Weird harmonic in high E and B strings after mini home setup

[Eddiebaby1]

I've been thinking about this and the only time I've go something similar was when I filed the nut slots on my Am ProII. All was fine except for the G where I had filed the slot to the right depth on the fingerboard side but slightly too deep on the back. A bit of superglue and dust in there and a careful recut and all was good.
The only complication for me was that I had fitted an aluminium pickguard and I decided that must be the probem.
I was wrong.

 

[AndrewG]

It is a squier classic vibe 50s tele, with the 3 saddle bridge ass you can see. I moved the saddles forward for intonation but it might have been unnecesary, the intonation is good now however. I moved them up and down a bit as well, trying to adjust the action but i have set them back up in the process of problem solving. The truss rod nut i snug, and i have the relief set quite good. Here are the pictures you suggested as well!

Hi, I don't know if it's a distortion in the photograph, but your bridge saddles should follow the camber of the fretboard.
The harmonics you are concerned with are quite natural, and I doubt you'd notice them when playing amplified.

 

[cousinpaul]

Take it back to factory settings. For string height, put a capo on the first fret and measure 1/16th of an inch between the top of the fret and the bottom of each string at the 17th fret. You can use a 1/16th inch drill bit as a feeler gauge. Once you get your string height in the ballpark, then you can set the intonation. Loosen the strings and move the saddles all the way back. Tune the guitar and move each saddle forward to intonate. Doing the above should get you close.

 

[tomasz]

I'm with @Peegoo 's suggestion. It might be the neck pickup cover being too close, hence the string kind of zing on it, or the action is so low, that they hit the following frets while vibrating. A simple check would be to raise the action of the EB saddle to see if it goes away.

 

[DreadfulMaggot]

I have exactly the same issue on a brand new Player Tele, nothing changed, but on the A string.

I seem to think it's the nut... if I touch the string and press it down slightly theextra harmonics are barely noticeable.

 

[RCinMempho]

Still sounds like the ceiling fan is on to me. Especially if it is only the high E and B. I almost sold a guitar before I realized what was going on.

 

[Solaris moon]

Impossible to diagnose without knowing what you CHANGED when you did the setup. Also important to know the guitar and hardware you are dealing with. Did you adjust the nut? Change string gauge?

If you hear weird harmonics up and down the neck on just those two strings, I would suspect rattlin' saddles or saddle screws. Could also be the strings are not quite seated in the saddle slots. String trees can vibrate sympathetically as well. Even a loose tension rod nut can vibrate. But the sound sample sounds like a low nut or low action - aka fret buzz. It doesn't sound sympathetic, but more like metal-on-metal.

You are right about metal to metal. This is usually caused by the strings vibrating against an uneven nut slot. Also if you don't have a string tree the strings will have a tendency to vibrate sympathetically. I have a Tele that doesn't have a string tree but I never had this problem with it but I cut the nut for it so I know that I won't have a problem with it.

Another vote for pickup height. Those could be wolf/ghost notes caused by magnetic interference if the pickup is too close to the strings (most often, the neck pickup).

Nope! This won't happen because of pickup height even when unplugged. This is caused by uneven nut slots or a saddle that has string grooves cut into it. It would have to be laying on top of the pickup to do this and therefore wouldn't be playable.

Sometimes just changing strings can unleash gremlins.

Make sure there is no string contact on the tuner ferrules or headstock at exit point of nut.

May want to try polishing the nut slots. Those two slots look pretty tight. Do they stay in tune properly after bends? Do they "ping" when tuning? These are indicators they are too tight. If they are just a few atoms too tight, it can cause noise/vibration in addition to tuning problems. Graphite/lube often isn't enough - but is a temporary band-aid that sometimes works. But I believe to already tried that. The actual shape of the slot is also important. The slot should be a little loose where it leaves the nut toward the tuner. It should also roll downward toward the tuner. Also - make sure the nut has no cracks. A thin Fender nut can indeed crack under a string.

Did you change string brand or size?

No. String break angle isn't a problem with this guitar - this is something with the string being doubled in sound by uneveness in the nut or the bridge saddle. I've had this happen so many times with I don't know how many guitars. The nut slot may be the problem especially when you raise the saddle height and the nut has been unevenly cut this will cause the string to no longer contact the nut where it was seated at the factory according to their specifications. The only way to know for sure is to sand the nut with a piece of 600 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper wrapped around the string. This always works for me and I never have any more problems with it pinging.

It sounds like behind the nut harmonics. Ita not uncommon on a fender headstock to get that from the g string when there isn't a steep enough break angle.

We have a winner!!!!

It would be the nut as I said before in this post. But sadly this is not a Fender guitar - it's made in Indonesia so no Fender employees to blame this on. They have a set of standards that they use at Fender and follow to the letter when making guitars whereas you don't know if they have a standard setting or set of rules that they follow (in Indonesia) which I'm sure they do or if they follow them to the letter.

I'm with @Peegoo 's suggestion. It might be the neck pickup cover being too close, hence the string kind of zing on it, or the action is so low, that they hit the following frets while vibrating. A simple check would be to raise the action of the EB saddle to see if it goes away.

Nope! Once again - it would mute the string completely and you wouldn't be able to hear it. This would be obvious too. The sympathetic sound you hear comes from the high pitched string lengths above the nut which is why most manufacturers pitched the headstock back at an angle rather than straight string pull like Fender guitars. They were the first ones to do this which is why they are the only ones that you see a string guide or "string tree" on their instruments back when they were first introduced. If the nut isn't cut perfectly flat on the bottom or the saddle has a uneven surface to it then it will cause these high pitched pinging sounds. I've had to correct this on I don't know how many guitars no matter what their make or design.

Still sounds like the ceiling fan is on to me. Especially if it is only the high E and B. I almost sold a guitar before I realized what was going on.

 

[Solaris moon]

Still sounds like the ceiling fan is on to me. Especially if it is only the high E and B. I almost sold a guitar before I realized what was going on.

I think that you might need to get rid of that cieling fan and get a new one!!

 

[RCinMempho]

I think that you might need to get rid of that cieling fan and get a new one!!

I'm telling you. If it is on and you are in the right place, it will cause your high E string to sound like it is never in tune. It's not one room or one ceiling fan. It has happened to me several times. Somebody else chime in and tell him they've had this happen.

 

[LutherBurger]

I'm telling you. If it is on and you are in the right place, it will cause your high E string to sound like it is never in tune. It's not one room or one ceiling fan. It has happened to me several times. Somebody else chime in and tell him they've had this happen.

Yep, and the B string, too. Both strings sound like they're warbling when a ceiling fan is on.

 

[58Bassman]

I would also recommend looking closely at the places where the strings rest on the nut and bridge saddles-that should be as small as possible, without creating a break point where it changes direction. A mm should be fine, but if it's much longer and there's space where it can vibrate, it will. Also, damp the strings above the nut- they can vibrate sympathetically and drive you crazy.

 

[schmee]

Sounds like a nut slot issue.
This may be further suggested because you say: "I tightened every screw on the guitar, most notably the b and high e string guide screw, and it's hard to notice it now!"
....which may have put more pressure on the string in the slot helping a little.

In a perfect world the string would only touch a short part of the slot bottom at the end near the fretboard. If it's riding too flat on the slot bottom, or worse hitting more on the headstock end of the slot, it causes issues.