem with my beard odyssey so i took it part t big mistake . now i cant get the thing back together the bridge touches the cover now. i really don't understand i was so careful . it looked simple enough but NOT

benspinks - Posted - 12/30/2009:  13:48:25

Granderman - Put the plate in place, string it up, tune it up and the pressure should lower the bridge enough for you to screw the plate back down.

Littleb - is this equal on all strings? or is it worse on the high B? On pretty much every guitar i've ever played there has been a slight fuzzyness to some strings when the bar is applied, especially the high B. Even my MA-6 has it.

(Edit: also check that clipped off string tags aren't rubbing adjacent strings at the head stock. I had a tishhhhh sound that was driving me mad and it turned out to be the clipped B string tag doing a cricket leg against my low G)

Edited by - benspinks on 12/30/2009 13:55:27

granderman - Posted - 12/30/2009:  14:02:52

thanks i'll have a go

MikeConner - Posted - 12/30/2009:  14:26:32

Granderman - What Ben says! I increased the spider height during the setup and found I had to feed the strings in from the tailpiece side of the bridge. Tuned to standard GBDGBD the spider should deflect down about a 1/16" or so. Increase tension gradually string to string - I start with the G-3rd and D-4th and bring them up slowly from there.

Here's another tip: I put a small dot on the spider leg closest to the fretboard, then I measured from the last fret to the dot while the cover plate is off and the cone is nice and centered in the support lip. I keep that measurement (along with some others) where I keep my strings, and that way I have a good reference point to help ensure that the spider-cone assembly is properly centered after installing the strings.

Good point on the string ends too! The whole guitar vibrates and buzzes can come from unexpected sources. There's a small metal logo on my Martin Gross strap, and it was hitting the D string and causes a muted buzz - I've learned to watch for that!
//mike

granderman - Posted - 12/30/2009:  17:13:15

thank you guys that fixed everything

bmizell - Posted - 12/31/2009:  06:28:28

After talking on here and the suggestions, I found I have a deformed cone. My
string highth was way out at the 12 fret compaired to the first fret etc. anyway I contacted the seller from from which I had just recieved it and he making good on a new cone.

littleb - Posted - 12/31/2009:  06:31:00

Thanks for the advice.
Ben-yes, indeed, the sound is worse on the high B string, then there is another slight fuzzyness on the high G but no like the B string. On the low strings (the wrapped ones) there is a slight buzzing sound but as disturbing. I'll check my dobro when I get home. I didn't know buzzes could come from before the nut (between nut and tuners).
thanks

granderman - Posted - 01/01/2010:  04:06:08

man i have to say after making my rookie miscues on reassembling my reso the help i here got was spot on ! i feel better now knowing i can help my self a little if it redevelops a buzz . the buzz is gone the tone is great and i had a ball playing it yesterday , now if the delta blues was that easy to master !

benspinks - Posted - 01/01/2010:  14:03:52

Hi Littleb

There is a chance that there’s a set up issue that you're not seeing, but having said that I have that slight fuzziness on every high B (and sometimes other strings) on every guitar I own (Multiple lap steel, flat top with nut raiser, Goldtone, Wechter, MA-6). Heavier gauge strings seem to make it more prominent, but I honestly think it's a natural thing (if we are hearing the same thing).

Does it change with more bar pressure? Are your damping fingers firm or feathering the strings? By doing the set-up work there's a chance that you may have made it more responsive, in which case you could just be hearing things that were already there, but maybe not so prominent.

I put a post about this on Reso-Nation a while ago and nobody knew what the hell I was talking about. I think maybe we just have amazing hearing.

Cheers
Ben

littleb - Posted - 01/03/2010:  11:47:30

Hi Ben

I see I'm not the only one hearing this I thought there was something wrong with me.

I use very heavy gauge strings: John Pearse "Uncle Josh" set. I didn't hear the fuzzyness when I used D'addario strings, but I like the JP set more.
Somebody told me once that if buzzes come with the bar on the strings then it must be something wrong with the saddle. But in this case I find it logical that it would sound the same with open strings. In my case, the open strings sound as clean as they could get.

Yup, it slows down with more bar pressure, but I already play pretty hard, and with quite a lot pressure. It only stops if I press it half-way to the fretboard...

Hmmm... I was wondering on the setup issue: look, they say that you should softly bend the spider legs until they all touch the surface at the same time. Why should I do so ? The tension of the strings and the screw puts all legs in contact with the cone already... And by the way, it's strange, my spider doesn't have all the legs the right way, but when I put it on the cone (without any tension on it) they all touch the cone at the same time...

I guess I'll have to get used to it, until I get a good upgrade on the cone & spider assembly and do the setup all over again.

thanks a lot

P.S. by the way, I took a look at the saddle, and some of the slots seem to be too small, they don't cover half of the string's diameter; could this be a source of the problem ?

opintie - Posted - 01/06/2010:  07:37:13

Thanks guys for sharing my pain!
Same problem here. I have picked my Gold Tone PB-SM several times in pieces because of this B-string buzz. Noticed that some of the spider feet allways bend little when I tigten the cone with the screw. Is this normal or is the spider broken? Of course I can bend the feet back but the spider doesn't hold its shape. I'm afraid I have to buy new cone and spider to get rid of this noise.

Ari

phil dean - Posted - 01/06/2010:  07:51:30

Just how much are you tightening things that they flex this much? The screw should only need ( approx1/4 turn in small increments)after the screw touches the spider to be seated properly. From the way you are describing it, you may be over tightening to some extent. Phil

benspinks - Posted - 01/06/2010:  09:55:00

Hi Littleb

Re the spider the legs, they need to be level from the start to provide even pressure (and thus energy transfer) to the cone. The whole system works more efficiently this way. Even if string tension pushes an un-level spider in place the pressure between the legs will not be even. Really everything needs to sit in place perfectly level before any screws or strings are played with. Speaking of which Phil’s pretty much said it all re the tension screw.

Cheers
Ben

opintie - Posted - 01/07/2010:  01:57:33

quote:

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Originally posted by phil dean

Just how much are you tightening things that they flex this much? The screw should only need ( approx1/4 turn in small increments)after the screw touches the spider to be seated properly. From the way you are describing it, you may be over tightening to some extent. Phil

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