My Axe Fx II doesn't like my picks.

Definitely sounds like an electrical issue. Is your Axe and amplification plugged into the same circuit?
 
A copper pick shouldn't cause any more problem than a finger.
I also just checked and I don't have this problem using a conductive steel pick (courtesy of Phil Collen).

Very strange. Is your guitar bridge perhaps not grounded?
 
lester said:
My Red Bear pick doesn't work well with the Axe either. I read another thread talking about pick noise. Thought it was strange. I get it now. Back to Fenders-no issue.
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Joe Jaeger said:
Didn't the user Nikki find some issues in the pick attack of the Axe? I know there is a thread around here somewhere, I wonder if it's the same issue, just showing it self more clearly when using certain picks?
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yes, nikki and I mentioned it some time ago, naturally coming under fire and criticism and 'shut up n play ur guitar' type comments. Now I see some others are noticing it. I think I know what henry is talking about, even tho I haven't used copper/brass picks, there is a little....'squelch' that kinda pops out at the pick attack.....I never noticed it until maybe a month ago. It's something that didn't quite sit well with me, but it could just be that we're not USED to hearing what the pick attack is SUPPOSED to be like, and that it was probably something that tube amps have 'hidden' all this time - another imperfection of a tube amp that we've grown to accept as 'right'. I'm kinda getting adjusted to it a little..it still irks me somewhat, but I guess that with time I can learn to accept it. I won't doubt that the copper picks accentuate it.
 
henryrobinett said:
Oops! Copper picks! Did I say "cooper?" lol.
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We were (mostly) smart enough to figure it out.

I use metal picks occasionally, and don't have that problem. Gotta be a ground issue somewhere.

The only time I get this is when I have my fingers on the strings, and I touch my MacBook Pro...crackle crackle.
 
There is a product sold to reduce hum that consists of a strap you put around your wrist which is then attached to a grounding point on the guitar. You might try something similar to see if it affects the noise you are getting; take a length of thin copper wire, wraps few turns around your wrist, and hook the other end to your bridge or anything else that might be grounded.
 
jon said:
yes, nikki and I mentioned it some time ago, naturally coming under fire and criticism and 'shut up n play ur guitar' type comments. Now I see some others are noticing it.
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so you guys were saying that "Just touching the pick to the string causes static pops"? I don't think so. We're not talking about the same thing here.
 
You're right, I saw the 'pops' part, I didn't read the 'static' part. So indeed, we may well be talking about two different things here. Good call - I misunderstood.
 
jon said:
You're right, I saw the 'pops' part, I didn't read the 'static' part. So indeed, we may well be talking about two different things here. Good call - I misunderstood.
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Going OT here, but...by "pop" do you mean a slight low-mid bump in the attack? You may mean something completely different, but the Axe does have this peculiar character to the attack...like it has gone through the processing/compression done to the FM band over here. Gives voices and music a certain character and smack to the attack. Likely Orban stuff.
 
Trazan said:
Going OT here, but...by "pop" do you mean a slight low-mid bump in the attack? You may mean something completely different, but the Axe does have this peculiar character to the attack...like it has gone through the processing/compression done to the FM band over here. Gives voices and music a certain character and smack to the attack. Likely Orban stuff.
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yes, pretty much that.....but the attack is 'faster' than a tube amp, but more 'squished'. Nikki really described it extremely well in another thread.
But this seems to be a totally different issue..I didn't see the part about the 'STATIC' pops....so I don't wanna go off topic at all lol
 
question henry - when you toch the strings (without the pick) do you get the static? I'm talking about not touching ANY metal parts on the guitar, including the strings and the metal screws on the back, and then you touch a metal part and you get the static....do you notice anything like that?

Grounding may be an issue, but I don't see why it would be an issue with metal picks - our bodies are conductors as well, and we're full of noise. A metal pick would just exaggerate a problem that was there already. If it happens even when touching metal parts of the guitar, there may be something else happening.
 
I don't get it with metal picks (sixpence as well, big Brian May fan here). But what I do get in the winter time when its dry in the house is insane amounts of pickguard static. Its horrible. But it does it with whatever I'm plugged into so it's not an AxeFXII thing for me.

Not to sound stupid, but I wonder what kind of shirts you are wearing when this happens. You'd be amazed by how much static electricity can build up from different materials.
 
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that's a GREAT point - I noticed that last year or so with a shirt.....I think it was polyester or some kinda crap like that (don't know - not much on clothes...GEAR on the other hand.. :p )
 
LMO said:
There is a product sold to reduce hum that consists of a strap you put around your wrist which is then attached to a grounding point on the guitar. You might try something similar to see if it affects the noise you are getting; take a length of thin copper wire, wraps few turns around your wrist, and hook the other end to your bridge or anything else that might be grounded.
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Great suggestion. The idea here is that it will keep you constantly grounded, preventing any buildup of static electricity which can result in a "pop." I have this problem on one of my strats-- the pickup mounting screws will cause a pop if I touch them with my finger after strumming and dragging my pinky along the pickguard. Next time I feel like taking it apart I'm going to run a strip of copper tape from the shielding (currently only over the control cavity) to the pickup screws.

Hopefully it is just a grounding issue you can get figured out, it would be a shame to lose the Axe over such a simple nuissance! :)
 
Trazan said:
Going OT here, but...by "pop" do you mean a slight low-mid bump in the attack? You may mean something completely different, but the Axe does have this peculiar character to the attack...like it has gone through the processing/compression done to the FM band over here. Gives voices and music a certain character and smack to the attack. Likely Orban stuff.
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I know the low end thud you're referring to. No, this is a very high end static sound.
 
jon said:
question henry - when you toch the strings (without the pick) do you get the static? I'm talking about not touching ANY metal parts on the guitar, including the strings and the metal screws on the back, and then you touch a metal part and you get the static....do you notice anything like that?

Grounding may be an issue, but I don't see why it would be an issue with metal picks - our bodies are conductors as well, and we're full of noise. A metal pick would just exaggerate a problem that was there already. If it happens even when touching metal parts of the guitar, there may be something else happening.
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Only touching with the pick. Copper pick. Touching the strings. My hand has no effect. Sometimes the static is more pronounced than others. Now for instance. It's slight. When I wrote about this earlier today it was very prominent.
 
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