New Custom 24 G-String "Warble" =(

[mitchewr]

New Custom 24 G-String Warble/Flutter =(

Okay so everything has been absolutely amazing on my new Custom 24, except for one thing...I'm getting bad G-String warble and ONLY when I play with any sort of gain or distortion.

Here is a youtube link that I found on a different forum where someone with a Strat had the same problem. This is the sound that I am getting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw-6W_uxltk

That forum did not have a posted solution and I've been scouring tons of similar posts but no one seems to have a definite answer so I am turning to you guys.

Playing clean, the guitar sounds gorgeous. Playing with distortion and it still sounds gorgeous, until I start playing the G-String all by itself, especially once I get near the 12th fret and beyond. The high-E and b-strings sound perfectly fine and all of the other strings sound fine individually.

I've tried this on two different amps. I'm not heaving any fret buzz and the neck doesn't looked warped at all. Action is factory as is pickup height.

I have tuned and triple tuned and the tuning and intonation are literally perfect and yet the warble remains. Strings are brand new as well. 10s.

The warble sound is present on all 5 pickup combinations. I tried different cables and eliminating all effects and just plugging straight into the amp as well.

Also, the notes on the G-string don't ring out as long or true as do the b-string or the high-e. I tested this on my SE 245 and pretty much noticed the same thing but to a slightly lesser degree. I am attributing this to the much higher resonance and clarity of the Custom 24 vs the SE...but idk.

Pretty much all of the posts on this issue I've found elsewhere have been for Strats or Teles.

Have any of you noticed this on your PRSi? If so, is this just the frequency of the G-String being "unwound" and I'm just finally noticing it and so it's sticking out to me?

Or does this indicate a legitimate problem that can and needs to be corrected?

 

[DHW]

try putting some foam or something under the springs in the trem as a test.

 

[garrettb]

try putting some foam or something under the springs in the trem as a test.

Good idea. Or it may be that the G saddle is just ever so slightly too low.

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Pickups possibly a little too high??? Or check the pole piece on the pickups under the G...if you purchased the guitar used, could someone have raised the screws under the G...magnetic pull against the string???

 

[László]

Something strikes me...why would this only happen with the amp overdriven or distorted? If it's the guitar, you'd think it'd show up clean as well. I'm wondering, what happens if you turn the amp down on its lead channel to a lower volume, does the warbling still happen?

When my old Mesa Tremoverb started to go after nearly 17 years of pretty heavy use, there was a strange warbling sound on certain notes on one of its lead channel modes, especially with the volume high.

The other weird thing I once experienced was that when I first started recording, I'd get a weird noise with certain notes that turned out to be sympathetic vibrations from things like heat registers, light bulbs, and so on. Drove me nuts until I realized what it was.

Then again, could be the guitar.

 

[mitchewr]

Thanks for the replies so far. I just bought the guitar brand new, so it's not even a week old yet. Everything on the guitar is/should be just how it came from the factory. I will try putting something under tremolo springs.

The pole height on the pickups is all the same, flat across. It's the 85/15 pups.

I would like to try the guitar and amp in a different room to see if it's something there. The amp has a separate gain and volume knob for the gain channel, so if I turn the gain way down then it behave mostly like it does on the clean channel.


Do you guys experience this much or is this something that should not be happening at all whatsoever?

 

[shinksma]

Here's a crazy suggestion, but it happened to me and drove me nuts until I figured it out:

Do you have an overhead fan turned on? When I turn my fans on, i get this fast tremolo effect at certain frequency ranges if I stand in certain spots (with amp in appropriate positions), because the fan blades are acting as a physical modulator to the sound field.

Yeah, it is a long shot, but it took me a couple hours to figure this out one day...

 

[Ovibos]

Here's a crazy suggestion, but it happened to me and drove me nuts until I figured it out:

Do you have an overhead fan turned on? When I turn my fans on, i get this fast tremolo effect at certain frequency ranges if I stand in certain spots (with amp in appropriate positions), because the fan blades are acting as a physical modulator to the sound field.

Yeah, it is a long shot, but it took me a couple hours to figure this out one day...

Almost like the old "Darth Vader" effect when you talk into the fan. Or the one tone that hits sympathetic resonance when you sing in the bathroom.

I was thinking there's some kind of harmonic/overtone thing happening. You said new strings - have you tried an additional set? Could be something with that one string...

As a support to the "have G's always sounded this way", I just had a discussion with my teacher last week where I said I was always retuning my G b/c it always sounded flat to me (even tho it was fine) and he agreed that there's often something a bit 'off' sounding about many G's in his ears too.

 

[solacematt]

Have the guitar set up. I had that issue with my other HB and it was just that my guy screwed up the setup because we put a different string gauge on then usual. My new one needs a setup as well

 

[mitchewr]

Have the guitar set up. I had that issue with my other HB and it was just that my guy screwed up the setup because we put a different string gauge on then usual. My new one needs a setup as well

Wow. I REALLY hope that's the only thing wrong with it lol. I'll have to take it to the local shop.

 

[solacematt]

Wow. I REALLY hope that's the only thing wrong with it lol. I'll have to take it to the local shop.

yea, bring it in and show them, ask if it needs a proper setup. Not only will you get rid of that sound, it will also play more even more comfortably. If you do go that route just make sure you test it out to make sure that sound is gone and that it plays right for you.

 

[Rider1260]

I would raise the saddle a very small amount with the G being at the top of the radius it is often set a bit low this should increase sustain and get rid of the warble

 

[AaeCee]

I've dealt with the dreaded warble a few times, and in every case it was an issue with either the nut slot or the bridge saddle. I put some small balled up pieces of tissue paper below the string, first at the nut, and if that didn't make a difference, at the bridge saddle. It was always one or the other, and once my tech adjusted it all was once again well with the world. Come to think of it though, once it was actually a bad string.

 

[mitchewr]

So good news everyone! =)

My guy at Sweetwater has let me know that their techs have solved the issue:

"Hey Man,
I think my guys has it solved. The pickups were pulling too much on the strings. The strings were caught on the nut and he re-intonated it. It's holding tune well and notes are ringing true."

I asked him what was causing the pickups to pull too much on the strings as I had lowered them as far as they could go and still didn't help. He replied:

"My assumption is that the bridge was too low and the neck had too much slack. Bridge up and increase tension on the neck. Same low action but the ration is set properly. The nice thing is that when he first received the guitar he tested it and got the same effect you did. This made fixing the guitar easy."

So, she will soon be shipped out and on her way back home =)

Tis a great day!

 

[shinksma]

Interesting! I have heard of that happening, and I guess if it going to happen, the G-string is a very likely culprit: it is the thickest plain string. And with it being most noticed the higher you fret it, makes sense too: by fretting it you are lowering the string closer to the pickup.

Now I'm going to be OCD and check all my guitars for this!

 

[mitchewr]

So unfortunately I got the guitar back last night and the flutter is still there! =( I could cry right now. It's not as bad as it was before but it's still there and makes the g string sound horrible.

 

[László]

I would definitely try to damp the trem springs with a small piece of foam to see if that does the trick.

The fact that it happens only when you're playing with gain means that it isn't likely a bad setup, a bad saddle, or a bad nut slot. So my theory is that the higher gain is producing a sympathetic vibration in the guitar, and the spring's a likely culprit.

If that's not it, have Sweetwater exchange the guitar.

 

[mitchewr]

I have tried the foam under the springs to no avail. Sweetwater is contacting PRS about the issue. I really don't want to exchange the guitar as the wood grain is one of the best not PS I've seen... At least on their site. So I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.

 

[rubalup]

have you checked that the string is not resonating behind the nut? (tuner to nut vibration)

my strat used to do that and I had to put a couple extra string turns on the tuner to increase the nut/tuner angle...

 

[mitchewr]

Alright, well I finally have a solution to this issue. I'm exchanging the guitar! Sweetwater posted a new Custom 24 30th in Blood Orange early Tuesday morning of this week. I saw it, called my guy and had him snag it. They've tested everything and no warble on this new one! =) =) The old one is on it's way back and the new one should be here shortly.

Here's pics of the two:

NEW


OLD



The new one has a REALLY nice burst of orange in the middle and I like that a lot. This might just work out