Controlling Tone on Weber F Body Octave
Hey All -
Been doing a lot of work lately with a Weber F-Body Octave (Diamondback) and I’m working through getting in control of the normal things that seem to be fairly typical for players like myself who don’t do enough Octave work (I play full time on mandolin, Apitius F5) to keep my skills sharp. Mostly this is the result of instinctively playing the octave like a bluegrass Mandolin (which, again, is my full time pursuit) so I get a lot of buzzing for a while until I adjust my right hand playing to be more delicate.
The one challenging issue I’m having is with the high E string. I’ve got it tuned down to a D (GDAD) and I’m experimenting with that tuning for the first time. Seems that the high string is VERY prone to left hand pressure that has the effect of “bending” the note every time I hit it. Notice this mostly on the 1st and 2nd fret, but I haven’t played much higher up the neck yet. The issue seems to improve (as does buzzing on any other string) when I’m as far up on the fret as possible. But even then, if I happen to press too hard, the note comes off as sour, and it’s a terrible result - especially given the highly melodic tunes I’m playing.
Question is this: is there anything I can do to lessen this, like use a higher gauge string for the E, or even have wider / smoother / more rounded frets installed? Would love to get any pointers from experienced players. Thank you!!
Gilchrist F5 Mandolin #273, 1993, built for Tom Rozum
Apitius Vanguard F5 Custom Mandolin 2019
White Mandola (custom build, expected April, 2023)
Sumi Sullivan F-5 Mandolin 2003
Weber Diamondback Octave F-Style Mandolin 2014
Flatiron Cadet “Army-Navy” Flat Top Mandolin 1987
Martin HD-28V Guitar 2004
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