The Steel Guitar Forum

I have a Mullen G 2 with the 5th and 6th strings that rattle/buzz on the first,third and seventh frets.and no its not a bee string. ive been playing for many years and know about proper bar downforce. ive changed sets and the fifth and sixth,different brands,reseated them both in the changer,oiled the rollers. cleaned the changer fingers ,tighened the return springs,checked for rough places on the changer fingers,moved the strings off center a tiny bit and it seemed to help till they worked back in place. Any ideas Please ,you can't hear it when amp is on but playing unplugged its driving me nuts.ok i was already nuts ,help. Rudy

This problem has always turned out to be me.
Does the rattle last all through the job?

Assuming that you wrap strings on the tuner like most folks do, that is, over the top of the tuner shaft... Try winding the 5th and 6th the opposite direction so that the string is on the bottom of the tuner shaft. This will result in more of the string "touching" the radius of the brass roller on these two strings. This reduced/eliminated my buzzing on 5 and 6. Kind of a pain tuning until you get used to these two being backwards of the other tuners but sounds allot better.

maybe your pdl20 is loose.

It could be that the fingers for those strings have had the tops sanded, and they no longer have a proper radius. It really takes very little material removed to make this happen, and I always advise players who attempt to refinish the crown of the fingers to be very, very careful!

thanks for the info.i will try the reverse direction on the keyhead and i did redress the spot on the changer but used a very fine jewelers rouge pad and very light pressure and did very few strokes.i did use oil and put a rag on the strings behind the rollers ,didn't seem to help.this is the first guitar that has given trouble ,my emmons has never done this even a smooth touch up with very very fine abrasive took care of it,guess its the difference in the soft and hard materials they are made from. thanks again. Rudy

You may have a roller that somehow came a slither over or under size to much. When you change strings swap the two thats rattlin for two on the c6th and see if that helps . I sure Mike with mullen will get you a couple that are exacto

Bob,he sent me 2 last fall and it didn't help

For whatever it's worth, I had the exact same problem, did all the things you mentioned in your original post and not until I changed the direction of the string winding did it improve. Then... I installed gauged rollers and got rid of all the buzz.

I would also add- I've always tried to place the ball of the string on the changer finger ensuring that the last wrap is facing out, away from the changer roller, as I'm sure that most already know to do. However, Every single 6th string that I removed from a new package had a "natural" wrap, or twist that really made it hard to get the string started at the tuner. It was like it would twist, or kink the string sometimes. Finally, I gave in and placed the string on the changer end according to it's natural "curl" and I really think this helped as well.

Hope you get it cause I realize how this can drive you batty...

Rudy, I would suggest you remove the 4th string from the changer end then loosen the 5th string and put in on the 4th changer finger, tune it to B and see if it buzzes. If it does not then it most likely is at the changer end. Could be the changer fingers have become out of round and the string is not leaving the changer roller cleanly or in rare instances the changer axle might need rotated 180 degrees.
Jerry

thanks Jerry,i will be up at the steel show around 1:30 or so and look you up Friday and thanks to all that have given me ideas on what to do.i'll geter figured out, if not i'll buy another brand.lol

Rudy, I have to play a show here Friday night so I won't be there until Saturday morning. I hope you can be there for our Sat. 1:30 PM set and hear little Braydon play. He is 13 years old and been playing 9 months and doing very well. I am a very proud Grandpa. No doubt you guitar problem can be corrected.
Jerry

Can you identify which end of the guitar is buzzing?

We stand behind our guitars, however the only way for us to diagnose this problem and fix it would be to have it sent to us. You can email me at sales@mullenguitars.com if you want to try and converse back and forth to help diagnose.

Mike

I don't know if the G2 also have the metal spacers between the changer finger and the tuning nut. If so, it could be one of those on a string if there is a little slack, and not necessarily on the string that rattle. I've noticed that on the RP, but as long as it does not come out of the speakers it is ok with me.

If possible I would have Mike check it out. I believe the most common cause of the buzz is when string grooves develop and are sanded out leaving a flat spot where the string leaves the roller. This is a very critical area. The same amount of metal needs to be sanded off that area as is sanded off where the grooves are removed. A millionth (if that is a word) is about all it takes, (slight exaggeration). I of course don't know it you have removed any grooves or not. Mothers polish is not abrasive and will not remove string grooves. Go see Mike Mantey or come see me Rudy and we can meet up at Wendy's or was it KFC, then we can fix the guitar.
Jerry

This is an interesting topic. I've seen Rudy's Mullen and it sounds great. I'm looking at Mullen for my next loaded D-10 about next Jan/Feb., so I'm curious as to the buzzing problem and remedy. I'm just wondering if maybe replacing the pull fingers on those certain strings and roller nuts might make a difference. I really like the Mullen guitars and almost bought a Discovery recently but chose a ETS this time. I'm yet to see a better built guitar than a Mullen anywhere. See ya down the road Rudy!

i think i have stopped the buzz/rattle, i placed a small peice of thin foam thru the pull rods in a section i had added 2 pulls on. i know the 1 st string pull is in a tight area ,not sure if that started it but the foam has stopped the noise for now. Billy ,Mullen Builds a Great guitar,i wouldn't part with my G2 for any other make .ive had 3 Mullen guitars and all have performed and sounded great.this was a fluke that i may have caused when i added those 2 additional pull rods ,we will re-route them for better clearance and it will be taken care of .i played it friday and sat at oklahoma show and had O trouble. So Buy the g2 you want, they play so easy and those splits are spot on and easy to feel and you already know how great they sound ,i have the stock single coil pickups and love them. Rudy