String whine?

Robert Murphy · From: West Virginia

When executing a three string forward slant how do you folks deal with string whine. On my acoustic lap tuned 135 I can slant up to the 4 chord and 5 chord two frets up and back again but even when I manage to get the intonation right there is some good/bad whine. Do I need to guard more or just make it part of the act?

Michael Johnstone · From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

You can only slant up to a certain angle. After that,physics takes over and the string is gonna rattle. Acoustic instruments are worse for this because of the high signal-to-clatter ratio and heavy handed attack required for adequate volume.
Even without a lot of slanting,acoustic slide instruments require tremendous picking,blocking and bar control skills to minimize these issues and produce clean tones.Triad based tunings(1-3-5)like Dobro G are not much good for a lot of slanting because you just can't get to certain intervals without some pretty steep angles. They're better for open position hammering and such in a few specific keys.One other issue could be trying to slant using a Dobro style bar. Sure it's possible - like hammering a nail with a pair of pliers is possible - but a bullet bar is the tool for that job.
But if you want a slant friendly tuning with a helluva lot more musical depth,go ahead and add a 6th tone to your tuning.

Robert Murphy · From: West Virginia

Thanks Michael thats good advice. The bullet bar does produce less whine than my SP2 and my short scale electrics don't have the same issues. I have learned the 515135 lo 2 hi tunings and I like them alot but it looks like I,m headed for C6.

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