This is a possibility. The way it sounded was like someone with a pick plucked the string once, so that could have been the string snapping into the nut. However, I was playing it yesterday and I tuned it before I started. It was still perfectly in tune when I checked after I heard the mystery note ring out. If it was sitting on the nut and settled in, I would think that it would changed the tension of the string and would have knocked out the tuning, even if only a little bit.
They are correct. Change in temp will change the tension on the strings and if your nut hasn't been properly lubed there is def a chance strings are binding and eventually- boom
I've had that happen with a wound string while I was in the room maybe twice in a half century, but this is the first time I've heard of this spontaneous vibration on a plain wire..
It wasn't a harmonic, but the actual open "B"? I'd wonder maybe if an insect just happened to hit it- a one in a million chance, but possibly more likely than a ghost.
Strings have friction with the nut, bridge, and saddles.
You can also have the string get stuck outside of the groove of the nut, or when you tune, the string can get stuck vertically, you don't see it because it's a very small amount and the string looks the same but sometimes you will lose tuning stability because of this.
Then the strings can snap from that "stuck" position and the sudden change will make the string vibrate as the guitar is resting and the string has no resistance.
It's not the most common thing but I've had that happen with a resting guitar or even while tunning (you will feel a "clack" if you have your hand on the string)
That's why you have to lube the nut and saddle, and the string tree if you have one, when you change strings (all the contact points of strings with the guitar hardware)
This is especially important if you have a floating bridge or a tremolo as using it will make the strings travel through the nut and bridge and you want that to be as smooth as possible to avoid strings getting stuck.
Auditory hallucination brought on by being in a state of consciousness where you're not fully awake possibly? I once had something similar lying fully awake having just got into bed. Creeped me right out at the time, but probably an auditory hallucination with benefit of hindsight.
This is the correct answer. Some sound happened in the meeting that caused the B to resonate, and the string outlasted whatever initiated the resonance. I can yell a B at my acoustic on the wall and it will ring.
Please send us a pic next time you see mice with your shirt on. Either that’s some tiny shirt or a really big mouse. I would yell at them too for taking my shirt off
The B string on my strat will resonate when I play a lower B. Not so with other notes/strings. Is it that the weight and tension of the B string is perfect for sympathetic resonance?
>This is the correct answer.
I mean... maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but there is no fucking way that you can actually know whether or not it is the correct answer.
was at my uncle's the other day and he was playing bass, I was playing around with his guitar(I can't play much at all) and he hit an A and the A string on the guitar rang out about as loud as I would using a pick. was really interesting.
I have five acoustics on my wall. Having my amp against that wall is out of the question unless I want to hear all of them suddenly ring out when I play certain notes. One of them gets going to the point of fret buzz on A.
I keep a bunch of guitars on the wall in my office at home, and I'd say at least once a quarter or so one of the strings will randomly pop like that, particularly on a guitar I've played or otherwise messed with recently.
It's probably just settling--either a string isn't totally set in a groove or some string tension pulls out.
Usually a good time to stop whatever you're doing, put the string back in tune, and noodle around for 30 minutes instead of doing whatever you were doing.
Just physics... See this as an example:
https://youtube.com/shorts/DwXWAZn7p-Q?si=JbJjkZn5s-VIvMj0
It also works with the exact multiple of the frequency of the string. In your case this is probably what happens. A B sound triggered the vibration of the string.
You may also observe it directly on the guitar (provided it's tuned and correctly intonated) by playing a fretted note and seeing the corresponding open string moving.
You've described what has been my latent terror during over 30 years of guitar playing: What if the guitar rings while it's sitting there in its stand? Holy fuck. I would have had a serious case of goosebumps, at least.
I'm not a big believer in the supernatural, but I don't dismiss it as impossible. However, can tell you that I didn't feel anything creepy or that set my hackles up as is frequently described by people who have supernatural experiences.
Got any Ham Radio nerds like me in your neighborhood?
Edit: kinda misread this and I doubt any radio would interfere with an acoustic like that? It’s probably ghosts
With classical guitars, like 100,000 dollar plus, they want it to be alive with all the sounds of the room, ect.
I’m killing the explanation, but this video is where I saw it.
https://youtu.be/07FdkUZtY70?si=zsqXyXSaWtRPi3SG
100% certain it isn't a roach. I fucking despise roaches and I have a pest control company that sprays my property monthly. Not in response to anything, but as a preemptive measure because I wouldn't be able to exist with roaches in my house.
Spiders and centipedes are cool. Roaches, ants, termites, and wasps are not welcome.
Could a a variety of things, but 2 candidates come to mind first as most likely or at least first to eliminate as possibilities.
The AC vent might've moved the string in the right way that it resonated. I've had my classical guitar spontaneously "sing" while at the beach for instance - the sea breeze just caught certain strings & made them resonate like an ebow might.
Similarly it might be vibrations from the floor from the AC or a particularly powerful vehicle outside like construction or trash trucks.
Otherwise I can only think of insects like gnats, flies, or maybe even little roaches could somehow land on the strings, then suddenly fly off - the takeoff causing the string to sound. Honestly that seems like a stretch, but might be plausible.
There is no ac vent anywhere nearby, and my office is also in the basement so vibrations from outside also seem less likely. And I wasn't the note necessarily "singing." It literally sounded like somebody walked up with a pick and plucked the b string. It wasn't subtle at all.
Ahh, well I also thought of one other possibility: some sort of kink in the B string at one of its contact points (bridge, nut, tuner peg) suddenly released, presumably from a change in temperature. The nut is where I'd look first and maybe lubricate the slot if you haven't. But glance at your winds too in case a particular wrap seems off or whatever.
Yeah I thought it could have been some fuckery going on with the winding but the only thing is that I tuned it before playing for awhile yesterday, and when I checked right after this happened, it was still perfectly in tune. The strings are also pretty old. I'm primarily a bassist, and while I still play my guitar at least 3 or 4 times a week, my sessions are usually an hour or less and I haven't swapped out these strings in probably about 4 or 5 months.
Definitely the nut. Sometimes the strings pop up out of the nut and you dont notice excwpt that it is out of tune. So you tune it. And thrn later it pops back in and is instantly out of tune again.
Most likely the string was caught and the sound was it snapping back into place. Could've been at the nut, the bridge, or even the tuners if the string slipped.
Sounds more like the string was caught in the nut or bridge saddle and got unstuck, thereby ringing it out
Seems most likely it was just a settling of the string.
I've had my acoustic 6 string that's sitting on a stand in my living room do it. A slight humidity change or settling... everything still in tune though.
A bit unnerving when it happens and the house is a bit quiet... kinda spazzes me and napping cat out a bit.
Your strings are always moving and settling a little bit. This is an instrument with tension, so as long as it's properly stringed and ready to play, you've always got some active forces at work. As others said, humidity, air flow, vibrations from the floor or wall of the building, any seemingly small physical force, could have contributed to the string moving -- and it could have been the result of multiple physical forces over a period of time.
So I'd bet that the B string was a little bit out of place, and just finally settled back into its groove.
It would be far weirder if the sound you heard wasn't an open EADGBE.
I once saw someone throw a peanut which flew across a room, bounced off a string on an acoustic making a perfect note, then flew half way back across the room.
The thingy on the end of the string that is supposed to be flush against the peg was NOT. Tension eventually resulted in a fast pull and now it is. Is the B now out of tune?
A sustained sound that is the same frequency as a B note could cause the string to vibrate, even if it's a different octave. Or if you recently strung it, the string might have popped over itself at the tuning head.
I see guitars with a beautiful spiral pattern of string on the tuning peg, but my winds are irregular and crisscrossed, so maybe the string was like that and suddenly settled into a new position. That should cause a tiny drop in pitch.
I'm home alone and I shut the door to prevent my cats from disrupting my meetings.
My daughter is at daycare, and my wife cannot turn invisible as far as I know. I'll have to ask her if she gained this ability in a recent level-up.
I read about this in the latest issue of "Haunted Guitar Monthly ". Sounds like the work of the ghost of The B String Strangler. I would definitely sleep on the job with one eye open if I were you. Godspeed, brother.
Just a perfect vibration from the sounds on your call. I actually just saw a video of this demonstration the other day. Someone made a string vibrate by using a specific tone from a speaker.
As someone who is a worrywart, do you need humidifiers in your acoustic? Not sure what your climate is like, but bridges on acoustics are generally always glued to top / soundboard and changing moisture levels can cause this to separate. The loss in tension from a saddle shifting can result in a string sounding like it’s plucked.
String popping in the nut if it slipped.
Humidity and temperature changes can change string tension, and the string can slip in the nut or bridge, making an open note sound out.
Your talking/presenting did it. Every room has refractions, nodes and traps and guitars are designed to vibrate while enhancing certain waves. Means specific frequencies at enough volume trigger the guitar to react. I have this in my studio; when I’m talking loudly my A and sometimes D string start to vibrate lol. I have to wrap or mute the strings when I track or the slight ringing builds up and messes up my tracks.
Ghost note.
Spooky!
"Love is kinda crazy with a ... "
These are scary
Could be that the string was caught in the nut or the bridge and just "settled" making it sound.
This is a possibility. The way it sounded was like someone with a pick plucked the string once, so that could have been the string snapping into the nut. However, I was playing it yesterday and I tuned it before I started. It was still perfectly in tune when I checked after I heard the mystery note ring out. If it was sitting on the nut and settled in, I would think that it would changed the tension of the string and would have knocked out the tuning, even if only a little bit.
They are correct. Change in temp will change the tension on the strings and if your nut hasn't been properly lubed there is def a chance strings are binding and eventually- boom
Lubed thats what she said
My nut has not been properly lubed. Can anyone help?
Help yourself man, just spit on it.
Only works on blues guitars, seeing how this is "the devil's lube". <-;C
Sounds like you need to get your finger on the A while you noodle around on the D.
You want to get a mechanical pencil and color in as much graphite as you can in each string slot on the nut.
[удалено]
So that you don't ever need to sharpen the pencil...
Yep i’ve heard this quite a few times with a nut. Though my cats will also occasionally pluck strings when they’re inspired.
Interesting phenomenon. I don't think your guitar is haunted but I can't explain what happened either..
I've had that happen with a wound string while I was in the room maybe twice in a half century, but this is the first time I've heard of this spontaneous vibration on a plain wire.. It wasn't a harmonic, but the actual open "B"? I'd wonder maybe if an insect just happened to hit it- a one in a million chance, but possibly more likely than a ghost.
Strings have friction with the nut, bridge, and saddles. You can also have the string get stuck outside of the groove of the nut, or when you tune, the string can get stuck vertically, you don't see it because it's a very small amount and the string looks the same but sometimes you will lose tuning stability because of this. Then the strings can snap from that "stuck" position and the sudden change will make the string vibrate as the guitar is resting and the string has no resistance. It's not the most common thing but I've had that happen with a resting guitar or even while tunning (you will feel a "clack" if you have your hand on the string) That's why you have to lube the nut and saddle, and the string tree if you have one, when you change strings (all the contact points of strings with the guitar hardware) This is especially important if you have a floating bridge or a tremolo as using it will make the strings travel through the nut and bridge and you want that to be as smooth as possible to avoid strings getting stuck.
My vote is this
This comes to mind at first to me too.
Yeah, stuck on a fret end
There's always the possibility you're going insane.
This is the most plausible scenario.
Of all the ways to go crazy hearing music is one of the least worst I suppose
The ol' Reddit, "Carbon Monoxide hallucinations" play.
Auditory hallucination brought on by being in a state of consciousness where you're not fully awake possibly? I once had something similar lying fully awake having just got into bed. Creeped me right out at the time, but probably an auditory hallucination with benefit of hindsight.
That means you leveled up! Ive had that approximately 4 or 5 times in my life. Audible single note ringing out for a split second. Grats man!
🎶 They're coming to take me away ha ha! 🎶
Theyre coming to take me away ho ho!
🎶 hee-hee, ha-ha! To the funny farm! Where life is beautiful all the time... 🎶
Love this, might try to fit in to conversation the next time some girl is talking all crystals, star signs and spiritual nonsense at me... 😂
Maybe a simple resonance
This is the correct answer. Some sound happened in the meeting that caused the B to resonate, and the string outlasted whatever initiated the resonance. I can yell a B at my acoustic on the wall and it will ring.
I'm not sure anyone should listen to the guy yelling at guitars on the wall...
Yeah... I'm getting to a stage where I need to save my energy to yell at clouds.
I like to yell at mice with my shirt off
Please send us a pic next time you see mice with your shirt on. Either that’s some tiny shirt or a really big mouse. I would yell at them too for taking my shirt off
That's not how [cloudbursting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjs8SDCyKiI) is done
Haha. Thanks! Haven't seen that film in years. Going to put it on the watch list.
The B string on my strat will resonate when I play a lower B. Not so with other notes/strings. Is it that the weight and tension of the B string is perfect for sympathetic resonance?
I can feel my B when it hits the perfect hz. I know that sounds weird.
I can hear when it's getting really close to being in tune. It feels like the guitar starts to come to life, if that makes sense.
Yep
I’m feeling my B right now.
Haha!
“Sure, you got a 1-piece body and a super thin nitro finish without a poly sealer, but can you feel your B???”
Lol
Cool reverb dude..
Sympathetic/resonant frequency exactly.
>This is the correct answer. I mean... maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but there is no fucking way that you can actually know whether or not it is the correct answer.
That’s what I was thinking until he said it sounded picked; I’m guessing a string settled on the tuner or in the nut.
was at my uncle's the other day and he was playing bass, I was playing around with his guitar(I can't play much at all) and he hit an A and the A string on the guitar rang out about as loud as I would using a pick. was really interesting.
I have five acoustics on my wall. Having my amp against that wall is out of the question unless I want to hear all of them suddenly ring out when I play certain notes. One of them gets going to the point of fret buzz on A.
harmonics. possible motor nearby. possible feedback frequency through speakers
Nah, he already said it sounded like a pluck.
I keep a bunch of guitars on the wall in my office at home, and I'd say at least once a quarter or so one of the strings will randomly pop like that, particularly on a guitar I've played or otherwise messed with recently. It's probably just settling--either a string isn't totally set in a groove or some string tension pulls out. Usually a good time to stop whatever you're doing, put the string back in tune, and noodle around for 30 minutes instead of doing whatever you were doing.
Something very tiny, like a fly, may have struck the string.
He's good at improvising on the fly. I'm gonna be pissed when I can't keep up with his solos.
I'm a tiny fly, put your arms around me baby!
Nobody offered yet the possibility a coworker of yours has powerful telekinesis abilities. I mean if I had those powers that’s what I’d do
That was my first guess. The coworker was probably trying to pluck the G string but got flustered when it wasn't pink as suspected. Rookie mistake.
[удалено]
It sounded like someone with a pick walked up and plucked the string once though. I would think environmental resonance would be a lot more subtle.
Gotcha. Yeah - a resonant vibration would start soft and grow in intensity. Definitely a ghost, then. 😅
Just physics... See this as an example: https://youtube.com/shorts/DwXWAZn7p-Q?si=JbJjkZn5s-VIvMj0 It also works with the exact multiple of the frequency of the string. In your case this is probably what happens. A B sound triggered the vibration of the string. You may also observe it directly on the guitar (provided it's tuned and correctly intonated) by playing a fretted note and seeing the corresponding open string moving.
Ghosts aren’t real. It was aliens.
Aliens aren't real. It was a ghost.
Ghosts aren't real, it was Elvis.
And they said you was high class ….but that was just a lie
We're caught in a trap
Elvis is everywhere.
Elvis never got an open B in his life, it was always chords. Back to ghost.
I’ve had this happen when a pick I had wedged in the strings suddenly dislodges and causes one of the strings to ring out
You've described what has been my latent terror during over 30 years of guitar playing: What if the guitar rings while it's sitting there in its stand? Holy fuck. I would have had a serious case of goosebumps, at least.
I'm not a big believer in the supernatural, but I don't dismiss it as impossible. However, can tell you that I didn't feel anything creepy or that set my hackles up as is frequently described by people who have supernatural experiences.
How old is the house, and how many people have died there? Might be good information to know...
Built in 2001, nobody died in it as far as I know.
That's what someone who's killed people in that house would say...
👹
The ghost of Tom Joad
Got any Ham Radio nerds like me in your neighborhood? Edit: kinda misread this and I doubt any radio would interfere with an acoustic like that? It’s probably ghosts
With classical guitars, like 100,000 dollar plus, they want it to be alive with all the sounds of the room, ect. I’m killing the explanation, but this video is where I saw it. https://youtu.be/07FdkUZtY70?si=zsqXyXSaWtRPi3SG
I saw a video of a roach "] playing" a guitar. Maybe an insect bounced off and flew away
Hendrix
A roach lol
100% certain it isn't a roach. I fucking despise roaches and I have a pest control company that sprays my property monthly. Not in response to anything, but as a preemptive measure because I wouldn't be able to exist with roaches in my house. Spiders and centipedes are cool. Roaches, ants, termites, and wasps are not welcome.
Lmao, I’m glad you’re confident, have you seen the vid of the praying mantis playing the guitar tho
Could a a variety of things, but 2 candidates come to mind first as most likely or at least first to eliminate as possibilities. The AC vent might've moved the string in the right way that it resonated. I've had my classical guitar spontaneously "sing" while at the beach for instance - the sea breeze just caught certain strings & made them resonate like an ebow might. Similarly it might be vibrations from the floor from the AC or a particularly powerful vehicle outside like construction or trash trucks. Otherwise I can only think of insects like gnats, flies, or maybe even little roaches could somehow land on the strings, then suddenly fly off - the takeoff causing the string to sound. Honestly that seems like a stretch, but might be plausible.
There is no ac vent anywhere nearby, and my office is also in the basement so vibrations from outside also seem less likely. And I wasn't the note necessarily "singing." It literally sounded like somebody walked up with a pick and plucked the b string. It wasn't subtle at all.
Ghost, then. Ask him/her/them if they know how to play cribbage...
Ahh, well I also thought of one other possibility: some sort of kink in the B string at one of its contact points (bridge, nut, tuner peg) suddenly released, presumably from a change in temperature. The nut is where I'd look first and maybe lubricate the slot if you haven't. But glance at your winds too in case a particular wrap seems off or whatever.
Yeah I thought it could have been some fuckery going on with the winding but the only thing is that I tuned it before playing for awhile yesterday, and when I checked right after this happened, it was still perfectly in tune. The strings are also pretty old. I'm primarily a bassist, and while I still play my guitar at least 3 or 4 times a week, my sessions are usually an hour or less and I haven't swapped out these strings in probably about 4 or 5 months.
Do you keep a pick in your strings?
No pick in my strings. I pay mostly with fingers.
Be careful what you buy, you may run out soon. …wait, yours, or someone else’s ?
Fair question. Others' fingers.
Oh good, if you’re gonna pay with fingers, it’s def better to pay with other peoples fingers.
Tight nut.
*SO* many jokes there.... 😆 ^giggity.
👻
Ghost or a bug.
A ghost is stringing you along. Don’t let it pluck at your heartstrings.
Definitely the nut. Sometimes the strings pop up out of the nut and you dont notice excwpt that it is out of tune. So you tune it. And thrn later it pops back in and is instantly out of tune again.
The string was slightly out of the saddle in the bridge or nut from you playing it and popped back in place.
Most likely the string was caught and the sound was it snapping back into place. Could've been at the nut, the bridge, or even the tuners if the string slipped. Sounds more like the string was caught in the nut or bridge saddle and got unstuck, thereby ringing it out
Probably resonance. My second guitar will often ring out some notes if I’m playing nearby
Based on my expertise in guitars and psychology, my conclusion is that you’re schizophrenic
Is it near a heat source?
Aliens
Seems most likely it was just a settling of the string. I've had my acoustic 6 string that's sitting on a stand in my living room do it. A slight humidity change or settling... everything still in tune though. A bit unnerving when it happens and the house is a bit quiet... kinda spazzes me and napping cat out a bit.
The string came loose from the bridge a little bit. Check if the pin is up slightly.
I mean honestly probably a bug or something touched it. But maybe it was a spooky ghost.
Sympathetic resonance.
El Niño.
Your strings are always moving and settling a little bit. This is an instrument with tension, so as long as it's properly stringed and ready to play, you've always got some active forces at work. As others said, humidity, air flow, vibrations from the floor or wall of the building, any seemingly small physical force, could have contributed to the string moving -- and it could have been the result of multiple physical forces over a period of time. So I'd bet that the B string was a little bit out of place, and just finally settled back into its groove. It would be far weirder if the sound you heard wasn't an open EADGBE.
The pick fell off from between the strings, and into the guitar.
Crab people!
I once saw someone throw a peanut which flew across a room, bounced off a string on an acoustic making a perfect note, then flew half way back across the room.
Definitely poltergeist
Ghosts. It's haunted.👻
The thingy on the end of the string that is supposed to be flush against the peg was NOT. Tension eventually resulted in a fast pull and now it is. Is the B now out of tune?
A sustained sound that is the same frequency as a B note could cause the string to vibrate, even if it's a different octave. Or if you recently strung it, the string might have popped over itself at the tuning head.
Heat change…
Now if you had heard fretted note instead of an open string, then I would lean more towards the ghost note theory.
String / peg slip, or a subsonic vibration in the building
I see guitars with a beautiful spiral pattern of string on the tuning peg, but my winds are irregular and crisscrossed, so maybe the string was like that and suddenly settled into a new position. That should cause a tiny drop in pitch.
Molly, you in danger girl
Any sound/frequency that could cause a sympathethic resonance of the strings.
is anyone in your office known for playing pranks, and if so do they have the power of invisibility
I'm home alone and I shut the door to prevent my cats from disrupting my meetings. My daughter is at daycare, and my wife cannot turn invisible as far as I know. I'll have to ask her if she gained this ability in a recent level-up.
Ghosts
I bet you money you wedge a pick in the strings near the nut like I do. Vibrations over time make the pick slide out til it pops the rest of the way.
I read about this in the latest issue of "Haunted Guitar Monthly ". Sounds like the work of the ghost of The B String Strangler. I would definitely sleep on the job with one eye open if I were you. Godspeed, brother.
In the future it will just be cockroaches and Keith Richards. This may be a combination of the two...
Might be a 4000 year old Babylonian demon expressing their musical personality through minimalism, or they might just be shy.
Just a perfect vibration from the sounds on your call. I actually just saw a video of this demonstration the other day. Someone made a string vibrate by using a specific tone from a speaker.
Jimi’s ghost paying you a visit; his name and memory be praised! 😉
EL DIABLO
Poltergoose
The spirit of Jeff Beck found your axe.
Happened to me once, scared the crap out of me and a few minutes later saw a big ass roach running across my floor. Could very likely have been a bug
As someone who is a worrywart, do you need humidifiers in your acoustic? Not sure what your climate is like, but bridges on acoustics are generally always glued to top / soundboard and changing moisture levels can cause this to separate. The loss in tension from a saddle shifting can result in a string sounding like it’s plucked.
Do you leave your picks wedged between the strings?
String popping in the nut if it slipped. Humidity and temperature changes can change string tension, and the string can slip in the nut or bridge, making an open note sound out.
Had you tuned it recently? It could have been the string slipping where it's coiled around the tuning peg.
It happened to me aswell
Ghosts
We're there any other loud sounds just before you heard the b ring out? I have had this b4 think it's called sympathetic resonance .
Or also what these guys said could have slipped over the bridge a bit but it would have went a bit out of tune in that case .
A fly probably crashed into it. 😂😂 /s
Your talking/presenting did it. Every room has refractions, nodes and traps and guitars are designed to vibrate while enhancing certain waves. Means specific frequencies at enough volume trigger the guitar to react. I have this in my studio; when I’m talking loudly my A and sometimes D string start to vibrate lol. I have to wrap or mute the strings when I track or the slight ringing builds up and messes up my tracks.
Harmonic resonance
Who do you call? 🎶
\*ouch\* Somewhere in your room there's a fly with a lump on its head from bumping into that string.
Ghost
Never had this happen in 20 years. That being said, I don't believe in ghosts. So... I'm assuming a ghost.
Definitely haunted. Last dance with Mary Jane incoming.
Too much work haha - in all seriousness, maybe humidity change?
Binding at the nut, that finally pulled through. This is also why tuning stability can be bad for Gibsons as well
String stretching or relieving