Scary cracking noise

[RodCH]

I have a 2004 Lebeda F5. Beautiful instrument with beautiful sound. I have only had it since November. The last week or so, I have heard a CRACK noise come from it while playing. Three crack noises in all, 2 in the last 48 hours.

The instrument does not go out of tune when this happens, so it isn't something to do with the strings.

It is never coincident with a pick stroke and I don't have to be playing loud. Just now when it happened I was playing very softly to avoid waking my wife.

Anybody have guesses about this or similar experiences?

Thanks,
Rod

[UsuallyPickin]

Well .... no change in string pitches ..... okay .... does your mandolin have a pick guard? If so inspect it carefully. A loose brace or failed glue joint in a pickguard could cause a cracking sound. R/

[Jess L.]

Guessing: maybe insufficient humidity - wood dries out too much & too fast - cracks start to develop in the wood.

[Mark Wilson]

My attic sometimes makes a scary cracking noise like a 2X4 snapping in the evenings as temp changes
Maybe a loose joint/brace etc that creaks as the mandolin warms up to body temp.

[Folkmusician.com]

It is not uncommon to hear what sounds like cracking, when the bridge settles on the top. This occurs if the finish is somewhat tacky.

Up next is stripped thumbwheels. It will randomly pop down and it is pretty loud. You would notice a detuning though.

Strings slipping at the bridge, nut, tailpiece, etc.. Again, you should notice a change with the tuning.

Actual cracking of the finish or wood....

A hygrometer would be a great investment.

[RodCH]

Thank you to everyone who replied.

Humidity change is the most probable culprit but the question is, will it just cause annoying noises or will it destroy my mandolin? As I sit here the humidity in the room is 60%. I'm in Houston, it is too cold for the air conditioner to come on, and it rained all day. The humidity tends to be more stable in the summer months (usually at least March thru November but it has been a weird winter) because the air conditioner runs all the time.

Speaking of which I have a pocket mandolin made in 2016 that has become unplayable. It always had low action (it was made expressly for me and I like low action) but now it buzzes against the first fret so badly it is unusable. And the bridge is not adjustable. I am thinking of installing a new bridge, but might just wait until summer and see if it comes back into shape.

Anybody know where I would look for a more complete humidity control system for my house? Anybody have experience with one?

[pops1]

60% isn't that bad unless your gauge is not accurate. If the pocket mandolin were mine I would take a piece of laminate wood or hard clear plastic from a package and cut it to fit the bridge foot, place it under to temporarily raise the bridge. Anything hard, flat and fairly even in thickness over it's length. You could also have a winter bridge made and change them from summer to winter. Cello players often do this.

[Folkmusician.com]

60% isn't that bad unless your gauge is not accurate.

Agreed, that is close enough that there shouldn't be a problem.

Normally, lowering action and buzzing is a result of too little humidity. 60% humidity shouldn't be the culprit there.

If your Humidity doesn't get much higher than 60%, I personally wouldn't worry about de-humidifiying. The same would go for 40%. If it were just my personal instruments and home, 40% would be close enough for me. If it was dropping below 40%, a standard stand alone evaporative humidifier would be my choice. Something rated for 2-3X the sq. footage of the area I was humidifying. There are quite a few choices in the $100 range.

[RodCH]

No pick guard. Can't find failed glue joints. I think it is coming from inside the sound chamber. I wonder about a loose brace?

[RodCH]

At some points during this winter, the humidity was as low as 20%

[rcc56]

20% is VERY low humidity for an instrument. And large, rapid changes in humidity can do a lot of damage. Wooden instruments do the best when the humidity range stays between 35% and 65%. Low humidity does more damage than high humidity.

Loud cracking or popping sounds can be caused by braces or seams popping loose. Loose seams often go unnoticed.

The fact that the action has come down noticeably on the pocket mandolin leads me to believe that the Lebeda might also have been affected.

It would be a good idea to have the Lebeda checked out by a good luthier. If there's not a good fretted instrument man near you, a violin repairman can also check it.

Room humidifiers work well if you store the instruments in that room. If you have a gas furnace, a humidifier can be installed on the furnace. Or you can use a Dampit.

[HoGo]

It would be a good idea to have the Lebeda checked out by a good luthier. If there's not a good fretted instrument man near you, a violin repairman can also check it.

+1 on that, sometimes even cracks in wood can go unnoticed for long time loose seams are common if the humidity drops too low... Have it looked over inside and out in good lighting. Sometimes gentle pressure can reveal it.

[T.D.Nydn]

Just for laughs,check your bridge carefully,make sure the sides arn't slowly splitting on you,, I had that happen to me once and it caused a crackling sound...

[Willie Poole]

This may sound funny but a noise can come from the mandolin hitting against a button on you shirt....DON`T LAUGH, A lady brought her mandolin to me to set it up and check it out because she thought it was also the wood cracking and when I played it there was no noise so she took it and played it for me and said, "See there is the noise" and it was a button hitting the back of the mandolin....Stranger things than this have happened...

Willie