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Weird Sound When Playing on the G-string
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Rose

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February 18, 2018 - 10:55 am
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I took out my violin to practice and I realized that whenever I play on the G-string it sounds as if something is bouncing inside. This hasn't happened on any other string. Do any of you know what can be a cause of this?

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kodachrome
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February 18, 2018 - 1:23 pm
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Mine was making this awful buzzing sound when I would bow on the G string.  Come to find out it was on my A string peg. The little decorative ball on the outside came loose and was causing that awful noise. If that's the problem you can pull the little ball out put some crazy glue on it and press it back in. Or that's what I did anyway to fix mine.

Look for anything loose. Hope it helps.

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Rose

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February 18, 2018 - 2:34 pm
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Thanks for your response. My pegs do not have the decorative balls that you mentioned so that can't be the answer :) But i will definitely take your advice and look for something loose. 

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Rose

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February 18, 2018 - 4:16 pm
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I should mention that it sounds like something is spinning inside.

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Irv
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February 18, 2018 - 4:35 pm
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You might want to take a look inside the violin through the "e string" side f hole and make sure that your sound post is still secure.  You should be able to see it by the bridge foot of the "e string."  If it is not there, you will indeed have something rattling inside the violin and I would loosen the strings to prevent damage to the front plate of the violin.

If the problem is not the sound post (and I hope not), the second item to check is the nuts holding the fine tuners in place.  The nut is under the fine tuner thumb screw and it holds the string fine tuner on the tail piece.  In order to check them, loosen the string peg (one at a time), remove the thumb screw, tighten the fine tuner nut by finger or with a wrench until tight, put back the thumb screw and adjust until it just moves the lever arm under the tail piece, and tighten the string peg to adjust for pitch.  Repeat another 3 times.

There should be about 4 to 5 millimeters of clearance between the g string and the finger board.  If the bridge is sloping forward due to string tightening over time, you might not have the proper clearance and the string is striking the fingerboard as you play.  The back of the bridge (toward you and the tailpiece) should be at a 90 degree angle to the violin top plate.  You should check this every time you play and it is helpful to keep a business card in your case as a convenient check square.

I hope that this helps.

Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.

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AndrewH
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February 19, 2018 - 2:51 am
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Another possibility to check, which I've had happen before, is that the clamp barrels of your chin rest may be slightly loose. When that happens, the buzz occurs mostly on the lower strings because your chin rest is on that side of the instrument.

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
February 19, 2018 - 10:18 am
Member Since: September 26, 2010
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There are so many things that can be loose or vibrating against another surface on the violin. Of course we could analyze the instrument if we had it here but it's hard to guess otherwise.
Playing on the G string probably sounds the worse because it's the string that vibrates the widest and causes the most vibration on the whole instrument.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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Rose

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February 19, 2018 - 1:40 pm
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Thank you all for your responses! I managed to find the issue and solve it! The issue was with the fine tuners so I loosened them and then put them back in and the sound disappeared!!

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Irv
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February 19, 2018 - 11:13 pm
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Your success merits (in my view) a DIY button.  You determined that there was a problem, you sought advice, and you addressed it without paid assistance.  And as a side bonus, you now know more about the violin's fine tuners than 90% of the community.  I suggest you keep going and view a Youtube video on how to keep the fine tuners balanced by backing off the thumb screw of the fine tuner (when needed) and taking up the slack with the peg.

You also may want to try a set of very small (piccolo) fine tuners or a set which is integrated with the tailpiece (Wittner) that affords more string distance after the bridge (giving better instrument tone).  Either method would cost about $20.  The problem with trying the Wittner is that all of the strings need to removed at the same time to switch the tailpiece and you may create a problem with the sound post (which requires string tension on the bridge to keep in position).  It is possible to remove a single fine tuner at a time to switch to piccolo fine tuners if you are careful.        

Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
February 21, 2018 - 4:05 pm
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@Irv - In one way everyone on this forum deserves a DIY badge but I'm not sure where we should draw the line on this badge.
What do you guys think? Opinions please!

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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Irv
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February 21, 2018 - 6:42 pm
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Back during the last recession, I remember a Youtube video of a grandmother aged women with a broken $600 flat screen television.  She could not afford a new one and no one wanted to repair the broken one.  So she looked at other videos regarding the repair of her model and found that a faulty $0.50 capacitor caused the problem that she had in hers.  So she went to Radio Shack (now long gone) and purchased a $5.00 soldering iron, a spool of solder, and the $0.50 capacitor she needed.  

In doing that repair, she had to have a state of mind as a soldier defusing his/her first bomb.  But she did it and the television worked.  The look of newly found confidence on her face was magnificant.  That is diy.  

Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. —Earl Nightingale.

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Ferenc Simon
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February 22, 2018 - 6:17 am
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Fiddlerman said
@Irv - In one way everyone on this forum deserves a DIY badge but I'm not sure where we should draw the line on this badge.
What do you guys think? Opinions please!  

Well.. imo the line should be where you go beyond the 'musician' level of maintenance.. I mean to a regular person who never touched a musical instrument, even so much as tightening a peg to bring it up to tune is a task that makes them 'sweat' and they're afraid to try it. So if we go by those standards, then yes, pretty much everyone at some point deserves a badge, since at one point they went out of their comfort zone and did something to the violin that they haven't before..

But that's not the kind of DIY we should be looking for I think... To a musician.. tuning the instrument, then learning to change strings.. do basic maintenance.. like apply peg compound.. tighten fine-tuners.. adjust the bridge position are pretty much 'part of the job description' so they'll eventually learn most of it somewhere down the line. 

In this context DIY imo should be when you 'take the knife' to the violin :)) Do something that most people would hire a luthier or some other professional for.. like carve a bridge.. use a reamer without overdoing it.. change the hair on your bow.. You know.. stuff that goes beyond maintenance. These activities are usually high risk-reward and things have a chance to go horribly wrong :) so indeed they bring a smile to your face when you get it just right!

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AndrewH
Sacramento, California
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February 22, 2018 - 6:45 am
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I agree with Ferenc on this. Most string players will learn to check the fine tuners first if they hear a buzz, and check and adjust the bridge regularly, and I would consider those things to be basic knowledge for anyone who's played for 2-3 years. (Certainly not knowing "more about the violin's fine tuners than 90% of the community.") Even replacing a chin rest is something more often done by the violinist/violist than by a luthier, and even installing/removing fine tuners and replacing the tailpiece are at best borderline DIY as a substantial percentage of string players are comfortable doing it.

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damfino
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February 23, 2018 - 4:38 pm
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I agree that this doesn't sound like a true "DIY". Adjusting the fine tuners to remove a buzz, even installing new ones, is something most players do at some point, and is pretty basic. In my head it is just basic maintenance that any fiddle player needs to know how to do.

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
March 14, 2018 - 5:43 am
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Then we all agree. Let me know whenever you or anyone else should get a badge. I sometimes get too busy to check or to think about it.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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