Help needed…contagious buzz/ringing noise

[Tacye]

Hmph… I am still inclined to the thought that they aren’t bending enough at the soundboard and are bouncing off and zinging when you play them. And of course a thinner string will bend less. Do they zing more when you play them pulling along the line of the strings or across?

How to solve it is the next problem – if it is the cause- and you have tiddly little awkward holes in the soundboard. I would try loosening the string and sliding something into the top of the hole, maybe a bit of card or feather quill…

[mae-mcallister]

Yes, they do zing more when played along the line of strings rather than across! (i.e they zing more when played normally), so I guess you must be right…

I have already done what you suggested, but with a paperclip and that made it temporarily go away (see my first post), do you think it’s worth trying again with some card?

The harp is strung haphazardly in pedal light gut – I say haphazardly because some of the strings are way above or below pedal light tension. I’m beginning to wonder whether the ones strung below tension correspond to the zinging strings…and of course you are right about the high strings – the lowest zinging string is the 3rd A…

[bernhard-schmidt]

Hi Tacye,
is it this way you write…? Thats could be the reason of course.

[Tacye]

Bernhard- your diagram is nearly what I am thinking – I assumed there would be a little bend where the string comes out of the soundboard, but not enough and it is jumping off and buzzing.

Mae, what you did with the paperclip was trying to clean the hole. I am suggesting the opposite – jam something in there to push against the string (from the top, not the bottom) and stop it jumping loose. But if it is the lever strings that do this and the pedal light don’t then restringing would be worth trying.

[Author]

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