Wonky E String

[dweccl]

I just replace my strings on a Yamaha 4 string. It had been sitting in its case for a while with no string tension on the neck. I put on a set of Carvin Nickel plated medium gauge round wounds. The E string sounds fine open, but rattles (a little) when I fret it. It rattles the whole way up the neck, though it seems more pronounced the closer I am to the nut.

I did the whole "capo the 1st fret, depress the last fret, check the relief at the 8th fret" thing, and I could slide a credit card underneath with just a little room to spare. I'm thinking that means the truss rod is fine (even if the relief is probably a bit high), especially since the other three strings are clear as a bell.

Saddles don't look out of kilter to me but I guess that could be a cause if its set too low. Maybe I didn't stretch the E string enough? Anyone else out there have any suggestions?

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As an aside, if anyone knows a good setup/repair guy in the Harrisburg/Lancaster/Reading PA area, I'm all ears.

Thanks

[JLS]

Originally Posted by dweccl

I just replace my strings on a Yamaha 4 string. It had been sitting in its case for a while with no string tension on the neck. I put on a set of Carvin Nickel plated medium gauge round wounds. The E string sounds fine open, but rattles (a little) when I fret it. It rattles the whole way up the neck, though it seems more pronounced the closer I am to the nut.

I did the whole "capo the 1st fret, depress the last fret, check the relief at the 8th fret" thing, and I could slide a credit card underneath with just a little room to spare. I'm thinking that means the truss rod is fine (even if the relief is probably a bit high), especially since the other three strings are clear as a bell.

Saddles don't look out of kilter to me but I guess that could be a cause if its set too low. Maybe I didn't stretch the E string enough? Anyone else out there have any suggestions?

---

As an aside, if anyone knows a good setup/repair guy in the Harrisburg/Lancaster/Reading PA area, I'm all ears.

Thanks

Is that set of strings, "taper core", or "contact core"? If so, the string can be as much lower as half the thickness of the winding. Raise the saddle, in any case, see if that's a fix. The neck may well resettle into more relief, too.

[prokfrog]

Carvin nickels are tapered. if you had regular wraps on it before, that's likely your problem. Raise the saddle..

[EagleMoon]

If you're sliding a credit card under the strings then that's a lot of relief in the neck. Usually all you want is a couple of business cards thickness.

And you might just need to raise the E string saddle a bit.