Tips for eliminating ice pick highs

I've always had a tone control wired to the bridge pups in my Strats, which helps control the Strat bridge ice-pick with real amps as well as the Axe etc.

mwc2112 said:
This is something I struggle with too, especially on my Strat. I've noticed that the more articulate the pickups are on the high-end the more pronounced this issue is. I've got WCR SR's installed and it has a very clear, articulate high end that translates into the ice-pick highs on the AxeFX. So I've used a number of things to reduce that... some with success. Most of what Jay suggests above I have tried although his #1 isn't something I have played around with too much, so I'll definitely have to give that a go. I primarily use both the high-cut options as well as the PEQ before the amp trick and sag adjustment. Also check to see if the damp parm is too high, reducing that sometimes helps.

I've actually been considering auditioning some different pickups, but the WCRs sound so good when you get over that hump. :)
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DJD100 said:
I've always had a tone control wired to the bridge pups in my Strats,
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Me, too. It takes a few minutes to add the required jumper. The bridge pickup is then usable with the same settings that also work with the other two pickups.

My current Strat has the bridge pickup angle reversed as well, which helps even more.
 
try this

Well ive been using all four volume blocks all set in parallel placed in front of the amp. Each volume block is set to a different setting (linear, 30A, 15A, 10A). Each volume block is all connected to the same line at the same spot. Im not sure exactly what these things do, but i really like them when they filter my schecters active pickups. Ive seen other patches from axe edit ware they have the volume block after the amp as well, which i think works nice as well. Im not sure if this fixes your ice pick sounds your discribing, but it definitely cuts the high end down a bit.
 
Jay Mitchell said:
This was for me the greatest challenge in getting good sounds from medium- to high-gain presets in the Axe-Fx. Different firmware revisions have had the syndrome to different degrees, but it has pretty much always been there in the amp sims I use. There are several things you can change that will help you tame them. First, it appears to me that the undesirable overtones originate primarily in the power amp section of the amp block. Beyond the obvious steps of turning down treble and/or presence, some combination of the following changes has always worked for me, in rough order of preference:

1. Reduce MV and increase Drive.

2. Reduce Hi Freq Resonance.

3. Reduce the Hi Cut frequency.

4. Increase Sag.

5. Reduce Transformer Hi Freq.

6. Place a PEQ in front of the amp block, set filter 5 to Blocking, and turn down the frequency until the sound just cleans up.

You're walking a fine line here, so make small changes to one parameter at a time and listen carefully before going further. It's easy to get rid of the harshness at the expense of dulling the edge of your sound.

Also, work with the amp sim first (Drive block bypassed). Once you've got it cleaned up, kick in the Drive. If the harshness returns, tweak the tone controls of the Drive block to get rid of it.
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Jay got most of the biggies, but here are a few of my others ....

Power Tube Bias: Try bumping this up to .370 or so. This smooths things out nicely.

Bright Cap: If you use the bright switch and it's too much, try reducing the value of the bright cap rather than lowering treble.

Reverb: A lot of people don't use reverb, but try a very low reverb mix of a large room, hall, or chamber type. If you set the blend just right, you can get some of the smoothness and darkness of a good reverb without mushing things up.

Try a 4x12 30W with an R121 in parallel with your normal cab and mic combo. That is the darkest cab/mic combo in the Axe as far as I can tell. It'll smooth out anything.

JWW
 
Jay Mitchell said:
3. Reduce the Hi Cut frequency.

5. Reduce Transformer Hi Freq.
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These two, right there, became a major part of my patch-making process as soon as I started to understand what the hell I was doing with the Ultra. They are absolutely essential for me with cleaner models like the Bassman and Twin. I use those parameters too with higher gain models, but usually, I can achieve what I want with other means. But for cleans? Yep, 3 and 5 make me a much happier man.
 
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JWDubois said:
Power Tube Bias: Try bumping this up to .370 or so. This smooths things out nicely.

Bright Cap: If you use the bright switch and it's too much, try reducing the value of the bright cap rather than lowering treble.

Reverb: A lot of people don't use reverb, but try a very low reverb mix of a large room, hall, or chamber type. If you set the blend just right, you can get some of the smoothness and darkness of a good reverb without mushing things up.

Try a 4x12 30W with an R121 in parallel with your normal cab and mic combo. That is the darkest cab/mic combo in the Axe as far as I can tell. It'll smooth out anything.

JWW
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Haven't tried the power tube bias trick. I'll have to try that. Does it do change the feel?

Bright Cap: Sometimes making it larger will smooth out the top end, I think by adding bottom end. You may have to back down the drive to keep things from getting muddy. If my thinking is correct, the larger the cap value, the lower the frequency that is passed by it. So the cap value becomes a high pass filter corner frequency control, with the drive acting as the "mix" between the full range signal and the high-pass signal.
 
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