For the guitarists out there

[JJChicken]

Whenever I play on the high E string on my electric guitar on frets above 12, the sound becomes unusually loud without me applying any extra force when picking. This gets really annoying because its hard to play with the same volume on some solos. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[vshah]

never had this happen...

 

[Triumph]

i've never heard of that happening.

 

[Invisible Evil]

What kind of pickups are you using? Is the guitar fretboard ebony? Has the guitar been professionally setup?

 

[mageslayer]

It is obviously the amp. Set the trebble lower and the base and middle a tad higher.

 

[Fritzo]

Maybe you're getting fret buzz? At the 12th fret, you would get a natural harmonic, giving you a double tone, which could in fact make the note sound louder.

Try adjusting your string height up a bit to see if that fixes it.

 

[hiromizu]

I'm just loud on every note so the louder the better. Interesting problem though. Have you tried rebooting your pickups?

 

[mrrman]

look at this video

http://www.ehow.com/video_2375...neck-straightness.html

 

[Robsasman]

Is that the blue button or the red one:laugh:

 

[eplebnista]

Originally posted by: Robsasman
Is that the blue button or the red one:laugh:

lol 😀

 

[oynaz]

Try lowering the pickup slightly on the high-e side.

 

[jemcam]

What kind of guitar are you using? What kind of pickups and amp? Assuming it has more than one pickup, is it the same with the neck and the bridge? Does it do it when you finger pick and with a pick?

Need more information man!

My guitars change a lot during the winter when it's so dry in the house, you may need a good setup. I purposely have my guitars set up in the winter because of this. The action just gets a little higher in the summer when it's humid. I hate fret buzz!

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
Maybe you're getting fret buzz? At the 12th fret, you would get a natural harmonic, giving you a double tone, which could in fact make the note sound louder.

Try adjusting your string height up a bit to see if that fixes it.

I happened to run into my good friend Fred the luthier at a Steelers party yesterday (we won! Woohoo!). Fret buzz is the first thing he would check for if this is happening. I'm smarter than I look 🙂

 

[TechBoyJK]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: Fritzo
Maybe you're getting fret buzz? At the 12th fret, you would get a natural harmonic, giving you a double tone, which could in fact make the note sound louder.

Try adjusting your string height up a bit to see if that fixes it.

I happened to run into my good friend Fred the luthier at a Steelers party yesterday (we won! Woohoo!). Fret buzz is the first thing he would check for if this is happening. I'm smarter than I look 🙂

Did the guy ever mention if he is using an amp or not?

OP, is this happening acoustically or just when you are plugged into an amp?

If acoustically, then yes, you need to consider what Fritzo is saying. There's a direct physics answer to why it could be happening at the 12th fret. Example. Look at the bridge and nut of the guitar (the full distance of the string that actually vibrates), where is the 12th fret in regards to the full distance? It's exactly the center. Where is the 24th fret (if you have one) in regards to the distance between the 12th fret and the bridge? Exactly the center. That's how you create an octave, and why the natural harmonic happens. You are essentially cutting the length of the string in half. If the open string vibrates at a pitch of 440Hz, the 12th fret will be 880hz, the 24th fret 1760hz.

If the distance of the full open string was a mile, then from the 12th fret to the bridge, it would be a half mile, 24th fret, a quarter mile.

That exact division causes some pretty interesting harmonic properties.

However, if it only happens when you use an amp, it could be a combination of EQ, (too much treble which could be spiked in the frequency range that would result in amplifying the frequencies around the 12th fret). How precise that is would depend on teh slope and Q of the eq.

If the eq is flat, check the tone/bass/treble knobs on your guitar, make sure those are flat too. If it still happens (and it doesn't happen acoustically without an amp), it's most likey the pickup resting higher towards the high e string vs the rest of the strings. However, I think in that scenario the volume change wouldn't be so difinitive at teh 12th fret, but throughout the entire string.

just my two cents.