Click noise on high gain palm mutes

[Dave Z]

Here's something to try that I notice on my high gain presets -
Play the open Low E string with quick right hand palm mutes after striking the string.
Next, play the open Low E string with quick mutes using your left hand fingers to mute the string instead of palm muting.

I do not get any crackling/buzzing noise when using the left hand to quickly stop the string as compared to using my right hand to palm mute.
In addition, if I lightly touch my right hand palm to the strings by itself without playing anything, a slight buzzing noise is generated.

It appears that the placement of the right hand palm onto the strings to do quick staccato type palm mutes actually generates noise which then leads to the noise heard on the decay of the palm mutes.

 

[FractalAudio]

The other possibility is that it's from the gate. Turn the gate off and see if it goes away. Aggressive attack/release settings can cause artifacts, just as they would in an analog gate.

 

[wulftone]

You might want to just double check that your strings aren't actually hitting your pickups when you either put your palm down (as you would when performing, with the same force) or when you pick the strings. Strings hitting pickups can also make this type of sound. I've done that before and had to lower pickups. Yours look pretty low already, but maybe you have heavy hands?

 

[Dave Z]

Another thing you can try is the following:

Disable any noise gates in your preset (including setting the input block threshold to "OFF")

Insert a Volume/Pan Block in your signal chain, and configure the Volume Taper value to Log30A
Configure a modifier for the Volume settings using the attached photo as a reference for the modifier settings.

This will greatly lessen the noise after quick heavy palm mutes, but it might adversely affect the rest of your tone.

 

[johnnypig]

There's a small chance, if nothing else works, that there could have a bad solder joint, possibly ground, which can make similar pops and clicks when you move your hands around the strings.

 

[lair]

This forum is one of the greatest resources out there... just want to give another thanks to you guys!

The other possibility is that it's from the gate. Turn the gate off and see if it goes away. Aggressive attack/release settings can cause artifacts, just as they would in an analog gate.

I turned off the gate by setting the threshold to “off” after lowering my pickups a bit more - still clicks. New chug clip here.

You might want to just double check that your strings aren't actually hitting your pickups when you either put your palm down (as you would when performing, with the same force) or when you pick the strings. Strings hitting pickups can also make this type of sound. I've done that before and had to lower pickups. Yours look pretty low already, but maybe you have heavy hands?

Great thought... I checked that and actually thought maybe the string was smacking against the last fret wire but it’s not - tons of clearance over the pickups even when digging in deep.

Another thing you can try is the following:

Disable any noise gates in your preset (including setting the input block threshold to "OFF")

Insert a Volume/Pan Block in your signal chain, and configure the Volume Taper value to Log30A
Configure a modifier for the Volume settings using the attached photo as a reference for the modifier settings.

This will greatly lessen the noise after quick heavy palm mutes, but it might adversely affect the rest of your tone.

Will try this, for sure!

There's a small chance, if nothing else works, that there could have a bad solder joint, possibly ground, which can make similar pops and clicks when you move your hands around the strings.

Ugh. Yeah - I keep wondering about if it's something in the pickups/wiring. Maybe high gain is magnifying some underlying issue? It's all under warranty, still, so that may be the next step...