My guitar is pissing me off......

My guitar is pissing me off......

I was trying to work on a track last night and was trying to simply slide down one semitone for a single note (not a chord).

it had this horrible overlapping sound in the distortion even though i wasnt hitting any other strings. I soon discovered that the only way to avoid this is to cover the other strings with my hand which made it extremely difficult to play.

there has to be something wrong. I know nothing about pickups but I tried lowering them..... it didnt help.

The guitar currently has no plate on the back because the guy who I bought it off on ebay was obviously trying to fix a noise problem with the guitar and didnt send me the plate. He tried to tell me that a plate is purely for decorative purposes.

would this have anything to do with the plate being missing or would it be something to do with the pickups. either way it is a problem I need to solve.

Thank you all for your time,

I look forward to your replies.

edit: It's a mexican fender strat.

get a synth instead?

  On 10/29/2009 at 8:11 PM, slightlydrybeans said:

get a synth instead?

wow. helpful.

From the way you have described it it sounds more like a technique problem.

:)

you could try to:

drive the signal a little less / reduce the distortion - this would make the signal more dynamic and lower the volume of other noise relative to the strum/pluck

prepare the guitar - if you find yourself muffling certain strings, use something else to muffle it. wrap a tiny bit of cloth around the offending strings or whatever you can find, and find a way to play around that string.

i could use distortion once. went to guitar center and asked, where the distortion comes from with elixer strings. and i was confused when he said: too many bonghits, try chorus and flange.

  On 10/31/2009 at 1:09 AM, sonny said:

i could use distortion once. went to guitar center and asked, where the distortion comes from with elixer strings. and i was confused when he said: too many bonghits, try chorus and flange.

hooray!

  On 10/30/2009 at 2:54 AM, Aces said:

From the way you have described it it sounds more like a technique problem.

yeah, sounds like technique, its doesnt sound like the sort of sound I have ever heard from a badly set up guitar. if you slide down a semitone the string is already vibrating at a frequency, these vibrations are still going after you have slid down but now over a longer string length, the string is trying to vibrate at the first pitch due to momentum, but it is now too long to do that, so you get weird harmonics as the frequencies collide and cause the other strings to sympathetically ring out with the new, very dischordant, frequency. this effect is noticeable when there is enough distortion to keep notes sustaining a lot longer than they normally would, i would guess that is what you are hearing.

try to dampen the other strings with some cloth or soemthing, or tweak the sound a bit until it goes.

you really need to work on your technique if you can't easily mute the strings you're not playing. if you're playing on one of the middle strings try muting the top strings with your right hand and the bottom ones with your left, it's not too hard once you get used to it.

it's nothing to do with the pickups, it's pretty much as welcome to the machine said above, the other strings naturally ring sympathetically regardless of the quality of the guitar (in fact, it's one of my favourite things about guitars! it's like natural reverb). of course you could take the easy way out and wrap a cloth around the strings at the nut, but fuck that shit. be a man!

also, the back plate does NOTHING to the sound - i'm sure i've said this before. to say it's purely decorative is inaccurate too, basically it's there so you don't get something caught in the springs, for example. i'm pretty sure it'd be easy to find a replacement if you're that paranoid, but trust me, it'll make no difference at all in the way the guitar sounds.

  On 10/31/2009 at 11:21 PM, ieafs said:

  On 10/31/2009 at 7:32 AM, modey said:

also, the back plate does NOTHING to the sound - i'm sure i've said this before. to say it's purely decorative is inaccurate too, basically it's there so you don't get something caught in the springs, for example. i'm pretty sure it'd be easy to find a replacement if you're that paranoid, but trust me, it'll make no difference at all in the way the guitar sounds.

it's so you can play naked and not get your pubes stuck in there

yeah pretty much

  On 10/31/2009 at 7:32 AM, modey said:

also, the back plate does NOTHING to the sound - i'm sure i've said this before. to say it's purely decorative is inaccurate too, basically it's there so you don't get something caught in the springs, for example. i'm pretty sure it'd be easy to find a replacement if you're that paranoid, but trust me, it'll make no difference at all in the way the guitar sounds.

but a friend that did some earthing to fix its noise problem recommended that I run an earth to the plate as well when i get one.

He said this will also reduce noise. I realise that this has nothing to do with the problem I am stating in this thread but surely it will reduce more noise if I have an earth running to the plate....???

  On 10/31/2009 at 2:39 AM, welcome to the machine said:

yeah, sounds like technique, its doesnt sound like the sort of sound I have ever heard from a badly set up guitar. if you slide down a semitone the string is already vibrating at a frequency, these vibrations are still going after you have slid down but now over a longer string length, the string is trying to vibrate at the first pitch due to momentum, but it is now too long to do that, so you get weird harmonics as the frequencies collide and cause the other strings to sympathetically ring out with the new, very dischordant, frequency. this effect is noticeable when there is enough distortion to keep notes sustaining a lot longer than they normally would, i would guess that is what you are hearing.

 

try to dampen the other strings with some cloth or soemthing, or tweak the sound a bit until it goes.

It seems to be something that will only happen when I apply distortion which is understandable because everything is amplified and the vibration of the other 'unplayed' strings is a hell of a lot more sensitive.

  On 10/30/2009 at 3:21 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

what amp are you using?

Straight to an Audigy 2-ZS external box then through guitar rig 3.

regardless of whether or not it's technique it still sounds like a grounding/wiring issue if you are getting cross noise amongst your strings.

i would say that your guitar needs to be better grounded (earthed, watev) and generally shielded. I can say that aside from technique if you have ANY noise probs with a guitar, cranking up the gain and distortion in guitar rig will amplify them in a bad and way too noticeable way. You have to gate the heck out of the distortion in guitar rig if you play at loud levels too, it just feeds back way too much, and not in that warm tone rich jimi hendrix feedback way. I have a nice guitar which has little issues with the distortion in guitar rig. But my cheapo fender strat with a weird mod i did to the pickups screams like a banshee and you cant shut the thing up.

http://www.guitarnuts.com/index.php

^ go there and check out the shielding techniques they are really easy to do and affordable using house hold items. If your guitar has loose, or cheap (thin) wiring inside then the bakc plate being off would be more prone to causing probs, but all in all shouldnt be a big issue, it's more the gauge of wire used on connections, proper grounding, and all around proper wiring, decent quality pots and toggle.

----> what kind of guitar is it that you have? have you tried other distortions, such as plain ol stomp box to an amp, not guitar rig involved, and had the same problem?

if you find that it gets really quite if, you are holding the metal of the toggle switch, touching the pickups, or possibly have your hand on the metal bridge, then you need to fix it up!

in other news, you can also take it into a mom and pop guitar store (not guitar center) and they will more than likely do a good shielding job for you for like 50-60 bucks tops, and will adjust anything else that needs it.

If you do take it to a store tell them the problem and ask to plug in to an amp so you can show what you are tlaking about, even if you don't have the prob it's still good to get your guitar properly shielded, it's made cheap guitars i've bought at pawn shops, or just regualar ol squier starts sound REALLLY good and crispy, and also quiet

edit: on the guitar nuts website the quieting the beast mod is one of the best and makes a huge difference and is simple for most people to do, even non technical ppl

:)

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

^ direct link to quieting the beast, even if you dont have a start you can use that as a guideline to your guitar, and there are other mods for certain brands/types of guitars.

  On 11/5/2009 at 2:24 AM, meneedit said:

  On 10/31/2009 at 7:32 AM, modey said:

also, the back plate does NOTHING to the sound - i'm sure i've said this before. to say it's purely decorative is inaccurate too, basically it's there so you don't get something caught in the springs, for example. i'm pretty sure it'd be easy to find a replacement if you're that paranoid, but trust me, it'll make no difference at all in the way the guitar sounds.

 

 

but a friend that did some earthing to fix its noise problem recommended that I run an earth to the plate as well when i get one.

 

He said this will also reduce noise. I realise that this has nothing to do with the problem I am stating in this thread but surely it will reduce more noise if I have an earth running to the plate....???

nah, a better earth for a guitar has a similar effect to sheilding the cavity with copper tape or similar, it does help with noise but not the sort you are experiencing, it helps with the hum/hiss you get when not touching the strings and the guitar is plugged into an amplifier of some sort. if you have a hum when the guitar is SILENT, ie no strings vibrating, and it goes away when you touch the strings then that is an earthing issue. if it is still noisy when you gently touch the strings then it could be a sheilding issue.

either way, its not the sort of interference you are experiencing, I think you are hearing the strings you are playing and the other, undampened strings ringing out caused by not dampening them with your right hand whilst playing. controlling a distorted guitar sound is a big part of good technique, getting a clean and controlled sound with high gain takes a bit of time and skill!

meant to add, trim your fingernails on your fretboard hand, if they are long or not filed well it can be harder for any guitarist really, but especially novice guitarists :) could help, maybe not, but it's something i used to preach to boys and girls in guitar mentoring classes.

  On 11/5/2009 at 3:03 AM, Brandi_B said:

regardless of whether or not it's technique it still sounds like a grounding/wiring issue if you are getting cross noise amongst your strings.

 

i would say that your guitar needs to be better grounded (earthed, watev) and generally shielded. I can say that aside from technique if you have ANY noise probs with a guitar, cranking up the gain and distortion in guitar rig will amplify them in a bad and way too noticeable way. You have to gate the heck out of the distortion in guitar rig if you play at loud levels too, it just feeds back way too much, and not in that warm tone rich jimi hendrix feedback way. I have a nice guitar which has little issues with the distortion in guitar rig. But my cheapo fender strat with a weird mod i did to the pickups screams like a banshee and you cant shut the thing up.

 

http://www.guitarnuts.com/index.php

 

^ go there and check out the shielding techniques they are really easy to do and affordable using house hold items. If your guitar has loose, or cheap (thin) wiring inside then the bakc plate being off would be more prone to causing probs, but all in all shouldnt be a big issue, it's more the gauge of wire used on connections, proper grounding, and all around proper wiring, decent quality pots and toggle.

 

 

 

----> what kind of guitar is it that you have? have you tried other distortions, such as plain ol stomp box to an amp, not guitar rig involved, and had the same problem?

 

if you find that it gets really quite if, you are holding the metal of the toggle switch, touching the pickups, or possibly have your hand on the metal bridge, then you need to fix it up!

 

in other news, you can also take it into a mom and pop guitar store (not guitar center) and they will more than likely do a good shielding job for you for like 50-60 bucks tops, and will adjust anything else that needs it.

 

If you do take it to a store tell them the problem and ask to plug in to an amp so you can show what you are tlaking about, even if you don't have the prob it's still good to get your guitar properly shielded, it's made cheap guitars i've bought at pawn shops, or just regualar ol squier starts sound REALLLY good and crispy, and also quiet

 

edit: on the guitar nuts website the quieting the beast mod is one of the best and makes a huge difference and is simple for most people to do, even non technical ppl

 

:)

 

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

 

^ direct link to quieting the beast, even if you dont have a start you can use that as a guideline to your guitar, and there are other mods for certain brands/types of guitars.

thank you so much!