Violin Forum/Message Board

[bobreardon]

My violin has recently developed a humming/whistling sound. I hear it when bowing the E and A strings; it's always the same pitch, though. It seems to be coming from the tailpiece, as touching the tailpiece is the only way I have found to reliably silence the sound. It's not the fine tuner screw and there isn't any contact with the chin rest. Any ideas what's gone wrong? The tailpiece is about 35 years old and probably has the original gut.

Thanks

[Mikes]

Bob,
What kind of tailpiece is it? Wood or composite? What kind of tail cord does it have, gut or synthetic? One fine tuner or more? Does the fine tuner come from underneath the tailpiece and extend North of the tail piece or is it the hook type that projects thru the tailpiece? Always need lots of specific info.
Best,
Mike

[bobreardon]

[quote="Mikes"]Bob,
What kind of tailpiece is it? Wood or composite? What kind of tail cord does it have, gut or synthetic? One fine tuner or more? Does the fine tuner come from underneath the tailpiece and extend North of the tail piece or is it the hook type that projects thru the tailpiece? Always need lots of specific info.
Best,
Mike[/quote]

Plastic tailpiece, I think the cord is gut - it appears to be coated with red wax and is probably 35 years old. 4 Suzuki-style fine tuners that attach over the string.

Thanks,

[BobW]

Is Wolf Note(s) the term used for this issue?

[bobreardon]

[quote="BobW"]Is Wolf Note(s) the term used for this issue?[/quote]

I thought a Wolf note was a particular note that sounded bad (though I suppose there could be more than one). This is an unwanted sound that is present no matter what note is played.

[Chet Bishop]

You are correct; that is not a wolf.

Is there any of the tail-gut extending under the tailpiece in such a manner as my be allowing it to contact the side of the tailpiece (or the top plate of the violin)? I have gotten some nasty buzzes that way.

Another (remote) possibility would be to adjust the afterlength, and see if that changes the sound. I try to balance the ratio between vibrating string length and afterlength to a 6:1 ratio. Say, 330mm to 55mm or something close. Mostly I do that by adjusting the tail-gut length (you can't do this with the old guts), abut one can also do it in limited fashion by nudging the bridge fore & aft a little.

Is the saddle on the tailpiece still glued tightly? I have occasionally seen them come loose.

A buzz that took me a while to locate turned out to me a string whose wrapping (silver winding on a viola C-string) was beginning to come loose. I changed that string and the buzz was gone.

Buzzes can drive you buggy... Good luck.
_________________
Chet Bishop
https://bluefiddles.com
https://fivestringfiddles.com

[Mat Roop]

Here is an interesting site on wolf notes... although it is specific to cellos, I believe the principles are the same for violins etc.
http://www.aitchisoncellos.com/articlewolf.htm
You can easily experiment with adding temporary weight to the tailpiece, top plate, fingerboards etc using putty and anything else you can stick to the putty.
My guess is that if adding weight, kills the whistle, then it may be a variant wolf, if not, then I'd go down Chet's path
Here is a link to a good starting point for tracking down a buzz originally written by Alan Coggins and Adele Beardsmore
https://www.zaretandsonsviolins.com/how-to-find-and-fix-a-violin-buzz
Bob, Let us know how you make out!
Cheers, Mat