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Shaky/wobbling electric guitar sound

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(@smartoha)
New Member
Joined: 8 years ago
Posts: 1
Topic starter  

Hello!

Recently, I started getting very unnerved with a shaky/wobbling sound I get out of my ESP LTD Snakebyte with EMG JH pick-ups. Especially noticeable starting from 7th-8th fret, but an open E5 (D#5) still floats a bit and loses power. Tried to lower the pick-ups, but no significant effect on the wobbling.

Here, a sample played in the neck pick-up: https://soundcloud.com/anton-verkhovodov/gtr-shake

Has anyone dealt with this? Any idea how to solve the problem?


   
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(@guitaranswerguy)
Active Member
Joined: 8 years ago
Posts: 5
 

Well, this is a tough one... because so many things can cause that kind of warble. If it's any consolation, all my guitars do this to SOME extent... especially in the higher registers.

So, this only just recently started happening? You've owned this guitar for awhile and it was fine before?

If so, let's retrace the past few days/weeks. Has anything... ANYTHING changed with respect to the guitar itself? Have you changed brand of strings, done anything to the setup (string height, intonation, etc) of the guitar, changed ANY electronics, etc.?

Another culprit of this can be sympathetic string ringing. This can happen if you aren't fully muting all other strings (those not being played) while you're holding a chord or sustaining a single note. Sympathetic ringing can also happen behind the nut and behind the bridge, if applicable. This is why a lot of people (myself included) stuff foam under the strings in those spots.

Pickup height (too high or too low) can cause this, faulty electronics, even ceiling fans and other electronic equipment in the vicinity. It's a tough one, so some of the speculation I've tossed out here and get back to us.

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(@bmfm-tech)
Active Member
Joined: 8 years ago
Posts: 6
 

This a most commonly cause by an intonation issue. If your guitar isn't properly setup and intonated, then you can get a strange wobble-type sound when chords ring out. Its most likely nothing that you did, weather, jossles, or even just a different gauge string set can throw everything out of wack. I would suggest doing a setup from start to finish and see if that doesn't help your situation. If you need help with that, here is a good walk through: https://bmfmguitars.wordpress.com/


   
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