Blueridge BR-40T - Hammer-On Noise/Buzz/Ringing

[John2015]

When I play my fretted instruments I often place my fingers quickly and with a good bit of pressure (kinda like I was doing a hammer-on) as I move my fingers to the next position.

With all of my other guitars, banjos, ukuleles, etc. this is not an issue but on my new BR-40T, the simple action of placing my fingers actually causes a sound, maybe an octave higher, that then rings out just before I pick/pluck that string.

Any thoughts on what is causing this? Is this something to do with a tenor? Or just this guitar? Or maybe the new strings? Something I have never experienced before in playing fretted instruments for the past 40+ years!

[acousticphd]

Every time you fret a string it is divided into 2 (at least) portions. When you pick or strike the lower portion, it vibrates the most, but the upper portion vibrates too. When you hammer on, or just fret aggressively, you will tend to hear the string vibration above the fret - that is, between the nut and the contacted fret(s) - as well as below.

I find this is most audible when hammering on in the middle of the FB and higher, and more so on the wound (lower pitched) strings. If your action is very low, or the FB too flat, another similar phenomenon is that a fretted string can essentially touch down or be resting on one or more lower frets behind the main contact, which can produce a buzzy or splatty sound. Yet another possibility is that the vibration of one string creates the harmonic vibration of another string *above* the fret.

I can't think why this is more of a problem with the tenor guitar, but one possibility is that the action is too low and/or the strings too light, which may be favoring the harmonic vibrations above the fret (?). Check your nut slot depths - if too low, this may be creating multiple points of fret contacts. Eg, Fret each string at the 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc fret, and pluck it lightly between between the nut and the fret. Do you get a clean tone in each case, or are there points when you get an ugly rattle/buzz?

[PiousDevil]

You jinxed me. All of the sudden yesterday I'm getting a buzz when fretting my BR-40T on the second string at the 5th and 6th frets. Not sure what changed.