Help!! I AM HAVING AN ISSUE WITH TOO MUCH ICE PICK TREBLE

[scott from _actual time_]

Nobody especially me wants to spend 2600 bucks for a head and cab and have it unusable. I will try some of the suggestions here. I have been playing a long time and i hav used many still own amps. In other word I know what I am looking for and i can't believe I have to go these measures to get a good sound. especially with the $ invested so far.

i hear ya. i went through exactly the same thing with mine. i almost sold it. the breakthrough for me was using the graphic EQ instead of the preset EQ (and getting the graphic EQ not to be way too boomy and flubby).

i also swapped the preamp tubes--i have a Tung Sol reissue in v1 and others (i think a chinese Penta, and an aftermarket JJ) in v2 and v3. i also run 5881 power tubes instead of 6L6s (they are less bright), and i have a foam donut over my speaker, 3/4" thick with a 3" hole.

so keep tweaking! try every combination of settings you can--gain up & treble down, Bright switch on and off, channel master up & main master volume down, channel master down and main master up, FX loop on and off, EQ presets and graphic EQ. try different speakers and different size cabs. try the foam donuts.

 

[iFreedom]

Try a tone suck pedal in your efx loop. Sounds silly, but I bought a Nova delay but put my boss dd3 back in to tame the amp. Sounded a little to fizzy with out the boss tone suck. Have you ever thought that maybe you're just a Fender guy? I find ch 1 ice picky with my strat but singles tend to need a presence cut compared to bucker's. So I knock down the presence. I know, not much help. Just thought I'd thro my two cents in.

I struggled for ever with my VHT 2502 power amp (which everybody seems to love). Turns out, it's just wasn't for me.

Good luck!

 

[phyrexia]

i have a mullard in v1 and tungsols in v2, 3. had a tungsol in v1 but it went microphonic; moved it to v2 and haven't had any problems

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

If you can afford one, upgrade to a 4X12 cab. Also, perhaps lower your channel volume down a little, and compensate with the output knob???

 

[madryan]

Get rid of the celestions.

Seriously... Celestion speakers are popular hence, people demand them but Eminence and EV's kill them. I'm running an Oversized 212 with EVM-12L's and even though they're a more "hi-fi" sounding speaker with more presence and clarity than a vintage 30 they sound much less ice-pickey and harsh. Emi Legends are awesome as are the Delta Pro's.

BTW... I've had issues with pretty much everything celestion puts out except a well broken in set of older (pre-chinese) greenbacks. Their speakers just have a common voicing that I hate. Food for thought.

 

[barryswanson]

Try a 1960 Marshall cab. It's a match made in heaven with a Mark V.

 

[screamingdaisy]

You guys know this is a 6 year old thread, right?

 

[barryswanson]

You guys know this is a 6 year old thread, right?

Lol I had no idea :lol:

 

[tptb73]

I posted another thread about this same problem, and this was my solution:

"OK, I just wanted to report that I sold my Rectifier 2x12 Horizontal cab with V30s, and bought a Mesa Widebody Closed-back 1x12 with a C90 and it COMPLETELY SOLVED THE PROBLEM.

There is no ice-picky harshness at all there any more. I can now even use the EQ presets and they sound great.

What a relief."

 

[TStone2]

What is a mitchell donut?

Is that a blowup ring you put on a toilet seat for comfort if you have roids ?

JK. Google it.

 

[OldTelecasterMan]

channel 2. Crunch. no EQ..Drop the highs to about 11:00 O'clock, bump the mids to about 2 O'clock, Lows about 10:30 I also run a compressor in front of the amp, transparent on gain compressed about 50%. On CH3, Extreme. I also bump the mids a bit and drop the Highs a little but I also run the EQ (only ch3) in a slight "V". Ch2 and CH3 the presence is set to about 9:30 - 10:00, reverb is engaged but turned off. The gain is set pretty high but not maxed. Bumping the Mids will also give you some very smooth sustain and harmonic overtones.

Backing off the gain will allow you to introduce more high EQ in the channel.

If you are running a capacitor in your guitar to try and even out the EQ (maintaining the high frequencies) when lowering the volume, YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEMS.

The other thing is, it's a guitar not a bass. Using a lot of low frequency seems to also effect the "Ice Pick" sound and not in a good way. Using more Mid frequency tends to allow the removal of high frequencies and still maintain a good tone. Telecasters are bright anyway.

If you are still having problems talk to your "Authorized" Mesa Boogie Technician they do have answers.

 

[APEMAN]

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[nathan28]

If you have adjusted your presence and treble settings and you are still running into the ice pick sound, you need to adjust the height of your pickups as it sounds they are too close to the strings. The first thing your going think after reading what I just wrote is "on my other amps it doesn't sound that way" the mark v is all about instant response and you will notice things with it that you will not notice on other amps and because of this it will make you a better player.

 

[APEMAN]

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[OldTelecasterMan]

Ok... KISS... Keep It Simple Stupid... so it was posted "Lower your pickups". Sounded kinda like "What?" so I did and guess what happened... I didn't loose anything, oh except the "Ice Pick". I can adjust everything now for tone. I also went back to my other amps and they still work fine, same tone, drive, sustain and the high end is still there.

One thing since I have left the "Dark Side" (All Digital and Solid State) I pick the strings more dynamically as in I pick harder and softer, actually playing the instrument. When I was relying on digital and solid state I picked very consistent because hitting the string harder didn't do much more and picking softer didn't do much either dynamically.

So...got "Ice Pick" lower your pickups.