Need tone help. Reducing pick attack?

RB2021

RB2021

Inspired
Not sure if "guck" and "transient" are the correct terminology but I've got a clip. I've been enjoying this chunky tone I'm working on with the Cornfed but on single note leads you can here some crazy noises. Is this just a technique thing? I'm a out of practice and getting back into playing shape but I feel like there must be some signal chain stuff. Maybe it's the Cornfed. Maybe it's my pick up. Idk.

https://www.bandlab.com/revisions/2...0003ffd1c4f7?sharedKey=orznnzeH4kydD_xyOKN42w

axefx.PNG

Edit: The main fix ended up being tame the bass but there's a lot of useful thoughts in this thread and it wasn't the only thing I've changed. Gonna sleep on it and see if I like it again tomorrow. That's always the test lol.
 
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Experiment with the angle of the pick, makes a huge difference for those pick attack and transient noises.

You may have to adjust your strap height, so experiment seated first.
 
jlynnb1 said:
all you're hearing is pick attack
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Ah that's the word I was looking for. It's there prominently even if I play as lightly as possible.. I'm wondering if a compressor might be the right thing to dial some of it out. I'd just like to take it down a notch but even playing lightly it's still dominating the tone. Changing headphones helps a bit. Maybe I'll play around with a compressor on the input.

Edit: Thinking I might need to experiment with different IRs too. I like these, but they are definitely helping highlight the pick attack.
 
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I immediately noticed what the OP is talking about for the first time with this new firmware. That doesn't sound very good to me. I don't think that can be dialed out. I never noticed that kind of weird pick attack noise before with the Axe FX. Likely part of the new changes to the firmware. A possible option is to pick very lightly?
 
trancegodz said:
I immediately noticed what the OP is talking about for the first time with this new firmware. That doesn't sound very good to me. I don't think that can be dialed out. I never noticed that kind of weird pick attack noise before with the Axe FX. Likely part of the new changes to the firmware. A possible option is to pick very lightly?
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Playing metal riffs on a strat without an amp for years is how I developed my harsh picking technique. . I am picking very hard in the file but I must stress that even if I pick as soft as possible (changing the tone dramatically and letting my noise gate rob sustain) that pick attack is still there dominating the sound. Seems like its a combination of my neck pick up, the amp, the IR, the headphones, and my playing style. I intend to work on dialing back my attack and letting the amps do the work now that I have a great sounding amp that I can plug headphones into, but I will probably always want to dig in. It just sounds good that way imo.

I also agree with M@ that pick attack can part of the tone in high gain situations but I think for this riff and this preset it's overbearing. I can just avoid recording riffs like that on that scene. I'm still open to suggestions for tricks to tame it. I'd like to stick with the IR as its nice and bright and crunchy on the power chord riffs. According to a quick google search, mic placement is key for pick attack so I played with IRs for a bit and it's definately a large part of the problem. I like the IR for other reasons though. That thud sounds good and thick with power chords.
 
Did you try smoothing? I've found that can indeed tame a difficult IR

Also the 'definition' parameter helps with adding or removing pick noise
 
Honestly, I don't think that is too excessive. Pick attack is where the attitude is (along with vibrato). And some of the pick attack will get lost in a mix (just like delays always seem much louder when playing by yourself).

Some tips for reducing pick attack: The Cornford amps seem to accentuate the frequencies where the pick attack lives, compared to some other amps. But I would say, that most of it is down to which actual pick you use, where along the string you hit, what amount of edge picking you use, and how much pick you use on the string. Try less edge picking, less of the pick on the string, and picking closer to the bridge. Picking closer to the bridge seems to give more of a cluck to the attack, whereas picking closer to the neck will give more or a scraping/scratching quality.
 
It's not just pick or technique, and perhaps not even mostly. I think some of us end up dialing in tones in a way that ends up unintentionally emphasizing certain sounds. If changing the amount of pick, pick angle, picking intensity, pick material etc., doesn't help, then that's what's happening. If you do a search of the forums you can find a number of suggestions. In my case I reduced my preset to just an amp block, and worked out from there. Certain amps/settings will def emphasize what you're hearing.
 
I found that pick material and thickness, in addition to picking technique, has a huge impact on the sound of the pick attack. For instance, the Dunlop tortex picks were just to noisy for my playing, but the Ultex were just fine. I finally settled for the Dunlop Flow 1.0mm, which were just like using cheat codes in a video game to level up. Tone and playing just improved massively.
 
Megahertzz said:
I found that pick material and thickness, in addition to picking technique, has a huge impact on the sound of the pick attack. For instance, the Dunlop tortex picks were just to noisy for my playing, but the Ultex were just fine. I finally settled for the Dunlop Flow 1.0mm, which were just like using cheat codes in a video game to level up. Tone and playing just improved massively.
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I agree. Picks make a huge different in feel and tone. And they're generally cheap to experiment with too- the clip didn't sound bad or unusual to me, but if you're unhappy with it, start with the aforementioned attack angle and then mess around with your picks. Maybe try one a little fatter with a more rounded edge.
 
What pick do you use? Harder the density and even the sharpness of the influence pick attack.
 
@RB2021 yeah I’ve noticed that guck transient thing only on the recent firmwares. Most of my tones are dialed in to be smooth on the edge of breakup. When I have time this weekend I’m going to compare against older firmware.
 
One thing to try is use a parametric EQ to find the frequencies where the pick attack lives. If you're not too familiar with this, narrow the bandwidth and boost the frequencies while slowly sweeping up and down. Where the attack gets accentuated even more is where you want to cut. Disable the EQ and try adding a multi-band compressor. Bypass all bands except one that is set to work in the range you found with the PEQ. Adjust the threshold to where it dips to a level of your liking. This way it's not a static -12 db or whatever dip, it's dynamic. Try different placements like before the amp, between amp and cab, after cab... to find where it works best.
 
Two things I’d give a shot-

PEQ, Blocking type on the 5th band and roll back the Frequency, sweep back and forth and you should be able to pinpoint it.

Pick type- I switched over to Petrucci signature picks, which has rounded edges instead of being perfectly flat. I figured it’d be snake oil but it cleaned up pick attack quite a bit and actually does allow the pick to glide off the strings.

That said, that pick attack lends itself to some clarity in a mix. There’s a lot of sounds in a guitar tone that can be annoying on their own but within a mix, actually go a long way in clarity/definition. I wouldn’t rule out the pick attack until you try it to a mix. If you’re just playing by yourself and don’t record, then go crazy with EQ’s to try to squash it out. I’d recommend EQ before trying any compression as you can pinpoint things a little easier and be more surgical, rather than adding compression to your whole sound (unless you go with multi-band compression)
 
I use a Dunlop Big Stubby 3mm, which I like for feel, but they can be pretty plinky. So I take sandpaper and round the point and rough up the the edges. It really softens the attack, but you have to redo it periodically, since playing polishes up the edges again.
 
In my experience - assuming the same picking technique and pick material -
  • thinner picks (less than 1mm), with sharper shapes and sides (e.g. Tortex Sharp) tend to have more attack.
  • thicker picks (1.5 mm and greater) tend to have less attack and more thumpy midrange.
 
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