Scratchy overtone

[surfingalien]

When I play on the lead channel, settings: gain 8, treble 8, bass 3, mids 3, gain 8, presence 5, channel volume 2, master 3, V shaped eq ( and even without the eq), I get sort of a scratchy tone when I play chords, and this noise is more prevalent on the higher 3 strings. The tone I want comes through, but there is a scratchy buzz kind of tone that cuts through as well, like I said especially for the top 3 strings and is more noticeable when I play the strings hard. Single note riffs sound fine, it is just the hard chords that don't sound optimal to me. Any ideas why, and is this normal at the volume level that I am using? (tubes are all good, I am using a rectifier 2x12 cab with V30s). Thanks.

 

[RussB]

Call me forgetful, but what amp was that?

 

[surfingalien]

Yeah that would be helpful to know, wouldn't it. It is a Mark IV. And to add to my description, the buzz/fuzz/overtone occurs only at the beginning of those hard chords I was referring to. Could this be something to do with too much preamp distortion?

 

[RR]

I'm guessing its a combo ...

Scratching could be due to vibration causing loose tubes in their sockets. Clean the tube sockets with "Blue Shower" or aresol can electrical cleaning type solution usually used for scratch potentiometers.

Then when putting back the tubes, tighten up tube clamping when putting them back in place.

But then it could be more serious. Hope others chime in.

 

[zeppman]

I would say add a little more mids, and back off on the drive (what you called your second gain). Also, is the presense pulled or pushed in? Are both gains and drive pushed or pulled?

 

[RussB]

How loud you playing this thing?

MKIV's shine in a band setting...not so hot as a "bedroom" amp.

 

[zeppman]

I totally agree with that comment. When I practice my tone is...ehh...ok, but when I'm with the band or just rockin loud by myself, it sounds great!

 

[NoGlassNoClass]

Its not always the amp...If you only get this noise when playing hard on certain strings, take a look at your guitar's action, truss rod, etc.

 

[marklyn]

I'm with you on the check the action idea. It could be that the distortion is accentuating the string buzz, making it more noticable.

 

[surfingalien]

Yeah that second gain should have been drive. I am playing at bedroom volume, so that might be it. It's not a combo, it's a short head, and my guitar setup is pretty good, no string buzz, etc. I've got both gain and drive pulled, and the presence is pushed in. I think it has something to do with a balance b/t master and channel volumes, and like you guys said it's better when both are turned up past at least 2 or 3. Thanks for the replies.

 

[macaddict]

Call me crazy, but I have found this to be a problem with certain picks, and your picking style. Check out the way you are picking. Do you tend to ride the edge of the pick across the strings? With heavier picks this happens alot. You hear the scraping of the pick across the strings. You tend to hear it more with high gain because there is already alot of the high freq, to accentuate it.