e string hissing problem

January 31, 2012 at 07:59 PM · Possibly the groove in the nut for the e string is too low, allowing the string to vibrate against the fingerboard at the top. Playing the lower notes you might be dampening that vibration with your finger making the stop. I had a nut-too-low problem with one of my violins and with my daughter's cello. It was easily fixed in both cases by shimming up the nut with a very thin sliver of wood.

January 31, 2012 at 08:11 PM · Yeah, sounds like a buzzing fingerboard. Hard to tell from here, though.

January 31, 2012 at 08:35 PM · Agreed with the comments above. THe bridge might be too low. If it is a whistling sound it could just be a bad e string. I like the Kaplan solution E.

January 31, 2012 at 10:24 PM · I know when I redid my bridge, I cut the kidney out a bit to much on the e side. Now when I get to 7th or 8th position, it starts to hiss/ get a weird harmonic. So I agree about the nut or the bridge being to low. Is the tension on the new E string higher than the old one?

John

February 1, 2012 at 02:59 AM · thanks very much...I will try a shim, can't hurt to try such a simple possible solution. tension on the new string about the same as the old one, but i had the same problem with the old string.

Thanks very much!

February 1, 2012 at 03:27 AM · Greetings,

it`s possible you have accidently strung your violin with a snake. If the packet says `Pirastro Anaconda,` you may be in trouble...

Cheers,

Buri

PS Give the strings a good viper.

February 1, 2012 at 04:30 PM · lol! my gosh you may be right, it's not labeled "anaconda" but it could have been packaged mistakenly!

February 1, 2012 at 07:25 PM · maybe it was in the wrong krait....

February 2, 2012 at 06:18 PM · Thanks you all so much. I inspected the strings and it was obvious that the e was much closer to the fingerboard than the other strings. I improvised a shim from a piece of wooden matchstick and the problem disappeared. The e is still closer to the fingerboard than the others but my problem is solved! I can't thank you all and violinist.com enough! Now I can continue my practice and play poorly with much greater range!

Seriously, thanks a lot! Dave

February 11, 2014 at 02:23 PM · I want to bring this topic back up instead of making a whole new one. I have heard a hissing sound in the upper end of the E string for years. It lessened when I got a new violin, and It became even less prominent with a new bow. Yesterday I had a student who was using a loaner violin. It was a pretty good instrument ( Its tone was quite bright and loud) but had such a loud hiss that it even at times seemed to overpower the note being played. Any thoughts or suggestions.

February 13, 2014 at 01:00 PM ·

1/ Check your set-up. The E string clearance should be 1mm at the nut and over 3mm at the end of fingerboard.

2/ Use the Warchal Amber E. It has no hiss (and your tone will improve dramatically too).

February 13, 2014 at 03:24 PM · I'll check the placement.

I have a lot of experience with the Amber E as the creator of ViolinStringReview. That seems to take care of the whistling but the hiss is something different.