One guitar, constant high end issue

[Eazy-ESP]

I know this is going to be a very hard question to answer with the crappy info I can supply, but some of you guys are literal experts at EVERYTHING gear related and might give me a clue.

Guitar: Ibanez RG prestige. It is basically your standard J-custom spec. Mahogany body, maple capped (thin), maple neck, rosewood fretboard. I replaced the tone zone in the bridge for an air-classic.

Issue: I love the guitar and have owned for longer than any other. Feels good. The mahogany is what I love. I get (somewhat) Gibson type tones and play it a lot in that way. Crunchy mid gain amp settings. Chords sound amazing. All things sound amazing. High E string will punish me often! Like just brutal ice pick a lot of the time. I’ve tried pickup height.

Is it because these guitars just really need to be played in the Steve Vai tonnes of gain and saturation tone with treble rolled off? Is there anything in the Ibanez wiring or anything that could be causing this? I thought it was me hitting e too hard and went up to 10s. No help. It’s the guitar not amp, as I have same issue on all 3 of my amps.

 

[Zado]

Context? Band?

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Context? Band?

I don’t really understand the question. I am not in a band currently, so am primarily finding this while jamming in lounge room with backing tracks (at small gig volume) or when playing alone. The issue is always there, but becomes more noticeable at volume.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Also, this is with multiple speaker cabs. I thought it may have been a V30 issue or a speaker needing breaking in. But also use a Creamback 75 with same issue. I think it is wiring or pickups. I need to start experimenting I guess.

 

[Zado]

I don’t really understand the question. I am not in a band currently, so am primarily finding this while jamming in lounge room with backing tracks (at small gig volume) or when playing alone. The issue is always there, but becomes more noticeable at volume.

I asked because that's the kind of annoying frequencies that make you shine in the band. If playing alone try with the tone know, and eventually lowering with the pickup pole under the E string

 

[Eazy-ESP]

I asked because that's the kind of annoying frequencies that make you shine in the band. If playing alone try with the tone know, and eventually lowering with the pickup pole under the E string

For sure I like a bright tone. I in fact always want a cutting tone and love mids. I’m more like Angus than I am Vai. But this is like an uncomfortable sound rather than cutting in a mix. It’s over powering and piercing when I try for lead work on the high e especially above 12th fret. Like just not a good sound.

 

[Nigel]

A few questions:

Is it the string, or the resonant peak frequency of the pickup’s effect on that string?

How many pots,
how are they wired,
what are their values,
what is the combined total load on the pickup,
what value was the pickup designed for,
how close is your pickup in spec to that design ideal,
what kind of strings do you play, cables?

What material is your bridge made of?

A different saddle for that one string may be the ticket.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Tried multiple cables. 1 volume and 1 tone. Completely stock from Ibanez factory. Edge zero trem which I think is die cast. No particular string brand, last restring is NYXL. Due to restring this week and might try Ernie Ball again.

 

[njshred]

Plug directly into a graphic EQ, where you can tailor your sound before it proceeds downstream. By doing so you’ll discover exactly what frequency it is which is bothering you. With that data, you can just keep using the EQ or knowledgeably alter the guitar.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Plug directly into a graphic EQ, where you can tailor your sound before it proceeds downstream. By doing so you’ll discover exactly what frequency it is which is bothering you. With that data, you can just keep using the EQ or knowledgeably alter the guitar.

Yep. I’ve been planning on trying an eq for years anyway, so I should just do that now.

 

[itsme]

Are you potentially picking up some fret ping on that string? I've had that issue. Try raising the saddle a bit. If it goes away, you may have a high fret or just need the action on that string raised a hair

 

[PBGas]

The Air classic has a lot more high end than many similar pickups. Hence the zing. I tried one once and took it out faster than I put it in. The PAF 36 is a much better sounding pickup all around.

 

[Music&Chaos]

I know this is going to be a very hard question to answer with the crappy info I can supply, but some of you guys are literal experts at EVERYTHING gear related and might give me a clue.

Guitar: Ibanez RG prestige. It is basically your standard J-custom spec. Mahogany body, maple capped (thin), maple neck, rosewood fretboard. I replaced the tone zone in the bridge for an air-classic.

Issue: I love the guitar and have owned for longer than any other. Feels good. The mahogany is what I love. I get (somewhat) Gibson type tones and play it a lot in that way. Crunchy mid gain amp settings. Chords sound amazing. All things sound amazing. High E string will punish me often! Like just brutal ice pick a lot of the time. I’ve tried pickup height.

Is it because these guitars just really need to be played in the Steve Vai tonnes of gain and saturation tone with treble rolled off? Is there anything in the Ibanez wiring or anything that could be causing this? I thought it was me hitting e too hard and went up to 10s. No help. It’s the guitar not amp, as I have same issue on all 3 of my amps.

Let me see your wiring.

My JEM had a sort of tone I could not get dialed out - no matter what - the odd rounded mid thing that Vai always has. Turns out - they installed a style of treble bleed that was doing it to the sound no matter what. Always nasally sounding. Removed them from the circuit and swapped out the trash cap and the nasal went away.

 

[stratjacket]

My first thought would be to raise the string height a little and/or lower the pickup pole height for the high E string. If you can turn down the tone knob and kill the shrill, that may be a good option to replace the tone knob. Also maybe a heavier E string.

 

[chumbucket]

Tried multiple cables. 1 volume and 1 tone. Completely stock from Ibanez factory. Edge zero trem which I think is die cast. No particular string brand, last restring is NYXL. Due to restring this week and might try Ernie Ball again.

Do you use the tone control? I can't stand playing a bridge pickup with the tone control on full, I always back it off a little.

The pot metal that the trem is made from is probably contributing to this too. They sound brittle. Will a regular steel Floyd fit in the rout?

Try switching to regular nickel strings too. Not plated but regular nickel like Rock And Roll Slinkys.

 

[DanTravis62]

You have discovered why I quit playing superstrat style guitars, especially for recordings lol

I would suggest changing the pickups though, as almost all dimarzios sound bad to my ears

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Are you potentially picking up some fret ping on that string? I've had that issue. Try raising the saddle a bit. If it goes away, you may have a high fret or just need the action on that string raised a hair

Will try this today. That said I did experiment with this a while ago and couldn’t win.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

The Air classic has a lot more high end than many similar pickups. Hence the zing. I tried one once and took it out faster than I put it in. The PAF 36 is a much better sounding pickup all around.

Interesting. PAF would be a cool one to try. I like a lower output pickup. I must say this guitar from the day I got it was a bit weird to me tone wise. It has a very “hard” tone, like not much compression or give when you hit the amp.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Let me see your wiring.

My JEM had a sort of tone I could not get dialed out - no matter what - the odd rounded mid thing that Vai always has. Turns out - they installed a style of treble bleed that was doing it to the sound no matter what. Always nasally sounding. Removed them from the circuit and swapped out the trash cap and the nasal went away.

It does have the treble bleed thing to compensate when you wind back the volume. Very difficult to get decent photos.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

My first thought would be to raise the string height a little and/or lower the pickup pole height for the high E string. If you can turn down the tone knob and kill the shrill, that may be a good option to replace the tone knob. Also maybe a heavier E string.

I do suspect I am heavy handed. Floating trem has made me lazy with trying other gauges. Will need to just try on that e string though now and stop being lazy.