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Slight ice-pick effect using burst buckers

Cherryburst

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Joined
Jan 18, 2004
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585
I've been noticing that my 68 reissue Custom has some un desirable ice picky tones on the higher notes. I've tried this guitar through a Hiwatt DR103 and a Dr. Z Prescription ES. Speakers were G12H30s with the Hiwatt and Heritage GM20s with the Z.

Someone suggested beam blockers, but in just rolling back the tone knob I noticed an improvement ........ of course I lose all the crispness at other freqencies too. I believe these pups are early unpotted versions. Are these pickups generally decent or can I do better to smooth out the high end?
 

C-4

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Jan 5, 2005
Messages
1,776
Sometimes the tubes in the amp can contribute to this tone.
Try replacing V-1 with a smoother tube such as a NOS Mullard 12AX7, RFT or other smoother sounding pre.
I placed a weber Beam Blocker in my Diezel Einstein combo because I really don't care for V-30's but they sound good in this amp. It made a world of difference.
You should be able to adjust the controls to reduce the high end shardiness, but this also might be inherent in this particular guitar. Changing pups may help, but there is no way to tell for sure until it is done.
Another thought is to consider changing out the caps first. You may get better results and not have to spend a lot of money experimenting to get the tone you desire. It is after all, an inexpensive fix to try the caps first.
 

LookerBob

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Feb 22, 2005
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2,258
I warmed up/smoothed out the sound of my bridge burstbucker by screwing the poles down even w/ the top of the pickup cover. Maybe give that a try.
 

Lution

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Feb 6, 2007
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This thread help me tame some of the icepick out of my BB Pros.

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118843

..... I had to raise the high-e up and lower the b which was different than the suggestion, but it worked very well.

Also, lowering my neck pup to just below the pup-ring and the bridge to a little above the pup-ring really helped sweeten things up.
 

57Historic

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Feb 15, 2007
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I have BBs in my 57 historic, I ordered the treble tame from RS. Worked like a charm, it never sounded better, I was considering et rid of them, but not now. :headbange
 

BadAssBill

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Mar 10, 2003
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1,578
It may be a combination of both. First try listening to the amp on the side of it a good 3 or 4 feet away. I've also seen the BB's be so ice picky to the point where I had to yank them out.
 

Cherryburst

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Jan 18, 2004
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Thanks for the ideas. I may try a cap swap first and/or adjusting the pole pieces. btw (The V1 in my amp is a Mullard and I think my other amp has a Bugle boy Amperex).
 

Gadge

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Jun 22, 2019
Messages
43
Sorry to bounce such an old thread but I have this issue too. LP Standard with 498T and 490T pickups with ice pick notes on some of the high strings which is even worse when I install boutique lower output pickups.

I spoke tothe guy who wound these pickups and got no answer back. Ive read loads of forums about this issue and one interesting guy said he took his guitar to a luthier for a standard setup and it came back with ice pick notes, so I figured maybe its to do with the way the strings are seated on the saddle so I used some ultra fine sandpaper and a Stanley blade and sanded down the string grooves and to my surprise about 80% of the problem went away, but its still there enough to subtlety hurt the ears.

Im thinking now that its a characteristic/flaw in the guitar itself and thats why nobody has ever found an answer, maybe its just the way the wood carries vibrations around the guitar, ive tried different amps and different pickups and different gauge strings and cables and pickup magnets, caps and pot ratings and brands.
 

Big Al

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Apr 24, 2002
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14,537
Sorry to bounce such an old thread but I have this issue too. LP Standard with 498T and 490T pickups with ice pick notes on some of the high strings which is even worse when I install boutique lower output pickups.

I spoke tothe guy who wound these pickups and got no answer back. Ive read loads of forums about this issue and one interesting guy said he took his guitar to a luthier for a standard setup and it came back with ice pick notes, so I figured maybe its to do with the way the strings are seated on the saddle so I used some ultra fine sandpaper and a Stanley blade and sanded down the string grooves and to my surprise about 80% of the problem went away, but its still there enough to subtlety hurt the ears.

Im thinking now that its a characteristic/flaw in the guitar itself and thats why nobody has ever found an answer, maybe its just the way the wood carries vibrations around the guitar, ive tried different amps and different pickups and different gauge strings and cables and pickup magnets, caps and pot ratings and brands.

Everytime this came up at the Studio or as a repair issue it was inappropriate tone chain settings. Too bright pots or overhyped high end on the amp. Reduce treble and kill the bright switch or presence on the amp and roll off the pickups tone a little. It's a guitar not a piccolo.

When you overdrive an amp and/or use a pedal distortion multiplies upper harmonics and you get that ring tone effect.
 

musekatcher

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Apr 15, 2018
Messages
135
Sorry to bounce such an old thread but I have this issue too. LP Standard with 498T and 490T pickups with ice pick notes on some of the high strings which is even worse when I install boutique lower output pickups.

Glad someone bumped this old thread, some good links to other threads on pickup settings. I really need to devote a Saturday to exploring some of these - I'm lucky though, my LP BB1/BB2s came from the factory sounding great with my amps and speakers.

I hate icepick more than anything. I've encountered icepick that I isolated to several different things. I've swapped multiple speakers with the same amp, same guitar and got icepick with the flatter, crispier speakers. I've experienced icepick swapping amps with the same speaker/cab and guitar, and had icepick issues with specific amps. And here's the most interesting: I've experienced icepick with and without a band in difference spaces, same amp, same speaker, same guitar, as in, no icepick at practice, till the whole band joins in, then all of the sudden, my tone is staticy and icepicky - no adjustments to tones or volume. Very unexpected, and unintuitive.

In the end, I've discovered I have guitars w/pups that are less prone to icepick with several amps. I also have guitars that are more prone to icepick with any amp. I definitely have amps and speakers that tend to icepick with any guitar. And finally, I have removed icepick from a pesky icepicky guitar with cap/pot changes and re-wiring changes, and I've removed icepick with pickup changes. I avoid the latter as a very last resort, because I think its a band aid for something else that is suboptimal in the chain.

I think the 498/490s are good pickups, capable of clarity without icepick, and I think the cap/pots supplied by Gibson should be complimentary. If simple knob twisting, and pickup screw twisting doesn't get rid of icepick, my guess, is your guitar combined with your amp/tone chain is less compatible, and you need to isolate if its amp voice/speaker that is the main contributor. If I had to guess further, I'd say that amp doesn't like your preferred tone with that guitar. And if I'm going for the million dollar answer, I'd say the tone concept you want may not be possible with your rig, but there is a very flattering voice achievable with your guitar and amp - if you can find it and learn to like it. All well meaning conjecture of course.
 

Gadge

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Jun 22, 2019
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But how do we explain the fact that no guitar or amp ive ever owned has given me this issue before until I got this particular guitar, and its happening through 2 different amps, logic tells me its the guitar itself if no pickups or pot changes are getting rid of it. I should be on 500k pots and im on 300k and not happy about going down to 250k.

I should be able to put all the tones on full just like I could on any other guitar ive had.

I had a Charvel Charvette that is hated for having way too much tone but not even that gave me the ice picks, it was a horrible glassy tone but no ice picks.

Im pretty sure its the tonal character of this LP that is the problem, maybe theres something about the wood that is resonating too much of the nasty 2k frequency or whatever frequency it is. Its a real head scratcher. Im actually selling this LP and getting another one because as much as I love it ive had enough of the headaches.
 

Triplet

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Mar 13, 2006
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1,675
Whenever I've had this problem its always turned out to be one or more strings not set flush in either the nut or the bridge or both (harmonics are weird things) . I use sanded cord (careful) or a "rounded" file set (best) to ensure the strings are seated all the way down.
 

Gadge

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Jun 22, 2019
Messages
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Whenever I've had this problem its always turned out to be one or more strings not set flush in either the nut or the bridge or both (harmonics are weird things) . I use sanded cord (careful) or a "rounded" file set (best) to ensure the strings are seated all the way down.

I will revisit the nut and saddle with a file and see if I can get any results. I did take this guitar to a luthier a while ago and it was a waste of money, turns out im a better luthier than him and had to fix his mistakes and shortcuts.
 

musekatcher

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Apr 15, 2018
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135
But how do we explain the fact that no guitar or amp ive ever owned has given me this issue before until I got this particular guitar, and its happening through 2 different amps, logic tells me its the guitar itself if no pickups or pot changes are getting rid of it.

True, but is it possible all your other guitars were similarly less bright? Not all guitars go well with all amps. Try to make it work, but in the end, sometimes they just don't go together. PS - burstbuckers were highly regarded and purpose-designed. They are in no way faulty, but not every tone is for every amp, and not for everybody. I love them though.
 

CK6

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Feb 5, 2020
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449
What brand of strings are you using? I used to string my guitars with D’addario & I had the same problem with my Wolfetone Marshallheads. Changed to GHS and problem solved! I think if you still have issues it may be the pickup magnet that needs changing.

Hope this helps!
 
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