S-100 ghost notes.

Suzie, my '73 s-100 is new back from her re-fret/makeover and now has more fretboard radius. Feels great to play, but I have a bit of an issue which is bugging me. I get quite prominent ghost notes - they are are coming from the strings vibrating between the bridge and the tail-stop. As a quick fix I tried threading a piece of wire alternatively through the strings. It works sort of OK, but is not a longer term fix. I've thought about wedging some foam under there, but it will look a bit ugly. Has anyone else found this a problem and come up with any attractive fixes?

fearless,

Does the vibration (ghost note) seem to come from all the strings or just one (or two). Typically a saddle roller is the culprit, and a quick dap of super glue** at the roller's mount will silence the ghosts.

** don't worry, it's hardly a permanent bond; easily lets go with minimal effort, but enough to keep things from freely vibrating.

It is not the rollers, I have already glued them onto the threads - there was too much lateral play due to decades of wear. I agree that is a good solution - I actually used "metal in-a-tube' two part putty and it worked a treat.
Without question it is from the strings vibrating between the rollers and the tail-piece and it is particularly evident when playing funk or reggae. It is all the strings to some degree, but which strings are resonating depends on what I'm playing. The notes continue to ring until I damp behind the bridge with my fingers.

I've actually considered changing to a wrap-around bridge to also tighten up the feel when bending - that would certainly solve it. But it is hard to imagine finding a wrap-around bridge that is compatible.

I heard that on a hollowbody guitar (Peerless Wizard). It was a bit distracting, so I used one of those colorful velcro equipment ties ... wrapped it in and around the strings between bridge and tailpiece. Worked great. That same sound is present on my S-90 to some degree, so far not to the point where I'll adopt that solution.
MD

There are some players out there today that would actually love the guitar for the ghost notes. They are the same guys stacking reverbs on top of long trail delays.

Jeff

I'm mainly a Fender Jazzmaster player and most of the guys who play those LOVE the weird ringing behind the bridge. However, there are those who find it to be very distracting and the best solution I've heard is to take a small ribbon of felt and thread it through the strings behind the bridge. This should solve your problem. Good luck!

I actually found them a little discordant and "off" for playing reggae. Mind you, this is mostly in the context of playing unplugged which I have to do too often while kids sleep. I used a small piece of foam. I tried a bigger piece at first, but damping behind the bridge seemed to reduce the overall resonance. This size seems to be about the right compromise.



I've actually considered replacing the bridge with a wrap-around (one that can be intonated). I think that would give ultimate resonance and sustain as well as eliminating the issue of the early 70s having a low-string-break angle. But I don't want to do anything irreversible and cannot find any bridge at all with 80mm stud spacing, let alone a wrap-around that is is sufficiently low-profile for a '73.