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Hi folks,

Quick question on this guitar I built for myself. The G# (4th fret in standard) on the 6th string seems to be *slightly* louder on the attack and decays more quickly than the surrounding semitones. It doesn't occur at the octaves nor is it limited to the 4th fret. i.e. drop-D tuning has this same thing happen at the 6th fret so it's definitely this specific note.

Is it just my imagination, or is there some sort of fundamental resonance I've hit in the guitar's construction? Very strange.

That is exactly what has happened and G# is not a bad place for it either. A or G would have probably been worse. F# may have been better.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Sounds like the 'main air' resonance to me. Try covering up part of the soundhole with a piece of cardboard or something, and see if the pitch drops. This is a very common thing.

John is ths because most of us tune our tops prety close to G#?

Hi Warren,
Welcome to the wonderful world of wolf-tones. or something like that anyway.
The other way to check is to sing that note into your sound hole. If the guitar seems to vibrate at that pitch, it's likely the 'main air' resonance as Alan kindly pointed out.
It's not a bad thing. In fact, it's normal.

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

Michael, it's not just the top but the box, including the sound hole.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Warren,

I have (had) a simliar problem on my OM kit, only on the mid G#. On the advice of Alan Carruth and others on the MIMF, I just played the guitar and after a few months it has smoothed out considerably. It's spread out a bit to the half-steps on either side of G# and the G# is not as wolfy, so overall, it's a lot less unpleasant. I'm more inclined these days to just leave it alone, although I have succeeded in reducing it by trying a gob of poster adhesive stuck on various spots around the lower bout. But my top resonates at the same pitch, and they're both an octave above the main air, so there's a lot contributing to it, if I understand this correctly. I might be looking at several changes to affect any change in the wolfy pitch.

Alan mentioned that it happens more often on good guitars. I was pleased to hear that, maybe you should be too

Search Google on "alan carruth" +wolf

He's generously posted a ton of stuff on this issue. I found his information and methods fascinating.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com