When the bow is pulled across the strings there is no sound just a quiet muffled noise?

Finger noise, whether you like it or not, it's part of the guitar sound. How much or how little is present can be controlled by the player but it is pretty darn difficult to get rid of it altogether. Acoustic string noise, often referred to as finger squeak, is a byproduct sound that tends to occur while changing between chords and notes, and when moving your fretting hand up and down the neck. Some players value this noise as a natural sound that gives a live quality to recordings, while others want clean takes with zero squeak.

Find out where It squeaks most

The first, and most important technique is actually being aware that the finger noise is there. A lot of players have just turned out to that squeaky sound and think nothing of it. So, as a self-diagnosis, grab a recording device like your smartphone, and your guitar will work just fine. When you've recorded the song, playback and see if there are any patterns or any particular chord progressions where the noise is more noticeable.

Learn To Release Pressure Gently

Perhaps the simplest way to get around these string squeaks is simply to lift and shift. By lifting the left-hand finger you are avoiding the drag along the string. Once you have identified the problem progressions, practice playing through them, but slowly. Take your time, and after you have played the chord or note, lift your fretting fingers gently until there's no downward pressure on the string but your fingers are still in contact, this will help to avoid accidental open notes being played.

Practice contactless transition

After you have mastered the slow release of the fretting hand, the next step is to work on contactless transition. While you're practising, make this a slow and purposeful manoeuvre, in fact, think of it as 2 separate actions - lifting your fingers clear of the strings, then moving your hand to the next position. Be careful to lift your fingers directly off the strings in a nice smooth motion - if you make the action jerky, or you remove them at an angle, you may end up playing unintended pull-offs.

Move to the next chord

When your fingers are clear of the strings, move your hand to the next position while consciously avoiding contact with them. Once you're in the correct position, place your fingers directly down on the strings. This can take quite a lot of practice to avoid having to make small adjustments after touching down.

Start Using Pad

More of a noise reduction than noise cancellation, you can help string noise by shifting along the string with the soft pad of your finger rather than the callused tip. The tip of your finger is hard because you have been doing oh so many hours of practice, and that tough skin makes a loud noise on the string. If you try and slide the pad of your finger along the string you will notice that it is actually less noisy. So, if you can't avoid the slide along the string then rotate your finger a bit so that you can shift on the pad rather than the tip.

Moisturize Your Plans & Figures

This one is more so for your hands than your guitar, but failing all else, keeping your hands moisturised will make them softer and smoother, which in turn will reduce acoustic string noise as you transition between notes and chords.

Squeaking happens in every guitar a little less or more, but Make sure you use the best guitar parts which suits your style and body posture.

If you're just getting started in your guitar journey, it should be straightforward to get into the habit of consciously lifting your fingers between transitions, but, if you've been playing a while, it will definitely take a lot of practice to adjust your muscle memory. The key is to start slow, and make every move purposeful.

Taken from http://www.learnguitarsetups.com


There are a few golden rules when adjusting your truss rod. First, only use the rod to keep your neck as straight as it needs to be...do not use it to adjust your action! Second, only use the proper tools. If you do not know what the proper tool is, check with the manufacturer. Truss rod nuts are easy to strip, and once they're stripped, they are expensive to fix! Finally, do not force anything; an eighth of a turn can make a drastic change. Remember, if the truss rod feels tight or doesn't seem to be doing anything, take it to a professional.

1. Start by sitting with the guitar in the playing position.
2. Tune it to pitch if it is not already.
3. Capo the first fret. If you do not own a capo, you can use your fretting hand.
4. Next, fret the bass string with your picking hand up near where the neck joins the body. This is typically around the 14th fret, but it may be higher up with some electric guitars. In our example, we'll be using the 20th fret.
5. Use the string as a straightedge held against the neck which will either bow away, or against the string. This is how you determine the amount of relief in the neck. You can also use a steel ruler placed along the length of the neck, in the same manor.
6. In our example, the approximate half way point between the 20th fret and the 1st, will be the 7th fret where we will observe the distance between the top of that fret and the bottom of the string (or ruler), as pictured. Notice the gap. Hint: Half way down the neck is often between the 7th-9th frets.
7. If you have a gap between the top of the fret and the bottom of the string, you likely have a bowed neck. If there is no gap, it is likely either dead straight or back-bowed.

HOW MUCH TO ADJUSTThe bigger the gap, the more relief is in the neck. Normally, we want just a small amount of relief in the neck for optimal playing, about the same as the thickness of a business card or less.

If there is a gap, tighten the truss rod clockwise until you have something closer to what we're after. Slide a business card in between the top of fret and bottom of the string (or ruler). Make sure you are placing the card parallel with the string or ruler. If there is no gap, you may be either dead straight or back bowed, so you will need to loosen the truss rod counter-clockwise to get the results we are after. Hint: If the strings are buzzing in the first few frets and open strings, it is often a clear indication of a back bow.

Remember, do not force anything to get the results you are after. If it is hard to adjust or spins freely you may need professional assistance.

The final step in setting your relief is to test it out! If it feels better, you're done! But take note, straightening the neck may actually make your guitar play worse! Consequently, when the truss rod is tightened, the height of the strings are lowered, which can create string buzz if your guitar isn't setup properly to start. Likewise, it can make a poor fret condition more noticeable. So, if your guitar plays worse after adjusting the neck, it is either too straight for your playing style, or it is a sign that more work is needed. Thankfully, you can easily reverse the changes you've just made if required.



For pictures and further info, visit www.learnguitarsetups.com

That depends on which way the neck is bent. Tighten if bowed away from the strings, loosen if bowed toward the strings. Go only a little at a time letting the neck settle as you go. If not familiar with the procedure you can cause damage to your guitar. I sugget taking it to the shop.

The rod is probably broken - this causes the buzz and the bend in the neck. Replace the neck.

There are a few different ways to do this, and unfortunately if you have not done this kind of work before you could end up damaging the guitar more than fixing it.
A few things to look for:
Sight down the neck from the top of the guitar looking down along the edges. If you see a concave (banana shaped) bow in the neck, it needs adjustment. Almost all guitars including yours have a neck adjustment rod that can alleviate some of the bow. If however the neck is convex ( higher in the middle) the neck would need adjustment too. You want a very slight bow in the neck to allow for weather changes as wood expands and contracts with the weather.
Other adjustments are down on the bridge. There are usually very small allen or hex key adjustments for each string to raise and lower the action (height) of the string. Again, any adjustments here can also affect the tuning of the string up and down the neck (intonation). The guitar may not end up being tuned at one place one the neck while in tune on another.
I would highly recommend taking this to a music store with a qualified person to adjust it. Many times the action can be lowered and the string height adjusted for better playing ability. You can inform the technician now what you see and what you want done. Also let them know if you have a heavy or light touch on the strings as this can make a difference when they adjust it too. At the same time a lot of them also restring your guitar for you and you may request a lighter gauge of string allowing for better play too. Good luck.

You have analyzed the problem... with the strings muted, the unit is quiet... that means the problem is with the guitar or cable picking up the noise. Move the guitar around near other things to search out the source which is probably magnetic fields... orient the guitar differently to sniff for the source. OFTEN lamp dimmers generate higher frequency components that can couple into the guitar pickups. The problem is fairly common.

You likely are in an area that has magnetic fields. Also you may have the settings on the amp that accentuates the noise. Eliminating this noise, especially at low levels, can be difficult if you have devices like flourescent lights that have magnetic ballasts.

You might also try running a different source into the amp such as a walkman player to verify the audio can be cleanly amplified. If that works, then the amp is OK.

Have you changed strings on it? Old strings get worn spots in them from rubbing on the frets that will cause these type of symptoms. If you put new strings on and get the same issue, check your neck relief (the amount of bow in the neck) to do this, hold your low E string at the first fret, and at the 12th or 14th fret. The neck should have a slight bow in the middle that puts it between 1/16" and 1/8" or so away from your string. If it does not have enough bow in it, you can adjust the truss rod. Most guitars use an allen wrench for this, it will be inside the soundhole on an acoustic usually, and on an electric it is normally on the headstock under a cover. There are many how-to's online about adjusting a truss rod, the key is to do it very slowly, only do about a 1/2 turn a day, retune, check it again the next day. Loosen the truss rod to put more neck relief, tighten to straighten the neck. If this still doesn't fix you up, let me know, and I'll tell you where to go from there.

Hello
Have a look at the neck part where the strings move through that aligning unit which has the 6 slits cut into it where the strings goes through at the top of the guitar neck.

What usually happens, the slits get worked out, thus the strings move fractions closer to the fret board which will result in a muffled sound if you press down on the string you get a fret buzz. This happens when the string touches the fret board on more than one spot.

When you play a solo you can get a muffled sound out of certain strings. This happened to me, i just replaced this unit, very cheap, and all was fixed. Hope this can work.

Best regards

Just a thought:

If you used the speakers with another amp and they still make noise when you play certain frequencies, then it is obviously a problem with the speakers or the cabinet - it could be a mechanical resonance in some part of a speaker / cabinet, something like a loose screw or a nut, loose protection mesh on the speakers that resonates at certain frequencies, possibly a bad speaker or a speaker membrane...

Also, you might want to check the pickups on your guitar, see if the pickup core slug under the A string is much closer to the string than the other slugs so it is either picking up too much signal and distorting it or the string might be touching the slug when you play it and cause noise, also see if the string is touching something else when it vibrates...

good luck

3rq8 (Triarcuate)

Hi Mike,

If the sound is like a string vibrating against something, ensure that is not strings (usually G) vibrating against the bridge.

Ensure that the two screw on the saddle are well in place.

Ensure also that the vibration is not coming from a string vibrating against the frets, in that case you can fix the problem by adjusting the action and rectifying the bow of the neck.

In either case, if the sadde and neck bow are cause of vibration, try tweaking the saddles a little, and lowering the position of the saddle a bit downward. Try also to rectify the neck. turning the apposite screw.