String plucking noise .. help

hussamd

hussamd

Power User
I am new to the Ultra. I was playing high gain patches yesterday and noticed that I can hear string plucking noise on the higher strings very vividly. I don't know if this is normal or I have never noticed it with real amps.

I tried a couple of guitars and different patches with no change. I tried to change the drive and noise gate. It helped just a little but defeats the purpose of playing high gain.

I recorded the sound and you can distinctly hear it towards the end of the track with the neck pickup.

The guitar is ESP Eclipse II with EMG Blackouts. It also did it with other EMG 60/81 guitar. The patch is the stock Pre Santana on Bank A (35?).

I tried light plucks and that did not help. I can hear the sound on headphones and more pronounced on 4x12 cab.

Any ideas how to get rid of this or do I have to get used to it. I would appreciate any help.

 
Are you talking about pick-attack? If yes, you are trying to get rid of something in your sound that the Axe-fx is actually known for doing very well, preserving picking dynamics and pick attack much like a real tube amp.

However, there are a few things you can do to soften it, maybe run a compressor before the amp with a small-ish attack time, <5ms. Set the threshold to taste.
 
Radius_Vector said:
Are you talking about pick-attack? If yes, you are trying to get rid of something in your sound that the Axe-fx is actually known for doing very well, preserving picking dynamics and pick attack much like a real tube amp.

However, there are a few things you can do to soften it, maybe run a compressor before the amp with a small-ish attack time, <5ms. Set the threshold to taste.
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Thanks Radius_Vecto. Tried that with no success. It is not that bad. I just have not noticed it before and I am obsessing about it. My ears will have to get used to it.
 
Try a PEQ block before the amp model. My Tele i.e. has some nasty pronounciation at 2.5k so I pulled that down quite a bit. Use high q and +12db then sweep through the frequencies until you find that picking sound. Then turn it down. A high cut at 6-7k might also be a usefull solution.
 
DieSchmalle said:
Try a PEQ block before the amp model. My Tele i.e. has some nasty pronounciation at 2.5k so I pulled that down quite a bit. Use high q and +12db then sweep through the frequencies until you find that picking sound. Then turn it down. A high cut at 6-7k might also be a usefull solution.
Click to expand...

I'll try that. Thanks. I bet I'll have to learn to live with it. It was not as bad once I cranked it up and played the backing track.
 
Jase2677 said:
I think you are sensitive to something that not a lot of people are hearing. 10 to 1 they are going to just think you are full of sh*t. It's just the sound as you yourself described, the sound of your pick hitting the string through that particular preamp. If you have basically any amp, you would notice it, but there are other things distracting you.

If you drive in your car and it is an automatic, you can tell there are little idiosyncrasies that are not quite 100% right. The car is far from broken, but you can give yourself a panic attack thinking about them because you get paranoid that here goes another 1000 dollars in repairs. But remember how a lot of times it is an over-reaction and the designers of the transmission really try their best and really come up with a decent product. Like when I take a dump, I still have to wipe even though mother nature gave me a pretty decent waste disposal mechanism.
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Funny you mention the car analogy. I can swear I hear noises as I drive so I just turn the stereo up :;)

My ears are very sensitive. This is the first time I have quality audio coming off the axe instead of an amp and just wanted to make sure I was not imagining things. I appreciate the feedback.
 
The kind of pick you use and your picking technique will also of course have an effect.
 
I hear it loud and clear especially toward the end of your recording. That would bug me too. Seems like more than just pick attack. Perhaps the signal is clipping somewhere in the chain?
 
Big Joe Daddy said:
I hear it loud and clear especially toward the end of your recording. That would bug me too. Seems like more than just pick attack. Perhaps the signal is clipping somewhere in the chain?
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So you hear it too. Good, it is not just me. I do not see clipping lights and the sound is audible on different patches. I tried lowering the input/output with not a lot of success. I guess I'll have to learn to play faster :) I'll try building a patch from scratch one piece at a time.

One thing I want to try is using a different pick. The one I am using is a medium Fender with a wider (starting to wear) end vs others out there with pointed ends. DNW might be right that the pick and technique both are contributing.

Anyways, I appreciate the tips from all. I will be traveling this week and will try again next weekend.
 
hussamd said:
I am new to the Ultra. I was playing high gain patches yesterday and noticed that I can hear string plucking noise on the higher strings very vividly. I don't know if this is normal or I have never noticed it with real amps.

I tried a couple of guitars and different patches with no change. I tried to change the drive and noise gate. It helped just a little but defeats the purpose of playing high gain.

I recorded the sound and you can distinctly hear it towards the end of the track with the neck pickup.

The guitar is ESP Eclipse II with EMG Blackouts. It also did it with other EMG 60/81 guitar. The patch is the stock Pre Santana on Bank A (35?).

I tried light plucks and that did not help. I can hear the sound on headphones and more pronounced on 4x12 cab.

Any ideas how to get rid of this or do I have to get used to it. I would appreciate any help.
Click to expand...

I'm sure without reading all the way through this most people will have said what I'm about to say but.

WHY DO YOU WANT THAT NOT TO BE THERE?
That's why we got this thing to begin with, at least as it applies to the hi gain patches.
 
DieSchmalle's suggestion of hunting it down and taming it by sweeping a filter is a good one. A slight reduction in gain may also work well, without significantly changing your tone. But you'll never completely eliminate it. Pick attack is a fact of life, even with "real" amps.
 
grumpops said:
WHY DO YOU WANT THAT NOT TO BE THERE?
That's why we got this thing to begin with, at least as it applies to the hi gain patches.
Click to expand...

Personally i don't like hearing it either. Real amp or not. I always tailor my tone to reduce the most I can. Personally i think when it is too loud that it takes away from the real tone of the amp I'm trying to get across, that it needs tamed badly. That is why i normally have to tame my gain use and use EQ which ends up hurting the tone i'm aiming for, but reduces the excessive pick attack. Not everyone wants to hear the pick attack that loud.
 
grumpops said:
I'm sure without reading all the way through this most people will have said what I'm about to say but.

WHY DO YOU WANT THAT NOT TO BE THERE?
That's why we got this thing to begin with, at least as it applies to the hi gain patches.
Click to expand...

Well if it has to be there then it has to be there. Did you listen to the end of the recording?

My point is I never noticed it that pronounced before. It gets better if the gain is lowered but why would I do that ;)

I have some experimentation to do with the PEQ.
 
It's mostly got to do with your guitar/pickups, maybe it's picking up a treble spike somewhere. Try a guitar with passive pickups too just to be sure.

Also try disabling ALL the effects on your current patch, keeping just the amp and cab active to see if that makes any difference.
 
Radius_Vector said:
It's mostly got to do with your guitar/pickups, maybe it's picking up a treble spike somewhere. Try a guitar with passive pickups too just to be sure.

Also try disabling ALL the effects on your current patch, keeping just the amp and cab active to see if that makes any difference.
Click to expand...

Yep! I just put EMG Blackouts AHB-3s in it. I also tried another guitar but it had 60/81 active. I'll try my Fender.

It does sound like a treble spike. It tames a bit with less distortion. I need to isolate and block it because I love the high output from the pickups, especially the neck one. The blackouts are awesome!
 
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