The Steel Guitar Forum

Hey all,

So I made the mistake of changing 2 things in rapid succession and now I have a problem. Novice player, been at this about 3 months now.

I broke my 3 string Monday and then set about doing my first re-string which I think I accomplished successfully. SIT strings if it matters.

I also bought myself a Session 400 locally this weekend since I'm less ashamed to play out loud now. I was largely using headphones off a cheap Blazer 158 previously.

Today was the first day since all these changes that I sat down to play in earnest. I was really pleased with the tone off the Session until I started doing some bar moves and I noticed a weird whistle sound during the move. It sounds almost like a old recorder like you'd play in elementary school, or one of those kids toys with the slide whistle. Its not very loud but its throwing me off. I had thought it might be feedback from the amp somehow, but its making the noise when I turn the amp off too. I don't think it did this before I changed the strings, is there a like seasoning step I missed? Is it a technique thing I'm doing that was hidden by the old kinda rusty strings?

Any advice from the sages of this forum?

I’m curious, what frequency would you say the whistle is? If on a piano, would it be really high, in the middle, or very low?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auuy5drtfp4

Its not real loud, but just enough that its a little distracting. I don't think its coming through the amp.

I am certainly no sage, but if both your bar and your new strings are stainless steel, change one or the other and see if your mystery zing disappears. In addition to adding friction, the combo could very possibly cause the noise you describe, especially when the strings are brand new.

Try muting behind the bar and also check if one of the strings you are not playing is in contact with the bar and resonating. You can test it by damping the unplayed strings with a piece of foam. Sounds like a very basic muting issue.

Watch this video to see how to mute behind the bar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaW45yjSFDg&t=111

I have only experienced that sound on old strings. I generally use a polymer bar, and on old strings my 4th string chirps.

Bob Hoffnar wrote:Try muting behind the bar and also check if one of the strings you are not playing is in contact with the bar and resonating. You can test it by damping the unplayed strings with a piece of foam. Sounds like a very basic muting issue.

Quickly tried this this morning and it did appear to solve the issue. Thanks for the quick responses everyone! Gotta be more mindful of where my free fingers are on the bar.