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October 2002
Posts: 2
Location: Yorba Linda, Ca | Hi Everyone,
Took the guitar out of the case and was tuning. I noticed that the harmonic for my E and A strings at the 5th fret were gone. I checked my fingering and it was correct. All other harmonics were fine.
Later after playing for a bit, I checked and it was back for both strings.
My first guess was temperature or humidity but the guitar had been in the house all day....
Anyone have any ideas???
Thanks,
Brad |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Brad
It's probably your guitar adjusting to the room temperature. Us acoustic players here, when we go on a job, try to get on the job early and open our cases as soon as we arrive and give the instruments time to adjust to the conditions before we even try to tune up. If we didn't do this our first set would be an amateurish session of frantic tuning in the middle of each song as the instruments adjust (that's how we learned to do this, and our banjo player always arrives late and destroys the whole plan as his banjo goes from G to F sharp during the first fast breakdown leading to weird chords as we try to figure out where he's at).
Bailey |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Bizarre. Without getting too technical, a harmonic is a result of the physics of string vibration. It is physically impossible for a vibrating string not to have harmonic node points, and equally imossible for the harmonics to dissappear completely & reappear. If the strings were past their best, or the string was damped or muffled the harmonics would become less prominent or out-of tune in relation to each other. Slight changes in temperature or humidity certainly could not produce what you have described.
[ October 31, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | put on a new set of strings |
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September 2002
Posts: 12
Location: Bloomfield Ct | Actually....all of those things can cause this to happen. As can the guitar being left static,(unplayed) for a time.
Next time you see/hear this happen, just give it a bit of a thrashing. Play the 1st 4 measures to pinball wizard or something similar. Then try the harmonics again. They will probably be there.
The string must absolutely have its harmonic points, but the top does not need to amplify them efficiently if it is stiffened up by cold or dryness, or weighted down with excess moisture. It is the sounboards ability to resonate at those particular frequencies that causes this.
I have traveled enough to have seen this from time to time. My Adamas is much less prone to this type of thing. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Extreme changes in temperature or humidity may have long or short term structural effects on an instrument and may also affect tonal response in a subtle way, but will not affect specific harmonics, certainly not to the degree of them becoming inaudible. If the instrument was is such a condition, "giving it a good thrashing" would not correct it. Wood just does not behave like that. Leaving an instrument unplayed will generally have no effect whatsoever if the storage conditions are correct.
[ October 31, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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Joined:
October 2002
Posts: 2
Location: Yorba Linda, Ca | Thanks for the info. Actually, I had just replaced the strings the day before.
I play at least every other day so I don't think that's the issue. It didn't happen today so who knows....
I normally use an electronic tuner so maybe I've just never noticed it before.
I'll just keep an eye/ear on it and see...
In any event, I'm glad I found this board. It looks like it's pretty active and a great source if info/help.
Thanks Again,
Brad |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | I am reminded of a true story of an older areospace guy who wound up working in the applesause factory. I asked him to give a tour to a local band. Afterwards he came up to me and said "What's an intonation?" I went through the explanation and think I lost him at the 12th fret harmonic. I asked why he wanted to know. He said "Those fellers from the band asked if we checked the guitars for intonation and I told them we did and some guitars had as many as five of them" Then he said "No wonder they looked at me kinda funny!"
True story,
We still laugh with you, Lou Cyr, even though you're gone and undoubtedly giving tours of heaven. |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Great one dubyatoo, these acoustics are living breathing things and after playing for some years I would not ever try to give a scientific reason for why they do what they do. If they were machines, they wouldn't be acoustic guitars. Because they are what they are, there is a certain amount of voodoo involved in getting them to play right. Now solid bodies are perfect, you pick them up run them through an electronic tuner, and out comes amazing, wonderful music with no effort required by the player, that's the difference between acoustic and electric. (it's the electricity that causes them to work that way).
Aristotle pioneered the scientific method used here.
Bailey |
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