# Ice pick - what causes it? How to make it stop?



## WEEZY (May 23, 2008)

I used to have an Epiphone Wildkat that was the most ice-picky guitar ever. Recently, I played a friend's guitar and it had the same issue.... it also had mini humbuckers.

So I guess it's the pickups that cause this.

But why? And how can you fix it?

:rockon2:


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Rolling off the tone of the guitar, or adjust the treble on the amp down.

That's a treble issue, as far as I understand it.

Other than physically changing the pots or capacitors on the guitar, or even the pickups.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Speakers have a big say in this too. If you're running, just an example, Vintage 30's, they can sound very spikey in the upper mids & higher, depending also on what amp/guitar is being used.

My Hiwatt 50 hated V30's, as did my old Traynor Bassmate (in both cases, most especially with my Tele) - but they both sounded great with G12H30's or other greenback type speaker.

I'm not saying the pickups aren't spikey


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Like others said, it depends on lots of factors. I've found it hard to set an amp to where it sounds good with every guitar you plug in. Maybe the Lester sounds nice, but the Strat sounds thin. Or both sound good and the Tele is fizzy and bright. You have to take into account that when you change one part of the signal chain, things downstream may require tweaking as well.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

keto said:


> Speakers have a big say in this too. If you're running, just an example, Vintage 30's, they can sound very spikey in the upper mids & higher, depending also on what amp/guitar is being used.
> 
> My Hiwatt 50 hated V30's, as did my old Traynor Bassmate (in both cases, most especially with my Tele) - but they both sounded great with G12H30's or other greenback type speaker.
> 
> I'm not saying the pickups aren't spikey


V30 + EL84s being pushed hard = some serious ice. And not the kind that the rap videos girls enjoy.

Some manufacturers (Weber comes to mind) will "dope" the speaker to reduce cone cry (very noticeable if you play high notes w/ lots of distortion & a heavy touch).

The type & gauge of a pick as well as how hard you attack the strings will make a difference.

Cables are another thing to consider. Albert Collins liked 100' cables not just for walking through the crowd, but because the extra capacitance rolled off some of the highs. SRV used cheap cables on purpose for the same reason.

As previous posters have said, there are many potential factors, countless links in the signal chain that are worthy of consideration. Finding solutions & improving your tone is simultaneously fun & maddening.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

On the Weber site and a suggestion from Bill, a higher wattage speaker will bring down some of the highs.

I have an inherently bright amp, so I went with a 50 watt speaker, rather than the 15 or 30 that I had in mind.
This amp could be bright with a humbucker guitar, so we upped the choice of wattage.

As mention previously, there are more than a few factors though.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

Is it these guitars specifically that are harsh in the top end? Any other guitars into the same amp sounding pleasant?
Guess you have to determine whether it's the amp or the guitars before you can address the problem.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

If you're swapping guitars during a gig I find it essential to have an EQ, or two, on the board. Boss GE-7 is fine and nice and cheap. Makes a significant difference by allowing you to boost or cut particular frequencies. Works great as a solo boost too.





hollowbody said:


> Like others said, it depends on lots of factors. I've found it hard to set an amp to where it sounds good with every guitar you plug in. Maybe the Lester sounds nice, but the Strat sounds thin. Or both sound good and the Tele is fizzy and bright. You have to take into account that when you change one part of the signal chain, things downstream may require tweaking as well.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

davetcan said:


> If you're swapping guitars during a gig I find it essential to have an EQ, or two, on the board. Boss GE-7 is fine and nice and cheap. Makes a significant difference by allowing you to boost or cut particular frequencies. Works great as a solo boost too.


Absolutely. Someone here recently posted about a digital EQ pedal with 4 presets. That would be killer for a multi-axe setup!


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## The Lullaby (Dec 8, 2010)

Role off treble via tone knob (exactly!) on guitar or amp,and try less dirty sounds,


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

For a few years now, the students who take their lessons on electric guitar have been plugging into a basic no frills Traynor DG15R. Normally it's dead easy to dial in an acceptable tone, but there's always one or two students with guitars that sound like nails on a chalkboard. (In a couple of cases they've been Axl brand singlecoil equiped guitars.) Having such things sitting around, and failing on the tone adjustment front, I switched the speaker to an Eminence Lil' Buddy. Instant results. I'm no fan of cheap speakers, having proved to myself many times that a speaker upgrade can turn an inexpensive amp into a gem.

However, it's not the whole story. Ice-picky pickups have other weaknesses than simply treble tone, they seem to also have a lifelessness about them after the ice-pick gets dialed out, and they don't usually have that midrange ability for comping chords...at least to my jaded ears.

Speakers. Pickups. But wiring also figures into this. It's not an area of my expertise at all, but I've heard massive change in the tone of a guitar by different wiring schematics, just as different control adjustments can do.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I think it has as much to do with the amp as anything.

Mini-humbuckers are not particularly "ice-picky" in my experience. 

You can get ice pick tones out of a regular humbucker pretty easy. It's all about EQ and the combination of all elements in the chain, from the fingers to the speakers.


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## marauder (Oct 19, 2009)

hollowbody said:


> Absolutely. Someone here recently posted about a digital EQ pedal with 4 presets. That would be killer for a multi-axe setup!


It's by Source Audio - very cool pedal, as long as you're not anti-digital: Source Audio Programmable EQ


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

Mooh said:


> For a few years now, the students who take their lessons on electric guitar have been plugging into a basic no frills Traynor DG15R. Normally it's dead easy to dial in an acceptable tone, but there's always one or two students with guitars that sound like nails on a chalkboard. (In a couple of cases they've been Axl brand singlecoil equiped guitars.) Having such things sitting around, and failing on the tone adjustment front, I switched the speaker to an Eminence Lil' Buddy. Instant results. I'm no fan of cheap speakers, having proved to myself many times that a speaker upgrade can turn an inexpensive amp into a gem.
> 
> However, it's not the whole story. Ice-picky pickups have other weaknesses than simply treble tone, they seem to also have a lifelessness about them after the ice-pick gets dialed out, and they don't usually have that midrange ability for comping chords...at least to my jaded ears.
> 
> ...


+1 on the Lil Buddy (and Eminence products in general - made in the USA fror under $100 - what's not to like?).

My favourite amp is a 1962 (brown) Fender Princeton that came to me equipped with a reissue Jensen that reminded me of my EX-mother-in-law (being able to say that is hands down the best part of a divorce): simultaneously shrill & farty. I couldn't turn the tone control past 12:00....with a Les Paul. 

Rob Fowler of Classic Amps recommended a Lil Buddy: what a difference! I can dime the tone control and let those wee 6V6s sing. The difference is so pronounced that I've added 2 Teles to the herd since the speaker swap. I never used to keep one for more than a couple of months because of the ice pick. Turns out there's nothing wrong with Teles, I just wasn't using the right amp/speaker combination.


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