I wonder if anyone can help me solve a mystery. I just changed the strings on my Collings D-1, as I have done at least 12-15 times since I got it. The new strings are the same brand/guage, etc as the old. I did nothing different than I normally do in the process of taking off the old and putting on the new.

However, now there is a distinct vibrato to the tone on all strings. It’s kind of like the vocal effect you get when you make a sound while being vibrated yourself: a very rapid “ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah” instead of “aaaaaaaaaaaah.” The effect shows up on all strings, on all frets. I am mystified. Here’s what I have tried: I loosened all the strings, made sure they were seated properly, then retightened. I have damped all strings save the one picked. I have pressed hard, in order to stabilize, the bridge, the nut, the saddle, the individual frets, the tuners, the tuning gears, the pick-guard, the inside braces that I can reach, the end-pin, the strap button on the heel of the neck. The effect seems not to vary.

Obviously I could try a different set of strings, and that’s my next step. However, if it were a string-related phenomenon, it seems odd that it would affect all six, since each was fabricated independently of the others.

Anyone have any insights or suggestions?

B

Solved, thanks.

So... You can't leave us hanging like that! what was the problem??

Did you turn the fan off?

B:
I'm with dberch: don't leave us hanging! (Or is it too embarassing, such as you had it plugged in and the FX was set to echo? )

I did see somewhere that if you don't have the ball end up tight against the bridge plate, a little can be sticking down along the lower portion of the pin, and can buzz. But obviously that didn't happen with all six strings.

Rockbob beat me to it. TURN OFF THE FAN!

Had to have been the ceiling fan!

Here is the exchange I had with a poster over on AGMDF:

Scott Tomlinson: I apologize if this response is too simplistic, but is there a ceiling fan in the room? I experienced the same thing you are describing, and in my case it was caused by a ceiling fan which ran constantly (hey, it's hot in Atlanta!)...

Me: Simple is good. Also correct! I moved into a house with ceiling fans, the first I have lived in, back in November, and it just got warm enough to start using the fans. Who woulda thunk it? Thanks, Scott.

So.....guess I would have figured it out eventually.