The effect of small internal and dashpot damping on a trapped mode of a 1D-waveguide, that is, a semi-infinite string on a Winkler elastic foundation, has been investigated. At the edge of the string a mass–spring–damper system is attached. The string is assumed to have an internal damping. Four models for the internal damping are considered: air damping, Kelvin–Voigt damping, local Kelvin–Voigt damping, and damping related to time hysteresis. Depending on the internal damping and the parameters in the formulated problem, it will be shown that the amplitude of a trapped mode of the string can decrease or increase with time.