Dead Spot / Wolf Note on a new Martin D-18

[SpruceTop]

>>>My acoustic-only testing is done at concert pitch and by fretting each note of the E-6th-string and the A-5th-string while dampening the other five strings with my fretting and picking hand and while keeping my picking hand's forearm away from the top<<<

[B]Thus far, I hear nothing strange in the tone and volume of the E-6th string and A-5th-string from being played open to fretting each fret up to the 12th-fret on the following guitars:

2017 Huss & Dalton TD-R with LR Baggs IBeam Active = NO WOLF NOTES
2016 Martin D-18 with UltraTonic 3.2 = NO WOLF NOTES
2020 Martin HD-28 with Trance Amulet M-VT Phantom = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Larrivee D-05 no pickup system = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Larrivee D-40R Sunburst - Schatten HFN Artist 2 = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Yamaha FG5X with Atmosfeel = NO WOLF NOTES
2015 Taylor 618e with ES2 (X-Braced) = NO WOLF NOTES
2016 Taylor 614ce with ES2 (X-Braced) = NO WOLF NOTES
2019 Taylor 717e Grand Pacific Wild Honeyburst Builder's Edition with ES2 - NO WOLF NOTES
2020 Adamas 2087GT-8 with Ovation UST = NO WOLF NOTES
2019 Emerald X20 with LR Baggs Element VTC = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Carbon Guitar with LR Baggs Stage Pro Element = NO WOLF NOTES
2018 Ovation Elite Plus with Ovation UST (Korean-made) = ONE WOLF NOTE @ 13th-fret of E-6th String
2022 Enya X4 Pro AcousticPlus with Enya UST/Mic = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Enya Nova Go Carbon Travel Guitar no pickup system - NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Ibanez AAD300CE with Mag/K&K-like, 3-disk SBT = NO WOLF NOTES

NOTE: 2018 Ovation Elite Plus with Ovation UST (Korean-made) = ONE WOLF NOTE @ 13th-fret of E-6th String resulting in much less sustain of that note

[SpruceTop]

>>>My acoustic-only testing is done at concert pitch and by fretting each note of the E-6th-string and the A-5th-string while dampening the other five strings with my fretting and picking hand and while keeping my picking hand's forearm away from the top<<<

[B]Thus far, I hear nothing strange in the tone and volume of the E-6th string and A-5th-string from being played open to fretting each fret up to the 12th-fret on the following guitars:

2017 Huss & Dalton TD-R with LR Baggs IBeam Active = NO WOLF NOTES
2016 Martin D-18 with UltraTonic 3.2 = NO WOLF NOTES
2020 Martin HD-28 with Trance Amulet M-VT Phantom = NO WOLF NOTES
2020 Larrivee C-03 TE with Trance Amulet M-VT Phantom = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Larrivee D-05 no pickup system = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Larrivee D-40R Sunburst - Schatten HFN Artist 2 = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Yamaha FG5X with Atmosfeel = NO WOLF NOTES
2015 Taylor 618e with ES2 (X-Braced) = NO WOLF NOTES
2016 Taylor 614ce with ES2 (X-Braced) = NO WOLF NOTES
2019 Taylor 717e Grand Pacific Wild Honeyburst Builder's Edition with ES2 (V-Braced) - NO WOLF NOTES
2020 Adamas 2087GT-8 with Ovation UST = NO WOLF NOTES
2019 Emerald X20 with LR Baggs Element VTC = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Carbon Guitar with LR Baggs Stage Pro Element = NO WOLF NOTES
2018 Ovation Elite Plus with Ovation UST (Korean-made) = ONE WOLF NOTE @ 13th-fret of E-6th String
2022 Enya X4 Pro AcousticPlus with Enya UST/Mic = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Enya Nova Go Carbon Travel Guitar no pickup system - NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Ibanez AAD300CE with Mag/K&K-like, 3-disk SBT = NO WOLF NOTES
2022 Ibanez PA300E with Mag/UST/K&K-like 3-disk SBT = NO WOLF NOTES

NOTE: 2018 Ovation Elite Plus with Ovation UST (Korean-made) = ONE WOLF NOTE @ 13th-fret of E-6th String resulting in much less sustain of that note

[SpruceTop]

I'm not going to bother testing my Guild F-212XL for wolf notes, so I'm done with my testing. I'd like to read what others have found with their guitars. Thanks For Looking In!

[Rogerblair]

I have two Gibson J45s and two Guilds: a new D40 Traditional and a new D20. Nary a wolf in sight on any of them (and I’m very sensitive to it as I fingerpick). I do keep them all tuned down a half step, however.

Roger

[jspe]

I've recently checked my newer Martin which seemed to have a few odd response issues, and discovered that the saddle was terribly tight in the slot. such that I literally couldn't pull it out by hand. I was seriously worried at first that it had been glued in
I managed to get the saddle out of the slot with a special grasping tool. It didn't take very much sanding trial and error to re-fit the saddle properly, such that it can easily slide in and out but has no looseness. I also made sure the saddle base was flush in the bottom of the slot.
The difference has been impressive...
Check yours...perhaps this is the issue?

[thefsb]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

I'm not going to bother testing my Guild F-212XL for wolf notes, so I'm done with my testing. I'd like to read what others have found with their guitars. Thanks For Looking In!

My Yamaha LJ56's F#3 is distinct from other notes including those adjacent by half and whole tones. It is as Wolfi described but maybe not as severe. The fundamental decays to nothing in half a second leaving only overtones. Not noticeable strumming chords near the nut. Only just noticeable playing melody down there. Playing melody while fretting higher on the neck it becomes clearly noticeable to me. Slow down and pluck near the fingerboard to really demonstrate it.

Since I got that guitar, noticed the effect, and educated myself on the topic, I find something like it on every good acoustic I have played (except for a Larrivée I tried that was in any case largely unresponsive). My Furch has something like it with the same note. A Yamaha FG830 I had last year. A Seagull S6 I played it was on G3. A batch of 6 Furch's I tested when choosing the one I own....

It's normal and it's not a problem until it is, and that depends precisely on the instrument, the player and maybe other things in the context of playing.

I resolved the problem by accepting that all traditional acoustic instruments express both tradition (which comes from cultural/technical compromise) and their own individual variation, both yielding features that we might consider imperfections. But we learn to play the guitar, don't we? We adapt. GASing for a better instrument is one way to adapt, playing what you've got is another.

I am very happy with both my acoustics. The others I played that have wolf tones were fine too. But I'd have to play the D-18 that Wolfi has (had?) to have an opinion on it and I completely accept Wolfi's judgement on that score since it is not mine to make.

[Banditos]

Originally Posted by thefsb

I went through this experience last year with my then new Yamaha LJ56, my first really good acoustic. I was practicing scales and the F#3 in the middle of the neck produced a tinny-sounding thunk. The energy in the fundamental disappeared immediately leaving only overtones.

I made recordings and video demos with a sonogram, learned how to tap test with a spectrum analyzer, experimentally weighting the bridge and back, got some brass bridge pins, etc... All very educational. Check it out here https://www.audiosciencereview.com/f...ar-body.25590/

Eventually I came to understand it's a normal feature of responsive guitars. I tried a number of them in a shop and all the good ones had something like it. So I decided to accept it and work around it, or preferably with it.

On that other forum thread, someone wrote, and I won't forget:

Hi, thank you for your insights. I checked your link but couldn't find some details, or I was just no thorough enough.

So what happened with heavier pins? Did you use brass, for example? Did it change anything? (Martin has some liquid metal stuff now, which seams heavy).

Also, you said you removed some weight which moved the pitch from F# to E how did you remove weight exactly?

Did you also try to tighten the sound hole by card paper to change the body air flow? Thank you.
(I bought a Martin HD28, and it has this wolf/dead spot/thud effect on the G (low E) which is a quite popular note for me, also has this effect on the F# BTW, but I use that less.)