How to darken/remove shrill from my setup?

[napalmdeath]

G12 V20s. This happens with all my guitars accross many pickup configurations.


EL84 valves replaced and serviced 2024 by Marshall. ADA MP-1 tubes where serviced 2021 I believe. So all pretty recently looked at.


I mean a rasp around 5k so high-mids crossing into treble. It's hard to explain without being in the room. It's a frequency that becomes irritating and fatiguing. I can't seem to EQ the amp into that "darker" Mesa-Boogie sound as that rasp is always there. Sorry for lack of explanation. I could record a clip but I'm worried a mic wouldn't

I used a 23 band rack mount graphic EQ, I basically flattened the high mids and treble to get rid of it and it still managed to shine through.

9s, 500k, Mesa power tubes, unknown pre tubes, Fender cables.
This happens across all my guitars with various pickups and string gauges.
the "in the room" sound.

JJs will darken it up.

 

[Greazygeo]

What is your room the amp is in? Square walls amp facing directly at one? Hardwood floor, no carpet, block walls etc?

Those V30’s are bright as hell, mine sure are. But I would look at the room first, see if you are getting phase cancelling issues etc.

 

[TheBiggestJerk]

Have you tried any meditation about this or tried wishing it away?

 

[valve]

Try pure nickel strings, D'Addario or Fender, in that order. That's the cheapest and easiest way to address harshness. Steel strings, even nickel coated ones, produce harsh treble, period. Pure nickel does not. Ask EVH!
...

well the plain strings are the most bright ones and are not affected by the nickel wrap, so it depends...

 

[DanTravis62]

I mean, I think OP should just copy every single thing about my personal guitar rig from the strings and picks and pickups to the amps and speakers, then he will sound good and not have to worry about the high frequency issue he's having

 

[harddriver]

Try going just the guitar into the amp and add each component until you hear what you don't like.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is the way to troubleshoot your issue right here.

Also I'd try a different power amp or run the preamp( without any rack effects unit) into the loop return of another amp to see if you still have the high end shrill.

If you don't have the shrill with just the preamp into that power amp or a different one with the same cab, then you can rule those out.

 

[harddriver]

Try pure nickel strings, D'Addario or Fender, in that order. That's the cheapest and easiest way to address harshness. Steel strings, even nickel coated ones, produce harsh treble, period. Pure nickel does not. Ask EVH!

Next, go to Michael's and get 20 oz. of polyfil and put it in your 2x12 cabinet. That will tame the harshness of the speaker's rear wave being reflected back through the cone. It will tighten the bass organically and produce a much more musical sound.

Past that, look at reflections in your room.

If your Mesa tubes are Russian or Chinese, consider getting JJ's. Nickel strings will likely make this a non-issue though. New production Russian and Chinese glass can exacerbate steel string harshness.

For power tubes, OG Russian military 6n14n's with NO SUFFIX like -EV or what have you are the finest EL84's for the money, and most durable. See Dr. Z and Tranwreck. They can be had cheap too.

Furthermore, if any of your guitars are using SD JB's in the bridge, they need to see 250K pots and about 125K total load to bleed off the proper amount of high end to ground. 250K total makes JB's and Screamin' Demons and the like super harsh in my experience.

I'd also rip out the cheap ass Marshall wiring and use some good thick wire in the cab too after the above was done just for added girth and enhanced speaker dampening. 10 gauge sounds more open, ask Reinhold Bogner!

Let us know how the experimenting goes!

After playing strictly nickel strings for years when I try regular strings they are bright, bright and bright and almost sound tinny.

 

[cardinal]

Yeah could be the room. In a prior house, all my amps got shoved in a small, partially finished room with a cement floor. Everything sounded super shrill. A rug on the floor helped some, but ultimately I just needed to get the equipment out of there.

That was an extreme situation, but try the rig in a different location?

 

[valve]

Yeah could be the room. In a prior house, all my amps got shoved in a small, partially finished room with a cement floor. Everything sounded super shrill. A rug on the floor helped some, but ultimately I just needed to get the equipment out of there.

That was an extreme situation, but try the rig in a different location?