witmer26 Posted February 3, 2019 Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 Hi. I bought a used Chinese made scherle roth violin. The original price was 300 USD so it's a low end instrument. The notes all sound fine except the A string's c sharp note. When I play it it vibrates abnormally with cross tonality. In other words imagine hitting c and csharp on a piano at the same time - that's how it sounds. This isnt a case of me putting any vibrato on the string through my bow or finger pressure. This isnt a case of accidentally hitting the E string at the same time. It doesnt occur on other notes or strings. Naturally I replaced the string and examined the head and bridge and soundboard for imperfections but cannot locate the source of the jittering sound. Any thoughts? Playing D or C sounds fine but the Csharp whirls like a helicopter sound when it takes off. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witmer26 Posted February 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 Update. It also does occur on the lower d string at the 11th "fret" which is the c sharp there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violinsRus Posted February 4, 2019 Report Share Posted February 4, 2019 it sounds like you have a 'wolf note' or 'wolf tone'. Lots of discussion on Maestronet about this, just google for previous discussions. This is a problem more frequently found on lower quality instruments, and often appears on cellos. Some things can be done to reduce the problem or shift it to an 'in between' note where it is not noticed. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violadamore Posted February 4, 2019 Report Share Posted February 4, 2019 As noted, it's a "wolf". Even great violins can exhibit them. You can attack this by improving the setup. Things, IMHO, that can be tried include replacing any fine tuners with Wittner geared pegs, replacing the tailpiece with one of a different weight and better material, trying different chinrests, replacing the bridge with a better-grade properly cut one, replacing the soundpost, and checking that the bass bar is properly attached and in the right place. I wouldn't go after the wolf note alone, I'd try to upgrade the setup generally. As Chinese student fiddles come in the box, the setup is usually atrocious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClefLover Posted February 4, 2019 Report Share Posted February 4, 2019 I would not discount bassbar condition (possibly unglued) or insecure fingerboard. I’ve run into problems with open upper strings with the issues resolved when correcting one of these two issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witmer26 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2019 Many thanks for all the comments. I will do some research on the wolf tones and try some of these recommendations. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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