Finally doing some maintenance on my Jenco 3-octave vibraphone, for which I received some helpful advice here in the past. What I've done so far:
- Replaced both cords, all the post insulators and the dampening felt with brand new ones from Century Mallet
- Leveled a few posts that were sticking up too high (long story)
- Dampened any buzzing metal on the frame
Overall it is sounding wonderful in comparison to where it started, but two issues remain and I'm not sure what can be done about them if anything:
1) Some bars are just less resonant than others. That is, when you strike them you hear more of the thud of the mallet and less of the vibrating bar. I took this video to capture what I am hearing (https://vimeo.com/1052752404/9e6e94fad6?share=copy). As is hopefully audible, descending from the middle A#, it sounds good, then the A sounds pretty good, but you start to hear more thud at G# and much more at F#. Eventually it starts to sound better down at E. This is the case with or without the resonators in place.
2) The low A# exhibits a metallic rattle sometimes when hit. I initially thought it could be hitting bare metal of the post but it actually just seems to be it rattling against the cord. Video here: https://vimeo.com/1052755308/65be885115?share=copy . The cord tension is at what I believe is standard -- I tied the knots in the spring-hook connectors such that I had to pull pretty hard to connect them together. The rattle still occurs if I tighten it more. Again this is brand new para cord from Century Mallet.
Also, can anyone explain the tradeoffs of para cord vs "soft" cord? I bought some soft cord from Century as well. Might it impact #2?
Thanks for reading!
Comments
To me, it sounds like…
Randy_Sutin Tue, 02/04/2025 - 14:18
Sounds like either the bar is cracked or the posts are impinging on its ability to ring. You’ve already eliminated the resonators and all the bars use the same cord…
So, I would check to ensure that you don’t have bent posts. That can be fixed. If the bars are cracked, it’s likely not worthwhile to spend money to have new bars made because a new bar would likely also sound very different from the existing ones; maybe even better, but it wouldn’t blend in.